Long before Spanish arrival, ancient roads across the San Luis Valley were traveled by prehistoric inhabitants and nomadic Native American people, whose cultures remained untouched by outside influences until the Spanish arrived in 1598. By the sixteenth century, Los Caminos Antiguos was already well worn and became a natural route for Spanish explorers. Navajo tradition recalled hearing from Pueblo neighbors about strange bearded men in metal helmets and armor who rode animals unlike any they knew, their iron weapons rattling as they moved across the American Southwest, and called these wandering newcomers Naakaii, the Spaniards. An ancient trail marker in the area later bore the carving "Año 1858" by the first Hispano settlers.