Dorothy Marie Johnson - (1905-1984)
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I. Biography
Dorothy Marie Johnson contributed to the world of literature through many different medians; if her life had a headline it might read, 'Small Town Girl Makes it Big in Literary World.' The storyteller and poet of predominately Western themed pieces was born to the parent Lester Johnson and Louisa Barlow on December 19, 1905. Her father was a teacher, market gardener and potato specialist, while her mother was a teacher; at that time, they were living in McGregor, Iowa. Her parents were originally going to name their only daughter Mattie, after her aunt, but finally decided to name their only child Dorothy Marie. Both her acquaintances and her family used the name "Marie" until she went to the University of Montana at age seventeen, when she proceeded to go by her first name, Dorothy.
Johnson took an early interest to writing both short stories and poetry, writing her first story Jack's Lily when she was in second grade. However, she 'shelved' that effort after just a short while because she just simply 'couldn't spell'; this caused be her lack of a consistent formal education. Before high school, Johnson never attended one school for more than just a few months because of her father's unstable job condition and ill health.
In a period of seventeen years, Johnson made seven moves. Her first move was from McGregor, Iowa to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1908, where she stayed less than a year before her family moved to the city of Great Falls, Montana. In 1911, Lester Johnson once again decided to move his family, but this time to the small town of Rainbow, Montana. Between the years of 1912 and 1916, she had moved back to Great Falls, then to Whitefish, Montana, then back to St. Paul, and then finally back to Whitefish.
Finally settling down in Whitefish with her mother (her father had died of chronic nephritis on December 13, 1915 while the family currently resided in Whitefish) she started to attend Central High School. There, Johnson excelled in English and Drama, but did not do so well in her foreign language class, Latin, and science classes such as Chemistry and Physics. Despite her classes that she supposedly 'struggled' in, she graduated second in her class of fourteen in the year 1922. At this point Johnson was only sixteen. Throughout her high school career, Johnson continued working on bettering her writing skills by writing poems for her high school's yearbook, The Alforja.
In the fall of 1922, she entered the Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, majoring in pre-med. However, after her freshman year, she decided that medicine was not for her, thus proceeding to transfer to the University of Montana, deciding this time to major in English. Here, she wrote for the campus' literary magazine, The Frontier, adding to her experience both as a researcher and writer. In the winter of 1923, Johnson suffered from a nervous breakdown and once again, her education was disrupted as she left college for a year and a half.
Johnson returned to Whitefish to stay with her mother until 1924 when she decided to go back to college, but this time in Dillon, Montana, at Western Montana College of Education, with hopes of developing a few teaching skills. However, like her previous attempts at a stable college career, this one turned out to be just as unsuccessful; she returned to Whitefish after two months in Dillon. Shortly thereafter, she wanted to 'try her hand at business', and decided to enroll at Spokane's Kinman Business College, but in 1925, Johnson left to once again return to Whitefish. She continued to write for The Frontier while she was employed at various jobs in Whitefish. Dorothy returned to the University of Montana in the fall of 1925, but three years after graduating from high school, she only had the credits to be considered a sophomore. Here she wrote for the university yearbook, The Sentinal, which continued to gradually improve her writing skills. During this time, she started to turn her attention toward writing short stories. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1928 and then proceeded to go to Whitefish, and then finally to Spokane in search of a job. At this time, George William Pinkerton, whom Johnson married secretly in 1927, stayed in Missoula.
II. Professional Life
After going through a whirlwind of unsuccessful jobs, she moved to the small town of Okanoogan, Washington. Still unsuccessful in the job market, she continued to write for The Frontier, but more short stories. However, Johnson's perseverance paid off, on her short stories entitled Bonnie George Campbell was soon published in The Saturday Evening Post . Not long after Johnson was able to see her stories and poems being published in several various newspapers and magazines across the United States. Although her career seemed to finally be taking off, her personal life did not flourish with quite the same abundance. After three years of marriage, she divorced her husband and continued to work on her writing career.
In 1935, Johnson received a position in New York City at the Gregg Publishing Company as the personal assistant of the general editor. During this time, she began to write one of her more recognized works entitled, Beulah Bunny , which turned out to be the first of a series of four short stories. But shortly after, in the year 1941, Johnson's life was changed by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when se decided to enlist in the Air Warden Service, United States Citizens Defense Corps. Through her hard work and dedication, Johnson rose to the position of Deputy Sector Commander until 1945 when she withdrew her services.
In 1944, Johnson resigned for the Gregg Publishing Company to join The Woman, a magazine for women. While working at The Woman, she continued to freelance with short stories and have them published in various magazines throughout the country, including Cosmopolitan, Collier's, and The Saturday Evening Post. She continued to improve here job position and eventually became the executive editor. In 1949, such stories as The Man Who Short Liberty Valance and Hold That Bull were published and the following year A Man Called Horse, Prairie Ki, and Rancher's Wife were published. But Johnson gradually began to develop a dislike for New York City, and wanted a job that was elsewhere, and low and behold not a year passed before she returned to one of her childhood towns, Whitefish, Montana. Here, she wrote for the local newspaper and magazine, but still was published as a freelance writer in many major national magazines.
Between the years 1949 and 1984, Johnson worked at an advertising agency, named as the secretary-manager of the Montana Press Association, and contributing writer/editor for the newspaper, Whitefish Pilot. Also during this time, Johnson had undergone five surgeries trying to free her from a condition of skin cancer, possibly the result of her many adventures researching for one of her many exciting stories. However, through each of the employment opportunities she continued to write short stories and started to write full-length stories as well.
In 1984, while at home in Missoula, Johnson past away. Throughout her career, Johnson took on many jobs that were related to the writing/publishing/editing fields but continued to freelance write both short stories, books, and articles for newspapers and magazines. She wrote a total of 18 full length
books (although some were not published), including Buffalo Returning, The Bloody Bozeman, The Hanging Tree, and Indian Country. Several of her books were taken to the silver screen and received a considerable amount of attention. She held many prestigious jobs and received many awards for her writing talent, including The Golden Saddleman Award.
III. List of Works
Buffalo Returning
Fellow Has to Get Away Sometime
The Hanging Tree
This Will Be Mine
Indian Country
Going to Whittingham Fair
The Bloody Bozeman
Cruel Barbara Ellen
Beulah Bunny
The Gay Desperado
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Widow's Walk
Hold The Bull
The Dead Language That Won't Lie Down
Prairie Kid
The Feud of the Fur-Bearing Fish
Rancher's Wife
Laugh in the Face of Danger
Miss Bunny Goes to Jail
The Deer Hunter
Blanket Squaw
The Unbeliever
She's Gone With Gypsy Davey
Journey to the Fort
Beulah Bunny and the Lethal Blade
Who Can We Blame?
This essay was submitted by a student of Steve Gardiner, a teacher at Billings Senior High School in Billings, Montana.