Flo Mlynarczyk was born in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Her parents divorced and she moved with her mother first to Loveland, Colorado and eventually to Los Angeles, California. Upon graduation from high school in 1943, Mlynarczyk moved to Kodiak, Alaska, to live with friends.

Robert Herre Crabtree was born on September 27, 1929 in Chehalis, Washington. He was educated in western Washington and receieved his master's degree from the University of Washington in 1957. In 1960, he became a teaching and research assistant at the University of California, Los Angeles and worked as a research archaeologist in around around California and Mexico.