The Books

Don's original description of Volume 1: I was introduced to the desert and the Kumeyaay or Tipai Native Americans by my father as a teenager. My father was developing a small RV park in the Jacumba region and some of the Tipai men worked with him. They also showed us a number of sacred sites and art sites in the area. This initial exposure led me on a long road of discovery of the Southwest and the Colorado Plateau assisted by Fran Barnes, Michael Kelsey and Edward Abbey. Within my family, my father-in-law was an Apache from Globe, AZ, who was as solid as Wingate Sandstone and his lessons to me were just as immutable. In San Diego, I was very fortunate to be befriended by the inimitable Bob Begole who shared with me his skills of observation and passion for the Colorado Desert. The idealism and purity of what Bob was accomplishing has always stayed with me and it has served all of us well. Bob’s influence led to meeting many other desert devotees including Daren Sefcik. Daren is so devoted to exploring and experiencing the land. His hiking abilities are so far superior to mine as are his skills in finding traces of pigment. He was the perfect complement to work on this book. We both wanted to take the reader to places that they probably could not go or find. We had plenty of help from the skills of friends Gary, Jeff Joel, Ken, Rick, Tom, Wade, and Will over the past three years. Enjoy the book, but please, as you can, help us save what is left of this spiritual communication of the Tipai. As successful and peaceful caretakers of this land for the past 15,000 years, they have much to teach us.

Don's original description of Volume 2: La Rumorosa Rock Art Along the Border; V2 is the successor and companion-piece to our best-selling first publication which has sold out of all 1500 copies. Volume 1 was one of the first to focus on the rock art of this region, primarily along the California and Baja California deserts, the southern Colorado River corridor, and southwest Arizona. Almost none of the sites or photographs have ever been published.

This new volume features more than 200 half-, full- and double-page photographs by 13 professional photographers.
This volume has more pages than the first volume.

This new effort is the result of a small group of avocationalists working together with Kumeyaay-Tipai individuals and government agencies since volume 1 came out almost five years ago. While use was made of existing site records, a meticulous search of the landscape employing newer technology such as DStretch® enhancement rendered many more discoveries. Small traces of pigment often led to the resurrection of complete elements and rock art panels.

The authors hope is to bring forth the largest published survey of La Rumorosa rock art style of the Tipai, and possibly, of the Patayan people. This largely shamanistic and spiritual artform has provided guidance to the Kumeyaay-Tipai people and their ancestors for 10,000 years or more. It is thought that this art played a significant role in promoting and sustaining societal harmony and an intimate relationship with nature based on communication with the spiritual world.

Along with the photographs, the authors have included a review of the literature from renown archaeologists such as Dennis Gallegos, Alan Garfinkel, Don Laylander, Jefferson Reid, Jerry Schaefer, David Whitley, Stephanie Whittlesey and Brian Williams. Again as with our first volume, readers are offered a practical path to seeing and understanding more rock art, the wilderness and their own spiritual path.

Currently, both volumes are out of print. With Don's passing, the chances of second editions of both volumes are very slim. We would love to see these redone into hardback editions, combined into one larger book or a combination of all of the above.

But unless someone with deep pockets comes along and is willing to fund a project to re-issue Don’s lifelong passion in some form, we're afraid you will just have to look for used copies wherever you can find them. And they won’t be cheap.