"Don Ashbaugh served in both World War I and World War II as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes and as editor of an airbase newspaper. And in between he graduated from the University of Southern California in 1927 and worked on newspapers from Manila to Paris, including nine years in Los Angeles, first with the Los Angeles County News and then with the Los Angeles Times.

In 1934 he joined the publicity department of Paramount Pictures. When World War II broke out in 1941, he joined the army.

For Kelly Benavidez (b. 1976), life began in the northern California community of Daly City in a Spanish-speaking household. Her parents, Amelia and Genaro Benavidez, were among the few Latinos in their area at the time. Her parents felt strongly about immersing Kelly and her older brother in their Mexican culture. They made the important decision to return to Jalisco, Mexico with their young children.

George Kelly Ryan was a geological engineer, prospector, and land use advisor who lived in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1959 until his death. He served in the Marines during World War II and was a member of the Disabled American Veterans. George was also active in the Nevada Mining Council and the First United Methodist Church. George was born June 3, 1911 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His father was Archer De Vol "Archie" Ryan and his mother was Maggie Kelly.

Hazel Mae Bowden was born on February 22, 1922. She married Hershell Wade on November 30, 1939, and had one son, James Hedges. The couple divorced and in 1950 she married Charles William Hedges. She moved from Kansas City to Las Vegas with her husband and son in 1952. She worked briefly as a waitress in the dining room at the Thunderbird and then became a stay at home mother until her son was in junior high school. Then after she went to real estate school, she went to work in commercial real estate at Bond Realty.

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.