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The Dark Watchers
When Olive Hamilton was on her way to school, she would often leave a pile of fruit and nuts where the road met the Santa Lucia mountains.
On her trip back, the fruit would be gone—a small bouquet of flowers in its place.
According to those who knew Olive, she was a practical woman. She was a schoolteacher and not one to encourage tales of ghosts and other supernatural phenomena.
However, she was a firm believer in the Dark Watchers, a group of mysterious beings that roamed the mountains around Big Sur.
Like others who lived in the area, Olive was privy to plenty of local folklore alluding to the Dark Watchers. Before Europe started shipping colonizers to coastal California in the 16th century, the Chumash were guardians of the mountains, all the way from Morro Bay to Malibu. While the Dark Watchers are not specifically associated with the Chumash, legend says that elders and children often spoke of tall, shadowy figures that materialized during the late afternoon only to disappear once they’d been spotted.
So when Spanish settlers arrived in the 1500s, they also encountered the Dark Watchers. They called them “Los Vigilantes Oscuros,” and although the mysterious beings never showed any aggression toward the colonizers, the sensation of being watched served as an unsettling reminder that they were not alone.
According to witnesses, the Dark Watchers usually camouflaged themselves amongst trees or hovered near the horizon. While some stories portray them as small creatures (similar to gnomes or elves), most accounts describe the Dark Watchers as standing about 10-feet tall, with large, black eyes. They also carry a walking stick and wear a cape and tall hat (sometimes referred to as a witch’s hat) that makes them appear even larger.
In the 1930s, a local poet named Robinson Jeffers wrote about the Dark Watchers for his anthology, “Such Counsels You Gave to Me and Other Poems.” Whether his poetry was inspired by local lore or his own experiences is still up for debate, but in one of these poems, Jeffers mentions making eye contact with one of the watchers at twilight. When he got close, the watcher’s face began to melt and distort. Eventually, it dissolved into the shadows as if it were made from mist.
And Jeffers wasn’t the only artist inspired by the Dark Watchers.
Olive’s fascination with the shadow people likely influenced her son (and eventually, her grandson) into writing prose hinting at what lurked within the neighboring mountains.
Her son, John Steinbeck, wrote about them in his fictional short story, “Flight.” Although the story focuses on Pepe, a young man who has unintentionally murdered someone and then escapes to the mountains looking for refuge, Pepe’s mother offers some chilling advice:
“When thou comest to the high mountains, if thou seest any of the dark watching men, go not near to them nor try to speak to them.”
Not surprisingly, Pepe spots a few of the Dark Watchers peeking out from behind a ridge, but he remembers his mother’s words and averts his gaze. He knows that the Dark Watchers won’t mess with someone who stays on the trail and keeps to themselves.
Which is a reoccurring sentiment when it comes to the Dark Watchers:
May we acknowledge one another, show respect, but also, keep our distance.
In 2014, Benjamin Brode and Thomas Steinbeck (John’s son) published a book titled “In Search of the Dark Watchers.” The book claims to be inspired by Big Sur’s rugged landscape, local folklore, and Steinbeck’s childhood memories.
For most folks, reading about the winding mountain trails and shadows that morph on a whim is the perfect introduction to the Dark Watchers. But there will always be those who prefer a hands-on approach.
So if you dream about retracing the same steps as Olive, Robinson, John, Thomas, Benjamin, and the countless hikers and explorers who have passed through the mystical mountains of Big Sur, just remember—the Dark Watchers may be eerie and elusive, they might be taller than trees and darker than night, but according to a former schoolteacher, they appreciate small gestures.
The Dark Watchers love gifts.
Olive says a handful of nuts or a piece of fruit will do just fine.
But only if we dare.
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Written by: K Lisenby
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