Remembrance of a Special Friend: Jeremy Johnston
by Lynn Houze
Jeremy Monroe Johnston was an extraordinary historian but, more importantly, an even better person. Born in Powell, Wyoming, on March 28, 1971, he was raised in a history household where he learned to love the history of the Big Horn Basin and of Wyoming. He was extremely proud to be a descendant of Johnny Goff, an early Cody pioneer who once guided President Theodore Roosevelt on a hunt in Colorado. These two connections were the basis for his lifelong interest in both Roosevelt and Goff and account for the topic of his PhD. dissertation.
A product of Powell High School, he went on to Northwest College in Powell for a year before attending the University of Wyoming for both his B.A. (1993) and Masters in History in 1995. Returning to Powell, he was an Associate Professor of History at Northwest for 15 years, where he passed on his love of history to many, many students. He became the Managing Editor of the Papers of William F. Cody at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in 2010, a position he held until he passed on June 15th, 2024. Additionally, in 2016, he became the Hal and Naoma Tate Endowed Chair of Western History and Curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum. Jeremy enrolled in a long-distance PhD. program offered by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, earning his Doctor of Philosophy in American Studies in 2017.
I first met Jeremy in 1995 at a symposium held at Northwest College on the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Heart Mountain Internment Camp was located between Powell and Cody, and is now the site of Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation’s World War II Landmark, Museum, Research & Event Center. Our paths continued to cross throughout our history affiliations: Park County Historical Society – Jeremy was President for several years and I was the Treasurer; Wyoming Historical Society – he was President while I was 2nd V.P.; Buffalo Bill Center of the West – co-workers; Pahaska Corral of Westerners – both officers; and Cody Heritage Museum – he served several terms on the Board of Directors, which I head. We co-edited Beckoning Frontiers: The Memoirs of George Washington Thornton Beck, a founder of Cody (2020), and co-authored Images of America: Park County (2022). I considered Jeremy to be my go-to Wyoming history mentor who answered all my questions with ease, with humor, and with an understanding of my New Jersey roots!
His history affiliations extended beyond Park County to the Big Horn Basin Scottish Society, American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, Western History Association, Theodore Roosevelt Association, and the Cosmos Club. He was a past master mason of Absaroka Lodge #30, and a member of the Eagles. Additionally, he actively participated in fishing, hunting, hiking, and boating. How he found time to do all this is beyond me!
Jeremy’s love of family took precedence above all else. He is survived by his wife Mandy, their two children Sam and Alexa, his oldest son Jaxon (Mallory) and two grandchildren (Jace and Theo), parents Jack Johnston, Carol Johnston, sisters Jael (Casey) Fisher, and Jodee (Andy) Metzler, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. He is also survived by his Northwest College family and his Center of the West family, who all adored him and valued his friendship. On a personal note, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss his counsel, his knowledge, his friendship, and his humor.
Photos courtesy of the author.