On an April evening in 1830, trader Antonio Armijo and a worn group of men and boys, pack mules, and California horses passed through this area on their way to Santa Fe near the end of a hard, dangerous journey. Tired, lean, and dirty, they nonetheless returned in success after forging a new trade route west across deserts and canyons from Nuevo Mexico to Alta California, where they traded woven woolens for young horses and mules before turning eastward for home. The governor of Nuevo Mexico praised the expedition, gave Armijo an honorary title, and touted his economic success to officials in Mexico City. The trail linking California to New Mexico remained in use for years, though later expeditions traveled farther north.