John William Frame, “Bill,” was an equipment operator for the Alaska Road Commission on the Valdez Fairbanks Trail, which later became the Richardson Highway. He was a driver for the Richardson Highway Transportation Company and may have driven for other companies. He appears frequently in the photographs near a vehicle.

His father, John Whitfield Frame, was a lawyer practicing in Washington State when gold was discovered in the Klondike. He traveled over the Chilkoot Trail and on to Dawson in 1898 with one son, Grover. In 1899, his wife, Nettie Susan joined him with the remaining sons including Bill, Park and Ira.

The senior Frame became a newspaper publisher in Alaska, publishing numerous editions including Alaska Weekly Transcript, The Alaskan (Cordova), Miner (Cordova), The Commoner (Valdez), The Weekly Alaskan (Anchorage), The Forty-Ninth Star (Valdez, Anchorage), Daily Herald (Cordova), The Alaska Examiner (Ketchikan) and The Truth (Cordova). He died in Ketchikan in 1939. His son, Bill, died in 1972 at Hood River, Oregon.