A 5th generation Wyomingite, John was born and raised in the Interstate 80 town of Green River. He attended the University of Wyoming where he earned his undergraduate degree in education and geography and his graduate degree in geography. In 2001, he joined the faculty of the University of Wyoming as an archivist at the American Heritage Center. For more than 20 years he was the photo/audio-visual archivist. Currently, he is the University Archivist & Historian. Beyond the history of the University of Wyoming, he has an interest in historical maps of Wyoming and the West, Wyoming geography, and Wyoming transportation history. He is the author of Snow Chi Minh Trail: the History of Interstate 80 between Laramie and Walcott Junction, and One Hundred Years on the High Plains of Technology: a history of the Western Research Institute and Bureau of Mines. He is the president of the Wyoming Aviation Hall of Fame.