Johnson is a ghost town in Kane County, southern Utah, located about 12 miles east of Kanab in what is now known as Johnson Canyon (historically Spring Canyon). Its coordinates are approximately 37°05′11″N 112°22′31″W. It was a Mormon pioneer agricultural and stock-raising settlement rather than a mining town.
Founding and Early Settlement (1871)
In January 1871, while visiting St. George, Brigham Young suggested to members of the Johnson family that they take over the Spring Canyon Ranch, about 12 miles north/east of Kanab, as a stock ranch and settlement site for those of the family who wished to live there. Joel Hills Johnson recorded the suggestion and the family’s subsequent exploration of the site. They found a beautiful canyon roughly half a mile wide and several miles long, with grass, small springs along the bluffs, a stream at the mouth, and extensive meadow and range land. The family accepted the offer and planned a cooperative stock association for herding, stock raising, and dairy purposes.
Settlement began in the spring of 1871. The four Johnson brothers—Joel Hills Johnson, Joseph (Ellis), Benjamin (Franklin), and William (Derby)—established the community, which was named for them. Joel Hills Johnson (1802–1882), a prominent early Latter-day Saint convert, inventor, missionary, poet and hymn composer (including “High on the Mountain Top”), politician, judge, and patriarch, was a key figure. Other family members and associates soon joined. A post office named Johnson opened the same year and operated until 1937. Residents built a brick schoolhouse that also served for church meetings and social gatherings, along with a general store and other basic infrastructure focused on agriculture and ranching.
Church leadership of the local branch began under Sixtus Ellis Johnson (a son of Joel) until 1877, when he became bishop; William Derby Johnson succeeded him in 1879. The settlement reflected typical Mormon pioneer patterns of the era, including family networks, communal cooperation, and (in some cases) plural marriage.
Peak Years and Community Life
Johnson functioned as a modest ranching and farming community in a scenic but isolated canyon bordered by sand bluffs, opening onto desert toward the Buckskin (Kaibab) Mountains. Families raised livestock, grew crops where water and soil allowed, and maintained a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joel Hills Johnson moved more permanently to the area later in life (around 1880 from Bellevue) and died there on September 24, 1882; he is buried in the local cemetery. Other families, including Shumways and Laws, also settled and intermarried in the community.
Exact peak population figures are not well documented in available sources, but the settlement supported multiple families, a post office, school, and store for several decades. It never grew into a large town.
Decline and Abandonment
Like many remote southern Utah agricultural settlements, Johnson faced challenges from isolation, limited water, harsh climate, and economic pressures. By June 1901 only a few families remained. Ranching continued in scattered form, but the formal community dwindled. The post office closed in 1937, widely regarded as marking the end of the town as a functioning settlement. By the mid-20th century only a few ranches were scattered through the canyon. Natural factors (flooding, weather, and environmental hardship) and the pull of better opportunities elsewhere contributed to the decline; it was not a classic boom-and-bust mining failure.
Remains and Later History
Today the primary remnant of the original settlement is the Johnson Cemetery, which contains graves of Johnson family members, Shumways, Laws, and others dating to the 19th century (more than 60 pioneers by some counts). A monument was later erected by the Sons of Utah Pioneers. The cemetery is on or near former LDS Church ranch land (now private) and is accessible via Johnson Canyon Road, though visitors should respect private property. Little else of the original town structures remains beyond weathered ruins.
Johnson Canyon itself later gained separate fame as part of “Little Hollywood.” Hollywood used the dramatic scenery extensively for Western films and television from the 1930s–1970s (and beyond), including many episodes of Gunsmoke. A dedicated movie set was built in the canyon (distinct from the original pioneer townsite); its deteriorating buildings are visible from the road but are on private land and not open for close access. The area continues to attract visitors interested in both pioneer history and film locations.
Significance
Johnson exemplifies the pattern of late-19th-century Mormon colonization of southern Utah: family-based settlements encouraged by church leaders, focused on self-sufficient agriculture and ranching in challenging desert-canyon environments. Its association with Joel Hills Johnson ties it to broader early Church history, hymnody, and pioneer leadership. The surviving cemetery and the canyon’s dual identity (pioneer settlement + Hollywood backdrop) preserve its place in Kane County and Utah history.
Primary sources include Joel Hills Johnson’s journals, local histories such as Our Pioneer Heritage, post office records, and secondary compilations of Utah ghost towns. The site remains remote; access is via Highway 89 east of Kanab, then north on Johnson Canyon Road. Always respect private property and be cautious of wildlife (including rattlesnakes) and deteriorating structures.