Inhabitants of a nearby village made the Three Rivers Petroglyphs, rock carvings, over 600 years ago. More than 20,000 petroglyphs have been identified in the area. The people were of the Jornada Mogollon prehistoric Indian culture, of which there are no known modern descendants. The petroglyphs' purpose and meaning are not entirely clear. Some depict the animals and plants the people saw around them, and many almost certainly had religious meaning. The ridge may have been a good lookout point, a sacred site, a stop on a trade route, or a point on a territorial boundary. The petroglyphs have endured here for centuries.