Desert Roamer Press: Press Releases
June 10, 2021
Desert Roamer Press Wishes to Further Expand into a TV Series on Treasure Hunting that Includes Australia.
Greg Hawk- Author, Entrepreneur, and Treasure Hunter lived eight years in Australia where he ran a successful charter boat operation on the Great Barrier Reef. He tells about some of his adventures in Australia in his book, Random Tangents: Embracing Adventures in Life. Being a Divemaster he continually searched for new scuba diving sites and was always looking for the sunken ship or plane along the reef.
In one of his trips out to an outer reef he found a large oblong iron ring in 80 feet of water that looked to be off an old sailing schooner. He tried to make it to surface with the iron ring but had to drop it. His air supply was too low to provide the buoyancy needed to raise it to the surface. Was this a wreck site of a wooden sailing ship? Maybe it is time to go back and find out.
There are other unique stories along the coast of Australia and the Great Barrier Reef that offer things to be found. One story was of a large tsunami wave that came over the outer reef and sunk 40 pearling luggers and five schooners in a bay close to land. Is the bottom of the bay still scattered with the remains of the fleet? Pearling was a large industry in Australia back in the mid-1800’s so a lot of history can be intertwined into the story.
Greg Hawk’s YouTube videos have started gaining popularity with new subscribers signing up every day. Currently he has three more short videos ready to shoot for his YouTube channel, Random Tangents, and working on three longer ones for a possible TV production.
During the past six months he has researched and visited treasure story sites to uncover as much as possible about each one. His first question to all treasure stories is whether there is a thread of truth to the story or is it just another piece of fiction. Digging through old newspapers and magazines help in determining some stories from the late 1800’s forward but earlier than this the facts become cloudy at best sometimes. In the end it is all about the adventure while searching and exploring new areas.
Desert Roamer Press is currently seeking a production company or individual that would like to be involved in the production of these treasure & adventure stories for a TV audience. The current treasure stories we have researched and explored cover four states in the Southwest. More treasure stories can be added to include other states and this could enhance the viewership throughout the country.
In his recent posts to different treasure hunting, hiking, and camping groups he has had a great response. The Desert Roamer Press website, during a one-week period, was viewed over 1,700 times by individuals from over 15 countries thus showing the international appeal to the stories.
June 8, 2021
Desert Roamer Press Is Proud to Announce That It Recently Reached Over 1,000 Subscribers to its YouTube Channel – Random Tangents
Greg Hawk- Author, Entrepreneur, and Treasure Hunter decided to take some of the treasure stories in his book and make them into short videos to tell the story visually. As he tells each story he points to a map and gives the location and directions to the area in the story thus drawing the viewer into it. As the video progresses, he talks about the history of the area, things to see and places to go to further entice the viewer to possibly partake in an adventure of their own.
After reaching over 1,000 subscribers to the videos, requests have come in asking for more of them as viewers enjoy the stories and history that is intertwined in the video. Currently he has three more treasure stories ready to video for his subscribers and three more he wishes to enlarge to offer to a TV audience. These stories currently take place in the southwest and he hopes to enlarge the scope to include treasure stories in his home state of Wyoming.
During the past six months he has researched and visited treasure story sites to uncover as much as possible about each one. His first question to all treasure stories is whether there is a thread of truth to the story or is it just another piece of fiction. Digging through old newspapers and magazines help in determining some stories from the late 1800’s forward but earlier than this the facts become cloudy at best sometimes. In the end it is all about the adventure while searching and exploring new areas. If you are a camper, then the star lit nights add to the enjoyment of the adventure.
Desert Roamer Press is currently seeking a production company or individual that would like to help produce these treasure & adventure stories for a TV audience. The current stories range over four states that we have researched and explored. More stories can be added to include other states. This could enhance the viewership throughout the country as there are no shortage of treasure stories to be told.
In his recent posts to different treasure hunting, hiking, and camping groups he has had a great response. The Desert Roamer Press website, during a one-week period, was viewed over 1,700 times by individuals from over 15 countries thus showing the international appeal to the stories.
