a group from the Picuris Pueblo as well as Tewa Puebloans, mostly from Santa Clara Pueblo. In 1642, Juan de Archuleta led a Spanish expedition to capture and return the Puebloan Native Americans to Nuevo Mexico. Another expedition was led by Juan de Ulibarrí in 1706 to return another group of refugees back to Nuevo Mexico. There were at least five El Cuartelejo rancherias visited by Ulibarri's men. The main village was the site of the El Cuartelejo Ruins on Ladder Creek. Ulbarri called it Santa Domingo and made this his headquarters as people were rounded up by his men from other villages. Another location in Kansas was 20 miles northwest of present-day Scott City. There were three other locations. The Villasur expedition of 1720 passed through El Cuartelejo with the objective of thwarting the control of the French within the Plains. They were defeated by the Pawnee in what is now Nebraska. French traders were at El Cuartelejo in 1727. The Comanche, who rode on horseback, sought to control the Arkansas Valley of what is now eastern Colorado during the early eighteen century. The Apache were pushed out of southeastern Colorado by the mid-1720s. In the meantime, French and allied Pawnee and Witchita people sought to control land to the east of the valley in Kansas. In response, Spanish troops fought against the threat by the Comanche, French, and allied Native Americans. The Cuartelejo Apache left the Kansas area by the 1730s. They were pushed south by the Pawnee, Comanche and Ute people. El Cuartelejo was abandoned and the Apache who survived the raids settled with the Jicarilla Apache at the Pecos Pueblo. The Comanche dominated the region by 1760. They controlled the trade networks of the Spanish in the southwest and the Pawnee and Wichita in the eastern plains. Pueblo and archaeological sites in Kansas The site is located in Ladder Creek Canyon, where there were natural springs and streams. Canyons and bluffs shielded the village from harsh weather and made for a milder microclimate. Stone in the area was used to make tools and construct buildings. The bottomland had rich soil for farming. The area also had bountiful wildlife. This site is unique in comparison to much of the High Plains of Kansas that are dry and flat. The ruins are of a former Puebloan structure. The former seven-room structure of was likely built by the Taos