various peoples, from the Paleo-Indians who used Folsom points to hunt the Megafauna of North America, to the people of the 'Jornada Mogollon' (pronounced mo-goi-YONE). This site was once a Jornada Mogollon village, according to an archaeological dig of the ground between North Mountain and West Mountain. By about 700 years ago, the population of the village could no longer be sustained by the small agricultural area surrounding Hueco Tanks. At this point, a population shift occurred and settlements were formed on the nearby playas to the south, west, and northwest. There, they flourished until about 1450 A.D. when the area suffered from a series of severe droughts. Although it took time, by about 1600 A.D. the region was inhabited by the Apache people, who moved in from Canada (see the Athabascans). Agriculture was introduced in the area sometime around 1000 A.D. and along with it, the development of the Jornada Mogollon Culture. The Jornada people built a village in the area and grew corn. Later the area was occupied by Mescalero and Lipan Apaches and Jumano people. Also using the area were Comanche, Kiowa and Tiguas. Spanish and Mexican travelers were rare visitors to the area. The Kiowa called the area the Tso-doi-gyata-de-dee, meaning "rock cave where they were surrounded." In 1837, the Kiowa signed a treaty with the United States, however, shortly after Mexican soldiers forced them into a six-day siege in Hueco Tanks, during which most of them died. The earliest known modern graffiti dates back to the 1840s. The area was visited by United States Boundary Commissioner, John R. Bartlett, in 1852 who recorded some of the pictographs. Between 1858 and 1859, the Butterfield Overland Mail kept a stagecoach station in the area, but left when a better location was found to the south. An El Paso businessman, Juan Armadariz, purchased much of the Hueco Tanks land to use for ranching in 1895. Silverio Escontrías bought the land from Armendariz in 1898 and the family used it as a ranch and tourist attraction until 1956. The early El Paso Archaeological Society (EPAS) began to campaign for the land to be turned into a park and in 1935, the National Park Service offered to buy the land from the Escontrías family, but they refused. Fort Bliss leased land from the Escontrías family for training purposes in the 1940s and 50s. The ranch went on the real estate