Napoleon Bonaparte Johnson (more often written as either N. B. Johnson or Napoleon B. Johnson) was born on January 17, 1891, in Maysville, Oklahoma (then in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory). He was the oldest child of John Wade and Sarah (née Mays) Johnson, who had three other children, as well. John Johnson was half Cherokee, and his wife was white, making Napoleon and his siblings one-quarter Cherokee. The father was a professional stock trader and an elder in a local Presbyterian church. John raised his son like any other native Cherokee boy and saw to it that he started his education in a local Presbyterian mission school. He moved to Claremore in 1905, which he called his home most of his life. His formal education ended with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree at Cumberland University.
In 1908, Napoleon apparently felt the urge to venture more widely. After visiting a naval recruiting station in Oklahoma City, he won parental approval to enlist. According to Herley, he became quite homesick while even before he arrived at a naval base in California. Still, he persisted, and spent a month training aboard the U.S.S. Pensacola, before returning home. It was the end of his naval career. Johnson graduated from Mary Gregory Memorial School, a Presbyterian mission school, at Anadarko in western Oklahoma in 1909.
After graduation from high school, Johnson joined the federal Indian Service, working first at a variety jobs in Tower, Minnesota, the Otoe-Missouria agency at Red Rock, Oklahoma (1913–14), and the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School at Chilocco, Oklahoma (1914–17). He later graduated from the state University Preparatory School (later renamed Oklahoma Military Academy), and attended Henry Kendall College (now Tulsa University).
Johnson re-entered the military during 1918, this time enlisting in the U.S. Army. After his discharge, he worked briefly for the Osage Indian Agency legal department, then returned to Claremore where he was appointed Assistant District Attorney for Rogers County, Oklahoma.
The biographical sketch written by Harlow in 1930 noted Johnson's interest in tribal and educational affairs.
Early years
Johnson was educated in the Anadarko schools, Mary Gregory Presbyterian Mission, Eastern University Prep School, Henry Kendall College (later renamed as the University of Tulsa), where he spent two years. Then he went to Cumberland University, where he earned the LL.B. degree in June, 1921. He returned to Oklahoma, where he passed the bar exam and became a licensed attorney, then went to work in the legal department of the Osage Agency, before moving back to Claremore. Johnson worked for the U.S. Indian Service in 1913–17, then became assistant county attorney for Rogers County, Oklahoma in 1923–25, then county attorney 1925–28. Herley wrote that Johnson was elected to another term as county attorney in 1930, which he resigned in 1931 to open his own law practice; he continued for three years, when he was appointed as district judge for the Oklahoma Twelfth District.
Harlow's biographical sketch noted that Johnson attended tribal meetings at Talequah and "...takes unusual interest in tribal affairs and educational work for Indians." Harlow also wrote that in 1920, Johnson was listed as a registered Democrat and County Attorney for Rogers County, Oklahoma. p. 717. Herley noted that about 1925, Johnson began participating in Democratic conventions in Oklahoma City.
Indian activism
Consistent with his political party affiliation, Johnson actively supported Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal Program in the early 1930s. He was soon disappointed, and particularly disagreed with the new Democratic Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), John Collier. Although Johnson was a member of the Cherokee tribe, his views about the organization needed to cope with the massive Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) extended much farther than a single tribe.