Protect and Enjoy: What’s in a Name – Johnson Canyon
While the Land Trust was not able to locate an image of Albert Johnson, this photo shows the view from Johnson Canyon.
Albert Johnson, a hotelier, skilled fisherman and guide in Truckee in the late 1800s, was by historical accounts a well-known and well-liked local figure – and was notably one of the few black residents in the region at the time.
Donner Lake Hotel and Saloon, 1911. Courtesy Truckee Donner Historical Society
“His obituary indicates that he was a resident of Truckee for over forty years and was well known and beloved,” wrote the Truckee Donner Historical Society. “He was well known for his fishing abilities and was a trusted guide and also as an amenable host at the Donner Hotel and Saloon.”
Truckee Donner Land Trust’s Johnson Canyon bears his name – but its official name has been for his skin color rather than his surname – officially listed as “Negro Canyon.” The Land Trust chooses to use “Johnson Canyon” on all maps and materials – and is working with state and federal officials to formally change the name of the canyon.
Born in Kentucky in 1817, the Historical Society estimates Albert Johnson arrived in Truckee in 1871, working at different hotels in the area, as well as a cook on a steamboat on Lake Tahoe.
Speaking to Johnson’s fishing prowess and guide services: “… and everyone knows Albert, so long porter at the Truckee, is at Donner Lake taking charge of fishing parties, and learning them how to fish,” reads a quote from a 1884 issue of the Truckee Republican found by the historical society. “Albert is an expert and knows the haunts of trout at Donner.”
An 1890 article in the Morning Union described Johnson helping out some wildlife:
“Quail are coming over the mountains in considerable numbers,” the article states. “In attempting to fly across Donner Lake many fall in and are drowned Albert Johnson saw a whole covey fall in last Sunday. He succeeded in rescuing quite a number.”
The Historical Society also found a letter, written by William Kennedy to the Daily Gate City Newspaper of Keokuk, Iowa, in 1907, recounting his encounter with Johnson. It describes Johnson’s journey to Truckee via Panama, through San Francisco, and over the summit.
“From there he struck inland, resolved ‘with God’s help,’ to make a home for himself in the new Eldorado. But, when he scrambled down from the summit of the high Sierra into the little Donner Lake basin, there he found one already made – his for the taking,” Kennedy wrote. “And there he has remained ever since, enjoying to the fullest what he rightly believes to be God’s richest blessings – health, freedom, contentment, an abundance of fresh fish and wild fowl …”
Johnson passed away in 1911, according to the Truckee Republican, first describing a group of men bringing him into town during a difficult winter:
“Several men went to the head of Donner Lake Thursday for the purpose of bringing “old Albert”, colored [sic], from his cabin, where the old argonaut, aged 93 years, was without food or wood for almost a week,” the article states. “For the past twenty years old Albert and his cabin have been a land mark there.”
Then later that year writing: “Donner Lake Famous Figure Passing Away at County Hospital in Nevada City.” His death was also reported in the Sacramento Union: “Negro Boniface is dead at 94: Albert Johnson, found destitute in mountain hotel, dies in county hospital.”
Truckee Donner Land Trust wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the Truckee Donner Historical Society for their in-depth research on Albert Johnson, plumbing not only newspapers of the time but the National Archives and Records Administration, Federal Census data, information from the Truckee Cemetery, Voter Registers and more. We would also like to thank the Society for their support in re-naming Negro Canyon as Johnson Canyon, along with the many other individuals and organizations that have written in support of the change.
