During the Spanish Colonial Period from 1690 to 1821, the Lobanillo landscape lay on El Camino Real de los Tejas, carrying caravans of people and animals between Presidio Los Adaes in present-day Louisiana and Monclova in Mexico. Archeological studies connected the site to the 1773 evacuation of 500 souls from the abandoned capital of Presidio Los Adaes to the new capital of San Antonio de Bexar. Blue and white Majolica pottery sherds dating from 1675 to 1800, found on the hilltop south swales, may be associated with the paraje, or resting spot, used by refugees. Archeological investigation also verified the nearby existence of El Lobanillo Rancho, and Antonio Gil Y'Barbo's 1794 land transfer records referenced two Camino Real routes converging at Lobanillo Swales, represented by deep U-shaped depressions.