Major Frank Joshua North, the organizer and leader of the well-known Pawnee Scouts Army unit, was born in New York state in 1840. The family moved first to Ohio and later to Omaha in Nebraska territory in 1856. Several years later, after the death of his father, North moved in 1858 with his family to Platte County. To help support his family, young North found work as a clerk in the trader's store at the Pawnee Agency. He soon learned the Pawnee language and became an interpreter.
In 1864 he was employed by the U.S. Army to organize and lead a company of Pawnee Scouts against bands of Indians who were resisting the government. The next year he was made a captain in the army and was placed in command of the scouts. From 1865-1877 North and the Pawnee Scouts served in Nebraska, Kansas, and Wyoming.
North and the Pawnee Scouts saw action under General Patrick Conner in the Powder River Expedition of 1865. Following this battle, the Pawnee gave Captain North the name "Pani Le-Shar" (Chief of the Pawnee) as a special tribute. During 1867 and 1868 Captain North and four scout companies acted as guards for Union Pacific Railroad construction crews. He led the Pawnee Scouts in the Battle of Summit Springs, under Major General E. A. Carr in 1869.
North was promoted to major, put in charge of a scout battalion, and served under General George Crook in an expedition on the Big Horn in 1876-77.
Major North retired from army service in 1877. He served in the state house of representatives in 1882-83. North, along with Buffalo Bill Cody, and his brother, Luther North, actively managed a ranch located on the Dismal River north of North Platte, the first ranch to have its headquarters in the Sand Hills.
North is also listed as a performer in Buffalo Bill's 1883 "Wild West" show. He was known as the best revolver shot on the Plains.
North died at his home in Columbus, Nebraska on March 14, 1885. He was named to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City in 1958.