Johnson, Charles B., merchant

Military and Indian provision contractor and quartermaster's agent.

Residing during the 1840s at Fort Smith, Ark., and moving ca. 1860 to Sherman, Tex., Johnson and his business partner, Marshall Grimes (Johnson and Grimes) contracted with the U.S. in 1859 to provide subsistence to the Indians of the Wichita Agency. From 1861 until his resignation in Feb., 1863, Johnson acted as C.S.A. quartermaster's agent in Sherman, Tex., and obtained supplies for the Confederate army and the Wichita Agency Indians. In Dec., 1863, Johnson and Grimes entered into another contract with the C.S.A. to deliver daily rations to the Wichita Reserve Indians and the Osages and Seminoles. Claiming that his provisioning activities preserved peace among the Indians of the Old Southwest, Johnson in 1866 sought reimbursement from the U.S. commissioner of Indian affairs.