March 16, 2021
Desert Roamer Press Is Researching Three New Treasure Stories for a Documentary Series on TV.
Greg Hawk, Author, Entrepreneur, and Treasure Hunter has released several treasure hunting videos about Treasure Stories that occurred during an early period of Arizona history. Each video not only tells of a treasure story but also intertwines the history surrounding the story to make it entertaining while being educational. Also included are things to do or see in the area today to make the viewer aware of what is offered if they wish to partake in the adventure. One can view the YouTube videos at: Random Tangents - YouTube
Desert Roamer Press would like to expand these short YouTube videos into a documentary series for TV and is currently looking for an interested production company to team up with. The hook for each story is the treasure and the questions surrounding it as to whether it still exists, has it been found or was it a complete fabrication? By infusing the treasure story with local history during that period helps draw the viewer into the story as they witness the rough living conditions and the lawlessness of the West.
Currently under research are several treasure stories that took place starting back in the late 1600’s. The Jesuit Order, backed by the Spanish Crown, had started building Missions across the southwest and located rich gold and silver mines in the process. Several missions that were built, in what is now Arizona, comes treasure stories of lost mines and unheard-of treasures left behind. One of the most famous tales pertained to the Tumacacori Mission and the Lost Guadalupe and Tumacacori Mines. They were both supposed to be located a short distance from the mission and held vast wealth and a copper box containing the map to all the rich mines in the area. The story itself encompasses researching a vast amount of history pertaining to the area while evaluating facts to support or disprove the story of the lost mines and treasures.
A second treasure story is that of Don Joaquin Campoy, a Spaniard, from Guadalajara, Mexico and his venture into the Estrella Mountains which are located just southwest of what is now Phoenix, AZ. Don Joaquin was mining the area for silver and gold when he came across a very rich vein of gold. As his stash of valuable gold was increasing the Pima rebellion of 1751 started. Don Joaquin in his haste to leave the area as the missions were being destroyed, quickly buried 15 burro loads of gold in one of his mines. He was supposedly killed and a map he had showing the location of the mine was taken with the survivors. As the years went by no one ever came back as the Indian uprisings at the time proved to be too dangerous. The old rock house and remnants of an old mine still can be found today in a desolate box canyon. Does the mine still exist with the buried treasure?
The third story is based around Arizona’s Worst Natural Disaster of 1890. It tells of a large dam overtopping and failing thus releasing nine billion gallons of water downstream. The treasure hook is the saloon that disappeared along with a safe containing money and gold. Where was the saloon when it disappeared is a question that has slipped by most treasure hunters? Our thorough research of the story and of the area has given us the clues we need to proceed in a more detailed search of where the saloon was. The final resting place of the safe is not far from where the saloon vanished.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Greg Hawk is the president of Desert Roamer Press, an adventure travel publisher specializing in treasure hunting in the American Southwest. His principal exploration is focused within the state of Arizona with some exploration around the borders with California and New Mexico.
Greg Hawk’s book, Random Tangents: Embracing Adventures in Life, is a memoir detailing a segment of his life that encompassed the many different directions he took and the experiences he had. From his service in Vietnam to becoming an entrepreneur and finally sleeping under the stars as he searched for lost treasures is the telling of a journey of searching for truth while experiencing life through different experiences.
Prior to founding Desert Roamer Press, Hawk was the owner/operator of Fantasy Dive Charters out of Port Douglas, Australia. From this base, he led diving expeditions on the Great Barrier Reef and into the Coral Sea while exploring to find sunken ships and planes.
