Biography
Matt Johnson was a Finnish-born lumberjack living in Bonner, Montana. In 1918 he was prosecuted for statements that Liberty Bonds would not be honored and for criticizing the American government. He pleaded guilty on the advice of appointed counsel and was imprisoned at Deer Lodge, where he worked in the laundry. He and his wife Minna were later recorded at the state hospital at Warm Springs.
The original Montana State Prison intake form lists an age of 33, birth in Finland, and occupation as lumberjack. It records actual receipt at Deer Lodge on 1918-05-11 and sentencing on 1918-05-11 in the state sedition case. The admission is distinguished from an earlier arrest, and the printed sentence is distinguished from actual service; no physical discharge is supplied. It includes named frontal and profile photographs. Source: https://clcowgill.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/a-m.pdf#page=18
