Sugarloaf Mountain, near the confluence of Little River and Brazos River and capped with red sandstone, stood beside a village called Rancheria Grande de los Ervipiame, where a large American Indian group made up of remnants of twenty-two nations lived under Ervipiame dominance. Some Ervipiame later entered the San Antonio missions, while most joined the Tonkawa, Mayeye, and Yojuane tribes. Early American settlers learned and used the Indian trails there, and Sugarloaf Mountain became an important landmark on the old road system later identified as part of El Camino Real, or The King's Highway, which was used until 1790. In the 1820s, a similar route ran from San Felipe to the Waco Indian Village that later became Waco. In 1866, Texas Governor J.W. Throckmorton sent a letter to the department of Indian Affairs granting the Tonkawa a league of land in the area, but they had already been relocated to Oklahoma in the 1850s and never received it. Developers James Jackson and Jon Holloway later bought the land containing Sugarloaf Mountain, divided it, and resold it, and when treasure hunters removed the mountain's top in search of riches, public outcry stopped the digging. The mountain is recognized by Milam County, the State of Texas, and the National Parks Service as an important landmark, and many Tonkawa believe it is the site of their people's origins. In 2004, El Camino Real de los Tejas was designated a National Historic Trail in Texas.