Photographer David Halpern is a 13-time national parks artist-in-residence who has devoted a major portion of his life to photographing America's public lands, working in 34 national parks, 52 national monuments, historical sites and recreation areas and 48 national forests in 22 States.Born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1936, he attended the University of Missouri (Columbia) and is a 1958 graduate of Vanderbilt University. His photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries across the country for diverse audiences numbering in the hundreds of thousands. His photographic career spans more than six decades and his portfolios also include images from 25 countries outside the U.S. He has taught photography on the university level and regularly conducted workshops in landscape, architectural and digital photography for more than 25 years. He is a life member of the American Society of Media Photographers, President Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the Sherwin Miller Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was a 2004 inductee into the Tulsa Historical Society's Hall of Fame. This book on the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument provides a personal perspective on the history of Spanish-Native American relations in New Mexico and an examination of some extraordinary mission ruins from the 17th century.