The Sandia Mountains have been occupied by human beings for thousands of years. This area was settled by 1767, when Governor Pedro Fermin de Mendinueta made the land grant known as La Merced de San Antonio de las Huertas. The area is called "las placitas" because it contains several villages, also known as "plazas." Descendants of the stockmen and farmers who first settled the grant still live in the vicinity.