Frank J. North was born in Tompkins County, New York, in March 1840. In 1842, the family moved to Richland County, Ohio, where Frank's brother, Luther, was born in 1846. Hard times drove them to look for new land, and in 1856, Frank brought the family to Omaha where his father and older brother, James, had a contact clearing timber. The father froze to death while surveying on Big Papillion Creek in 1857 and Frank and James moved the family to Florence. In 1858 Frank and James staked a claim near Columbus, which they lived on until 1860 when Frank first went to work at the Pawnee Agency as a clerk and interpreter at the trading post. In 1864 he accompanied the first Pawnee Scouts to the field under General Curtis. After an unsuccessful campaign against the Sioux, he was ordered to organize his own company of Pawnee Scouts and given the rank of captain. In 1865 after the Scouts were mustered out for the winter, he married Annie Louise Smith at Columbus. Nearly every year until 1876, the Scouts were organized in the early spring and mustered out in the late winter, each time under Frank North, who was promoted in 1867 to the rank of major. The Pawnee Scouts under Major North participated in many important campaigns and earned a great reputation as a fighting unit. In 1877 the Pawnee were mustered out for the last time. Frank then went into partnership with William F. Cody in a cattle ranch at the head of Dismal River in Western Nebraska. The business was sold out in 1882 and Frank traveled with Cody's Wild West Show as manager of the Indians after one term in the Nebraska Legislature. In 1884 he was severely injured in a riding accident in Connecticut. He was brought home to Columbus where illness and injuries killed him.

See NSHS manuscript collection: RG2321.AM: Frank Joshua North, 1840-1885