John Johnston (fur Trader) - Marriage

Marriage

Johnston went to Sault Ste. Marie, a journey which then took several weeks, where he settled on the south side of the river. 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. Johnston fell in love with the Chief Waubojeeg's daughter, but the Chief was skeptical of white men and initially refused when Johnston asked for his daughter in marriage, saying: "White Man, I have noticed your behaviour, it has been correct; but, White Man, your colour is deceitful. Of you, may I expect better things? You say you are going to Montreal; go, and if you return I shall be satisfied of your sincerity and will give you my daughter." The couple married, after which Ozhaguscodaywayquay was also called Susan Johnston. 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. "Kinship and ties of affinity proved more than merely useful to the traders. They were both a source of power and a necessity if one was to achieve success in the trade." Johnston was considered the first permanent European-American settler there.

The Johnstons' cedar log house on Water Street in Sault Ste. Marie was built in 1796 in a French colonial style. When their eldest daughter Jane married Henry Schoolcraft, the Johnstons built an addition for them to live in. Some years later, the Schoolcrafts built their own house in the village. The addition is the only remaining part of the Johnston house, one of the featured historic houses in the city.

Although the south side of the river became United States territory in 1797, Johnston never bothered to become a citizen. The border was a fluid area. In those years, Native Americans had separate status and were not considered United States citizens. For the people at Sault Ste. Marie after 1797, there was little change in their daily lives or relations with the Ojibwa, except as they received more American explorers.