In the 1870s, Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie of the United States Army was ordered to conquer Indians of the Texas frontiers. He led 240 enlisted men and eight officers in an expedition along the draw here as he headed toward New Mexico, hoping to break up a ring of traders paying Indians to steal cattle and horses. He marched past this point about August 1, 1872, in a swift, secret move against the traders. The path beaten out by his men later served scouts and settlers, and its traces are still known as Mackenzie's Trail.