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John Calhoun Johnson (died September 13, 1876) was a native of Deersville, Ohio, who practiced law and operated a ranch in California. According to Edwin Bryant, who visited Johnson's ranch in August 1846, Johnson was a New England sailor cast upon the coast of California who had first settled on the site of his famous ranch in October, 1845.〔Bryant, Edwin, ''What I Saw in California'', New York, 1849, p. 243.〕 His first employment in the West was carrying the mail on snowshoes from Placerville to Nevada City, during which time he gave the name of Bigler's Lake to the body of water now known as Lake Tahoe. Johnson practiced law in the days of the vigilantes and also acted as judge among the miners. When California was admitted to the Union, Johnson was one of the first lawyers to be admitted to the bar of this state and engaged in practice in El Dorado, Amador, Nevada, Sacramento and other northern counties in the District and Circuit Courts. He was also a member of one of the first sessions of the California Legislature. Shortly after arriving the first time, he returned to the Midwest, where he enlightened several friends and counterparts as to the land, beauty, and opportunities awaiting them out west in the new frontier. Johnson had an Indian scout companion by the name of Fallen Leaf (after which he later named Fallen Leaf Lake), and John C. Fremont (the man who is credited with being the first white man to witness Lake Tahoe in 1844) had a scout with the same name. Bearing in mind this could possibly have been the same person; one would have to wonder if Fallen Leaf was companion to Fremont or Johnson first.〔Johnson, M: "Personal Journal", page 2-15., 1892〕 ==Johnson's Ranch== Johnson's Ranch, known as "Six Mile Ranch", was located northwest of Carson Valley Road east of Placerville, the current location of Camino, California. The ranch and surrounding land-hold steadily became an encampment and safe-haven for immigrants, emigrants, soldiers, and prospectors who came across the passes. Accounts say that as many as 1,000 were camped on the ranch at one time. Johnson's Ranch served many functions. First and foremost, it was the home to his wife and nine children (seven surviving to adulthood). The ranch also served as a way station for thousands of emigrants crossing the Sierra Nevada via Johnson's Pass and Echo Summit; it contained a general store noted as being "as fair as any store in Placerville," and hotel for 14 other non-family permanent residents. The ranch had a timber mill and was littered with gold mines, the most profitable being Mills Mine. Sometime during the Indian Wars of the 1850s, John Johnson's or "Colonel Johnson's" ranch was the temporary encampment to militiamen entrusted with the job of guarding the foothill communities against Indian invasion. The militia leader was Uncle Billy Rogers, the first Sheriff of El Dorado County. His relationship with Johnson is somewhat unclear; however, "It was most likely Rogers who made the encampment arrangements with Johnson. Rogers came west on the disastrous Pioneer Line of 1849 with other 'gentlemen' that did not want to try their hand at the trip encumbered with a wagon or pack animals." Johnson and Rodgers are also documented together in Diamond Springs, California. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Calhoun Johnson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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