His father, John Minto III, was a coal miner and a gunsmith in England, with family roots tracing back to Scotland.

The Minto family immigrated to the United States in 1840, sailing on the ship Rocious which arrived in New York City on June 26, 1840.

[1] Prior to this journey, Minto had traveled to Fort Vancouver to get assistance from Doctor John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company.

[2] Once in The Dalles, Minto assisted the other travelers in his party who had been stranded there due to winter, and drove the cattle to the Willamette Valley.

The couple had eight children together: John Wilson, Mary, Robert, William Jasper, Irwin, Douglas, Harry Percy, and May.

[3] In Oregon, Minto began working for Peter H. Burnett making cedar rails, before logging for a sawmill.

[2] He then sold that property and took up a donation land claim four miles (6.4 km) south of Salem where he set up orchards and began sheep farming.

[1] During the Cayuse War that started after the Whitman Massacre in 1847, Minto joined the volunteer army of pioneers that went east to battle the Native Americans.

[1] In 1873, John Minto was appointed by the county to determine if there was a pass through the Cascades east of Salem as had been rumored by accounts of trappers.