Burnet County (then called Hamilton Valley) was among the wildest places in the west when Adam Rankin Johnson moved here in 1854, but the twenty-year-old Kentuckian proved equal to every adversity, and then some. To this day he remains Burnet County’s most influential citizen; a truly great man whose ingenuity, courage, fortitude, and vision should be an inspiration to us all.

Adam Johnson’s boyhood was a perfect preparation for his exploits in later life: the son of a prominent physician in Henderson, he enjoyed a freedom to roam the forests and fields, while acquiring a superb education during evening hours at home. At the age of eight he was allowed the use of a gun, and became an expert shot and a great hunter. He also learned to swim well. He was healthy, strong, and active, and quickly became a leader of the other boys. James R. Holloway, who later fought for the Union army, described Adam as a born leader: "He was ever characterized by a genius in designing and a boldness in executing, and got us in and out of many scrapes". His keen powers of observation and his decisiveness would serve him well all his life.

At the age of twelve Adam was hired by a pharmacist who preferred pleasure to work and left the business almost entirely to Adam’s care. Adam managed the store for three years ‘til, at the age of sixteen, he accepted a job at a factory and was put in charge of eighty workers. His study of human nature and his enormous personal energy helped him set production records, but at age twenty the restless young man decided to go west.

Thinking that surveying would be a profitable occupation as the area became more populated, Adam took a job with a party of surveyors, and soon began a series of run-ins with the Indians who were resisting the incursions of the white men. Serving as county surveyor and as an agent for the Overland Mail as far west as El Paso, Adam developed a keen instinct for responding to danger; sometimes boldly attacking, sometimes ...

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