Description
This collection contains four India ink drawings from tracings made of the original pictographs found on the formation known
as the Painted Rock (La Piedra Pintada; also called the Carisa Rock), located on the Carrizo Plain in eastern San Luis Obispo
County, California. Native Americans—primarily Chumash Indians—drew the original drawings on the sacred, ceremonial site.
The pictographs were sketched in the 1870s by pioneer Carrizo Plain resident Mary Brumley Noyes, who spent part of her youth
on the nearby El Saucito Rancho with her family. Painted Rock is a local landmark, rising dramatically from the surrounding
flat plains. In the intervening years since her sketches were made, the rock art has been vandalized and has deteriorated
due to human use and weather conditions. The collection was donated by her descendents in 1990. An additional donation to
the collection is a short, unpublished radio script depicting the Brumley family's life on the Carrizo Plain, circa 1950s.
Nothing is known about its author, L. Munson of Los Angeles. An additional donation traces the family's history and includes
vintage prints of Painted Rock.
Background
Mary Brumley (also spelled Bromley) Noyes was born in New York in 1857, the daughter of Chester Rude Brumley and Margaret
Humphrey Brumley. She moved to San Francisco, California, with her family in the 1860s as her father pursued new business
opportunities in the West.
Restrictions
In order to reproduce, publish, broadcast, exhibit, and/or quote from this material, researchers must submit a written request
and obtain formal permission from Special Collections, Cal Poly, as the owner of the physical collection.
Availability
Collection is open to qualified researchers by appointment only. For more information on access policies and to obtain a copy
of the Researcher Registration form, please visit the Special Collections Access page. Collection stored remotely. Advance
notice for use required.