Beautiful Chestnut Mare

The area was inhabited by the Temecula Indians for hundreds of years before their contact with the Spanish missionaries (the people are now generally known as the Luiseños , after the nearby Mission San Luis Rey de Francia). The Pechanga Band of Luiseño believe their ancestors have lived in the Temecula area for more than 10,000 years, though ethnologists think they arrived at a more recent date, expelling the previous occupants. In Pechanga history, life on earth began in the Temecula Valley. They call it, "Exva Temeeku", the place of the union of Sky-father, and Earth-mother ("Tuukumit'pi Tamaayowit"). The Temecula Indians ("Temeekuyam") lived at "Temeekunga" – "the place of the sun".