March 11, 2021
Desert Roamer Press Hopes to Transition from Treasure Hunting Video Series to Documentaries
Greg Hawk, Author, Entrepreneur, and Treasure Hunter has recently released several treasure hunting videos to test the viability of possibly making full documentaries or a series for TV. The feedback from the video series has been positive and the more history added to the video the better the feedback for being entertaining and providing a learning experience. Random Tangents - YouTube
Working with his good friend, retired Prof. Jim Fink, a geophysicist and geological engineer based in Tucson, they research treasure stories and the history surrounding them to produce an unadulterated view of each story. This entails researching the state and local history surrounding the story, the physical location of the story, and any verifiable information, such as newspaper articles, that they may find to either credit or discredit the story as being true. Jim’s research library along with his knowledge of geology and history of Arizona helps bring to light the many facets that may pertain to a story. Many of the stories are based in Arizona since they have the most treasure stories of any state and Arizona provides areas for year around exploration.
Presently, Greg and Jim are busy working on three more treasure stories that span different time frames in Arizona history. Arizona is rich in treasure stories that take place from the late 1600’s, before Arizona became a territory, until the early 1900’s when Arizona finally becomes a state. It is a time of lost mines, buried gold, stagecoach robberies, and natural disasters hiding lost valuables. Arizona offers a colorful history of the west being transformed from a time of the Spanish missionaries to large mining operations that drew thousands of settlers to the territory and eventually making it the state that it is today.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Greg Hawk is the president of Desert Roamer Press, an adventure travel publisher specializing in treasure hunting in the American Southwest. His principal exploration is focused within the state of Arizona with some exploration around the borders with California and New Mexico.
Prior to founding Desert Roamer Press, Hawk was the owner/operator of Fantasy Dive Charters out of Port Douglas, Australia. From this base, he led diving expeditions on the Great Barrier Reef and into the Coral Sea while exploring to find sunken ships and planes.
For further information on Greg Hawk’s adventures go to www.desertroamerpress.com and check out the treasure blog, treasure hunting videos and his book, Random Tangents: Embracing Adventures in Life.
January 27, 2021
Desert Roamer Press is Negotiating with Landowners to Film a Documentary of a Treasure Story Intertwined with the Walnut Grove Dam Disaster of 1890.
Greg Hawk, Author and Treasure Hunter, has been negotiating with the owners of a ranch close to Prescott, Arizona in hopes of producing a documentary on their property. The story involves the history of the developing Arizona Territory and the rush for gold. The treasure story that is intertwined in the Walnut Grove Dam Disaster is that of Bob Brow’s Saloon that disappeared along with barrels of whiskey and a safe reportedly containing between $5,000 and $10,000 worth of valuables. The safe is believed to still be buried somewhere in the sands of the Hassayampa river.
The Walnut Grove Dam failure is documented in the book, Arizona’s Worst Disaster: The Hassayampa Story 1886 – 2009, by Jim Liggett. Desert Roamer Press has recently gained the rights to republish the book from the author. If interested you may find it at www.desertroamerpress.com
Working with his good friend, Prof. Jim Fink, a geophysicist and geological engineer based in Tucson, they started gathering all relevant information they could find on the Walnut Grove Dam Disaster of 1890. Reading numerous magazine articles on the dam failure, studying the weekly newspaper articles during that period, and scanning through Arizona history books provided a vast amount of research material.
The biggest question is where was Bob Brow’s Saloon located when the Walnut Grove Dam failed? Some treasure hunters believed the saloon had to be downstream close to the work crews building a lower dam. Another thought was that it was located closer to Wickenburg that was becoming a small town at that time. The actual story of the dam failure tells of bodies being found 30 miles downstream from where they were and of large boulders being tossed like tennis balls. The 110-foot-high dam held back nine billion gallons of water and when it failed a wave of water that was 80 feet to 100 feet high started its way down the canyon. By the time it hit Wickenburg and flattened out it was still 20 feet high.
Over the last several months Greg and Jim have made several journeys out to the site of the old Walnut Grove Dam site. The owners of the ranch where the dam was erected showed them the ruins of the dam. They provided pictures of the dam and reservoir prior to its failure and talked about the history of the area. They are fourth generation ranchers and their family have owned the land since 1909. The information they provided may reveal the actual location where Bob Brow’s Saloon stood.
