Chief Johnson

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Chief Johnson

|position=Pitcher

|image=1917 Zeenut Chief Johnson.jpg

|caption=Johnson on a 1917 baseball card

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date|1886|3|30|mf=y}}

|birth_place=Winnebago, Nebraska, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1922|6|11|1886|3|30}}

|death_place=Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 16

|debutyear=1913

|debutteam=Cincinnati Reds

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 30

|finalyear=1915

|finalteam=Kansas City Packers

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=40–43

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=304

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=2.95

|teams=

Cincinnati Reds ({{mlby|1913}}–{{mlby|1914}})
Kansas City Packers ({{mlby|1914}}–{{mlby|1915}})

}}

George Howard "Chief" Johnson (March 20, 1886 – June 11, 1922) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played three seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1913 to 1915, for the Cincinnati Reds of the National League and Kansas City Packers of the Federal League. He surrendered the first home run in the history of Wrigley Field, to Art Wilson on April 23, 1914.{{cite web |url=http://research.sabr.org/journals/wrigley-field-homers |title=Wrigley Field Homers |first=Eddie |last=Gold |website=SABR |accessdate=May 8, 2021}}

Johnson was of Ho-Chunk, French and Irish ancestry. He identified as Ho-Chunk and was depicted in the media as a Native American.{{cite book |last1=King |first1=C. Richard |title=Native Athletes in Sport & Society: A Reader |date=January 2005 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-2753-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2I-1Ttq7zxsC&pg=PA79 |access-date=22 August 2020 |language=en}} A 1913 feature by Ripley's Believe It or Not! reported his full name as George Washington Murphy Johnson.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77315789/the-red-man-of-the-reds/ |title=The Red Man of the Reds |agency=Ripley's Believe It or Not! |newspaper=Buffalo Evening News |page=10 |date=May 26, 1913 |accessdate=May 8, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}

Johnson was shot to death in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 11, 1922,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77317016/trio-held-in-iowa-slaying/ |title=Trio Held in Iowa Slaying |newspaper=Iowa City Press-Citizen |page=1 |date=June 12, 1922 |accessdate=May 8, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}} at the age of 36. He had been in town to host a medicine show and had gotten into an argument during a dice game. The shooter, despite having confessed to police and being identified by witnesses, was eventually acquitted of first degree murder.