Jeremy M. Johnston, Ph.D.
Books
Jeremy M. Johnston is currently under contract with the South Dakota Historical Society to write a history of Theodore Roosevelt in the West and with the University of Oklahoma Press to publish his Ph.D. dissertation, Two Rough Riders: The Enigmatic Relationship between Buffalo Bill and Theodore Roosevelt. Below is a sampling of books written by, edited by, and chapter contributions by Johnston.
Beckoning Frontiers: The Memoir of a Wyoming Entrepreneur by George W. T. Beck
Beck’s memoir examines his boyhood in Kentucky and his early adventures in Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. In 1894 he partnered with Buffalo Bill Cody to create the town of Cody, Wyoming. Coedited with an introduction by Lynn J. Houze and Jeremy Johnston, Foreword by Alan K. Simpson and Peter K. Simpson, with an afterword by Beck’s granddaughter Betty Jane Gerber. Published in the Papers of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Series of the University of Nebraska Press, 1920. This was one of the most challenging and most enjoyable books I edited. Beck was a tremendous name dropper, unfortunately his transcriber didn’t know how to correctly spell most of the names! It was a pleasure meeting B. J. Gerber while editing this work and to become good friends with her family. Although two heavily edited editions of Beck’s manuscript existed in public archives, the Gerbers produced the original manuscript that included the suggested handwritten edits, providing readers a copy in Beck’s original words.
Available through University of Nebraska Press
Kindle edition available through Amazon.com
Wahb: The Biography of a Grizzly by Ernest Thompson Seton
Edited by Jeremy M. Johnston and Charles R. Preston. Published by the University of Oklahoma Press, 2015. The introduction by Johnston examines how history and lore shaped Seton’s literary creation of a grizzly bear named Wahb. After Seton published this work, it greatly influenced Yellowstone’s bear policies and created a popular image of renegade grizzly bears. The afterword by Chuck Preston examines the current state of grizzly bears and their future status in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. I also recommend checking out On the Trail of a Bear Named Wahb, which documents two research trips conducted by Burt Bradley and me into Wahb’s domain. Burt was my literature teacher at Northwest College, who achieved the impossible by teaching and inspiring me to write. It was a pleasure working with both Chuck Preston and Burt on this project.
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Kindle edition available through Amazon.com
“The Wild West Sid of American Existence”: Theodore Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill Cody, and American Military Exceptionalism” by Jeremy M. Johnston
This chapter examines how Buffalo Bill Cody and Theodore Roosevelt shaped Europe’s perspectives of Americans as soldiers before and during World War I. Found within The Popular Frontier: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Transnational Culture, edited by Frank Christianson. A volume of the William F. Cody Series on the History and Culture of the American West published by the University of Oklahoma Press, 2017.
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Kindle edition available through Amazon.com
“Reenacting the Battle” by Jeremy M. Johnston
This chapter by Jeremy Johnston examines various reenactments of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, or “Custer’s Last Stand,” from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West to modern performances near the battle site. Found within A Companion to Custer and the Little Bighorn Campaign edited by Brad D. Lookingbill, published by John L. Wiley & Sons, 2015.
Available through Amazon.com
Powell: Then and Now by Jeremy Johnston and Rowene Weems
Available through Amazon.com
This book, coauthored with Rowene Weems, compares historical photos of Powell, Wyoming, with current images from the same camera perspective. It allows readers to see how much has changed, as well as how little has changed, within my hometown, Powell.
Images of America: Powell by Jeremy M. Johnston
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Kindle edition available at Amazon.com
This is my first book. I enjoyed researching the history of my hometown Powell, Wyoming, and selecting photographs to interpret my findings. Also, I was able to incorporate a number of family stories and personal images into this work. In addition to writing about the town of Powell, I did my best to convey the historical evolution of the Big Horn Basin, from early indigenous cultures and the fur trade era to ranching and farming. This work also includes a chapter on Earl Durand’s crime spree that garnered national attention. When I was writing this work, my grandmother Helen told me her father Barney Goff was setting the clock in the dome of the Park County Courthouse in Cody when he noticed Durrand’s escape! Durand knocked the jailer over the head with a milk bottle, forced him by gunpoint to his vehicle, and drove to his parents’ home in Powell. My maternal grandmother Mary Liz Bever told me that her parents, Al and Eunice Floan, were playing cards when the town marshall Chuck Lewis received a phone call reporting Durand escaped. Lewis went to the Durand home with deputy sheriff D. M. Baker to rearrest Earl Durand, only to be gunned down. Earl then went on the run, beginning the saga that led the national news stations to dub him Tarzan of the Tetons.
The New Warriors, edited by David Edmunds, “Janine Pease Pretty-On-Top, by Jeremy M. Johnston and Doug Nelson
Available through Amazon.com
The late Doug Nelson and I coauthored the article on Janine Pease Pretty-On-Top for this anthology. We both took David Edmunds’s course at the Larom Institute hosted by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, now the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Doug Nelson grew up in Thermopolis, Wyoming, and taught anthropology and Hebrew at Northwest College. He passed away on June 11, 2006, in Israel from a massive heart attack while conducting a field studies course. I will never forget driving to Crow Agency with Doug to interview Janine. Doug brought a thermos of green tea to drink and riceballs to eat, made by his significant other Yasu. We drove my Toyota truck that day. We joked about two good ol’ boys from Wyoming driving across Montana breaking all sorts of stereotypes! Doug also recruited me to join him on a number of college field trips to the San Juan River country. We put our rafts in at Bluff, Utah, and floated to Mexican Hat. Each trip was quite an adventure. I was honored to be both Doug’s professional colleague and his friend.
Readings in Wyoming History, edited by Phil Roberts, “Progressivism Comes to Yellowstone” and “Presidential Preservation” by Jeremy M. Johnston
This article and much more can be read on Phil Robert’s website Wyoming Almanac Phil was my advisor at the University of Wyoming. I worked a number of internships under his supervision. Phil encouraged his students to write articles, which he then published in Readings of Wyoming. A number editions of this work exist, the early ones contain my article “Presidential Preservation,” which examined Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy in Yellowstone National Park. Later editions contained “Progressivism Comes to Yellowstone,” an article that examines Roosevelt’s role in creating both the US Forest Service and the National Park Service. I lucked out being able to study under Phil. He was an amazing professor who did his best to ensure his students succeeded in various history careers. I wouldn’t be were I am today with out his guidance.
Print copies available through Amazon.com
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