For further information on Greg Hawk’s adventures go to www.desertroamerpress.com and check out the treasure blog, treasure hunting videos and his book, Random Tangents: Embracing Adventures in Life.
Press Release: January 12, 2021
Greg Hawk has a passion for lost treasures, history - and life. In his recently released videos, he takes you to the different locations in Arizona where each treasure story occurred. Hawk tells the treasure story in the video along with showing you the actual area today where the story most probably occurred. As he tells each story Hawk delves into the history of the area and what one may see and experience if you choose to explore it.
In these treasure hunting videos, some of which are based on stories in his book, Hawk gives the viewer the sense of what it feels like to be at the location of the story that took place more than 100 years ago. At the end of each video, suggestions are made to what may interest you in that area of the state, thus promoting Arizona and surrounding areas.
On the website there is a blog and video for each treasure story so the viewer may read details of the story before watching the video. For more go to: Desert Roamer Press | Adventure Blog
Arizona is rich in history from the days of the Spanish Missions, the Indian uprisings, the mining boom that brought settlers to the Arizona Territory and later becoming a state. With desert and mountains, Arizona has much to offer in terms of year-round weather. There are large areas in the state for camping, hiking, four-wheeling, water sports and fishing. During the summer when it is hot in the desert one can escape to the Mogollon Rim with cooler temperatures, the vast National Forests, and the Grand Canyon. The wintertime brings people seeking warmer climates to Arizona so they may enjoy hiking, camping, four-wheeling, sightseeing and playing golf.
Currently Greg Hawk is working on a new treasure story that he wishes to bring to TV as a documentary or even a series. A vast amount of research has gone into the project thus far in helping to narrow down the most probable location of the “lost treasure” in the story. All treasure hunts begin with a story and one must first decide if the story is true by finding documentation to support it. By searching early newspapers of the 1800’s much has been learned about the area, the people, and the story leading up to the “lost treasure.” There will be more news to come on this latest adventure.
Today, Hawk can be found traveling the Southwest in search of lost treasure, while creating his Treasure Hunting video series with his own insight into treasures still hidden in the deserts and mountains of Arizona.
To follow Hawk on his present-day adventures, subscribe at Desert Roamer Press | Book Publisher of Random Tangents by Greg Hawk
Press Release: December 7, 2020
Greg Hawk, Treasure Hunter and Adventurer, came across a treasure story relating to a lost safe from a saloon in 1890. It seems a dam had collapsed releasing nine billion gallons of water downstream and the saloon in the story had disappeared along with the safe and a barrel of whiskey.
Working with his good friend, Jim Fink, who happens to be a geologist in Tucson, they start gathering as much information as they could find on the Walnut Grove Dam Disaster of 1890. In their research they discovered the only book that was ever written about the dam failure of 1890 was now out of print. Jim tracked down the author, Professor James Liggett, and set up a meeting with him to get his thoughts on the dam failure. During the meeting we asked if Desert Roamer Press could republish the book since it was now out of print.
Mr. Liggett gave Desert Roamer Press permission to republish his book provided we kept the original artwork on the cover. Minor changes were made inside the book with a new ISBN assigned. After some reformatting, the book is now offered at www.desertroamerpress.com along with the recently published book by Greg Hawk, Random Tangents: Embracing Adventures in Life.
Arizona’s Worst Disaster: The Hassayampa Story, is a compilation of research that Professor Liggett pulled together to offer an overview of the financing, engineering, building and subsequent failure of the dam. Professor Liggett goes on to provide calculations of water volume behind the dam and subsequent heights of the water downstream from the dam once it burst. Much of the agricultural land along the banks of the Hassayampa River near Wickenburg were destroyed as the tsunami of water rushed downstream. There was also the loss of life with an estimate put at between 70 and 100 people, some of whom were never found.
