As the mist of October sets on the horizon of our wholesome town of Rancho Santa Margarita, our city’s past comes to light. Although RSM is only 18 years old , its history goes farther back than we may assume.

The road just outside of our school leads onto the canyon: Trabuco Creek Road. According to Chris Berglund, a man who travels regularly in the canyon, Trabuco Creek is home to what remains of an Acjachmen tribe. However, these protectors do not walk among the living.

“They appear as shadows or figures in peripheral vision.” Said Joseph, a member of the modern adaptation of the tribe, tells that they speak a dialect known to be extinct. They talk of “…driving out those who have taken the land for themselves away, forever into darkness.”

Numbers of people have encountered the protectors in the canyon. Some even say that they have been visited by the entire tribe who speak in foreign tongues. It is no coincidence that all of these accounts have happened at night. Each person conveys that they have only been able to see the protectors with their peripheral vision.

With something so slight and sudden, you second guess if you are being haunted by the spirits of the past or the illusions of your dreams. When the sun sets on our happy town of RSM, the moon rises on Trabuco Creek Road, protected by the devoted Acjachmen tribe.