John gave up farming in the Pajaro Valley for a plot in Las Cruces.

According to 1860 US census records John Myers was born about 1834 in Ohio and while residing in Santa Cruz County, worked as a farmer in the Pajaro Valley. No additional information has been found regarding his early life.

On February 13, 1862, at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, twenty-seven year old Myers enlisted as a private in Company K of the 5th California Infantry Regiment. His enlistment was part of the final recruiting drive in the county by its commander Captain Thomas Tidball.

Myers accompanied Company K in its move to Los Angeles where they joined the California Column enroute to Arizona. While serving in Arizona, he participated in the campaigns against Apache Indians at Arivaypa Canyon and during the Gila River Expedition of 1864. He was also present at Ft. Bowie, Arizona, where Company K guarded the overland trail.

In November 1864 Company K was ordered to Las Cruces, New Mexico, at the conclusion of their enlistment to be mustered out of service. John Myers was discharged with the remainder of the company on November 28, 1864. He chose to remain in the army and was subsequently transferred into Company F of the 1st Veterans Infantry. According to Santa Cruz historian Tom McHugh "John Myers died at Las Cruces, New Mexico, of an unspecified cause on February 23, 1865." The location of his remains is not known.

(USCR, 1860 US Census, CA, Santa Cruz; CMWR, Pg. 719; SCSn November 12, 1972)