As mentioned this book came to our attention upon researching the story behind the lost safe from Bob Brow’s Saloon after the Walnut Grove Dam burst. It is a very factual book, one that we believe needs to stay in print to offer future engineers a look back at dam building before 1900. Upon reading, anyone that has worked in water resource construction, will surely appreciate the details surrounding the building of this dam.
Press Release: November 20, 2020
In New Book, Random Tangents, Author and Treasure Hunter Greg Hawk Takes Readers on a Journey to Find Hidden Treasures of Life
Cheyenne, WY, November 20, 2020 -- Greg Hawk has a passion for lost treasures and history - and life. In his recently released memoir, Hawk takes readers on a series of real-life adventures from his small town in Illinois, to Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and the deserts of Arizona in search of hidden treasures -- both real and philosophical.
Random Tangents: Embracing Adventures in Life (Desert Roamer Press, April 2020), a memoir that reads like an adventure travel novel, is aptly titled, said one reviewer, “It quite literally, is a tangential series of anecdotes, as author Greg Hawk recounts some of the more interesting bits of his life.” Hawk, who now spends his days searching for lost treasure in the Southwest United States, wrote the book to share not only his adventures, but his philosophy of life.
“This book gave me an opportunity to share some of the many and varied adventures and obstacles that occurred in my life,” said Hawk. “I believe obstacles appear in everyone's life, but the decision you make to overcome them may set you on a new path in life, a new tangent. My life seems to have had several interesting paths that in the end led me to view the world in a different way.”
Hawk’s memoir of his life’s adventure takes a drastic turn at the end of a divorce as he listens to a gypsy lady in New Zealand predict life events on the path ahead of him. Every obstacle on his path in life has put him on another tangent of learning and struggle, at times driving him to the edge of defeat.
During these years, death seemed to be a constant companion as he witnessed it, as well as facing it personally. As a soldier, a husband, a divorcee, a partner of a successful construction business in Denver, owner of Fantasy Dive Charters in Australia, to being a treasure hunter in the mountains and desert of the Southwest, he faced many self-imposed challenges.
This book is a memoir, dressed in adventure and freedom. The story exalts the triumph of spirit and defines the meaning of a life well lived. - J. Armstrong, Amazon Reviewer
The book continues to receive rave reviews. “This is more than a memoir: it is a man’s philosophy as related through the steps of his life’s journey to date,” said reviewer Tim Terry. “The results were a life that deviated along interesting and "Random Tangents," that resulted in experiencing many different adventures, countries, and people across the world. The final inspiring message of the book is that whatever you choose to do in life, you should not forget that the experiences and people that you meet, may appear to be part of a series of random events, but they will indelibly influence your life and your own unique position in the universe, forever,” added Terry.
Today, Hawk can be found traveling the Southwest in search of lost treasure, while creating his Treasure Hunting video series that details the history and some of his own insight into treasures still hidden in the deserts of Arizona. His most recent project focuses on the Pine Springs Stagecoach Robbery that took place in 1879 in which $225,000 in newly minted gold coins were taken. The outlaws were killed in a gun battle at the stage station where they robbed the stagecoach, but the gold coins were never found.
To follow Hawk on his present-day adventures subscribe at www.GregHawkTreasureHunter.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Greg Hawk is the president of Desert Roamer Press, an adventure travel publisher specializing in treasure hunting in the American Southwest. His principal exploration is focused in the state of Arizona with some exploration around the border with California.
Prior to founding Desert Roamer Press, Hawk was the owner/operator of Fantasy Dive Charters out of Port Douglas, Australia. From this base, he led diving expeditions on the Great Barrier Reef and into the Coral Sea while exploring to find sunken ships and planes.
Hawk was raised in a small farm town in Illinois and after two years in college he joined the army and was sent to Vietnam. Returning home, he worked in commercial construction and eventually heavy civil construction focusing on water resource projects for the government and private entities.
He now lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming where he does research for his next treasure hunting adventure. Follow his adventures on DesertRoamerPress.com where he regularly posts videos and dispatches from the field.
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