A prehistoric village was established one thousand years ago, with its oldest part, where people lived in pit houses, lying toward the highway. The rest of the village was settled later as the population grew. By 1200 A.D. this was an important village, and the people living here traded with others throughout the Southwest and Mexico. The village reached its greatest size and influence by 1300 A.D. and declined after that. By 1400 A.D. the village was abandoned. The Mescalero Apache tribe living east of here arrived in New Mexico long after this village was abandoned. Time and weather have destroyed the original buildings, but a reconstructed pit house of the kind used by the earliest villagers and partially restored later houses show the kinds of dwellings once used here, while outlines of other prehistoric structures can still be seen on the ground.