John Johnston (1762–1828) was a wealthy and successful British fur trader for the North West Company.
He had married Ozhaguscodaywayquay (Woman of the Green Glade), daughter of Waubojeeg (White Fisher), a prominent Ojibwe war chief and civil leader from what is now northern Wisconsin.
Through him, he met leaders in society, including the magnates of the recently formed North West Company in Montreal, Quebec.
Johnston planned to be a "wintering partner", one who traded with Native Americans at the frontier post in the interior of the territory.
There Johnston met Ozhaguscodaywayquay (Woman of the Green Glade), daughter of Waubojeeg (White Fisher), a prominent Ojibwe war chief and civil leader from what is now northern Wisconsin.
[1] Like Johnston, most fur traders were Europeans of social standing and, together with the upper-class Ojibwa women they married, they formed the upper tier of a two-class frontier society.
[6] When their eldest daughter Jane married Henry Schoolcraft, the US Indian agent, the Johnstons built an addition for them to live in.
Although the south side of the river became United States territory in 1797 after treaty settlements following the end of the American Revolutionary War, Johnston never became a US citizen.
The Johnstons were known as a refined and cultured family, leaders in both the Ojibwa and Euro-American communities, and they maintained a wide range of relations.
[1][9] As part of their culture of building relationships, the Johnstons welcomed to their home an array of significant players in the region, including surveyors, explorers, traders, governmental officials, trappers, and political leaders.
With his wife and her family's help, Johnston developed a broad knowledge of both the Ojibwa ways and the Great Lakes region.
Permanent and temporary structures included warehouses for furs, scattered housing and Indian wigwams, and sheds for boats.
Both they and the Ojibwa wished to return to the previous arrangement, which allowed free passage across the border for trade by nationals of both countries and by the Indians.
The Johnstons' oldest son Louis (also appears as Lewis) was a lieutenant in the British Navy and served on the Queen Charlotte during the War of 1812.
[5][8] After the war, Johnston made a direct appeal to Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan to have the restriction against his trading in the interior lifted because of his other services to the region, but to no avail.
In 1821 Johnston served as a Commissioner during negotiations to end the rivalry between the North West and Hudson's Bay companies and helped achieve their merger.
[10] Still worried about potential British agitation of Native Americans along the border, in 1822 the US government built and staffed Fort Brady at Sault Ste.
Johnston had a large library filled with English classical authors, including poets, which his children used for their literary education.
[4] The Johnstons' eldest daughter Jane married Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, who arrived in Sault Ste.
[4] In 2008 Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame for her own contributions to literature and history.
The Americans disdained the children of mixed marriages; in addition, they were suspicious of Roman Catholics and French speakers.
[12] Because of the father John Johnston's resistance to becoming a citizen of the US, his second son George was shut out of the fur trade as the Americans exerted more control in the area.