Don McQueen stands tall in the Big Sur community; at 6' 8", perhaps tallest. Big Sur Campground owner, founder of Torre Engineering, president of the school board for Pfeiffer School, McQueen planned the location of Captain Cooper School with Frances Molera, the granddaughter of Captain John Rogers Cooper. He said her only request in donating 26 acres of land to the community, and ultimately Carmel Unified School District, was that the school be named for her grandfather. McQueen has been active in many community organizations, including Coast Property Owners Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and Friends of the Big Sur Coast.

McQueen knows every road in Big Sur. During mudslides, he was often first on the scene, and worked along side CalTrans to reopen Highway One season after season. He and his crew cleared county and private roads as well. His close friend Walt Trotter once rescued McQueen when a mudslide on Pfeiffer Point buried him alive. Don radioed Walter, just as he was arriving home, to alert him that a slide had come down in front of him. When Don tried to back up, a second slide came down behind him. Still in his truck, Walter lost radio contact with Don, who at that moment had jumped from his own truck and tried to run when yet another slide buried him completely. 

"A high school kid who was in Big Sur for the summer happened to see it from his kitchen window and was able to get to the place where he saw my dad buried," Don's son Jonathan related.

"He dug out his head so he could breathe, although it was still very difficult to breathe because of the weight of the mud around his body. Walter showed up—driving so fast that he drove off the road—but he could see my dad's truck below." Jonathan continued.

"Walter jumped out of his truck and ran straight down the side of the hill. He unburied my dad as quickly as possible, with the help of the kid who was there—then Walter tied a rope around him and pulled him out of the mud," he said.

"I have a clear memory of my dad and Walter coming home—my dad totally covered in mud, his glasses long gone. I remember him getting into the bathtub and not saying very much. I know he had nightmares about it for a long time afterward," Jonathan recalled.