Various peoples, known and unknown, inhabited the area, including the Tano (Arizona Tewa), East Rio Grande Keresan, Pecos, and Tewa.
Frosted mint is eaten fresh or dried or used as a flavoring by Native American groups, particularly the Tewa and Hopi.
Its builders were the ancestors of the Tewa Pueblos who now (2011) reside in Santa Clara Pueblo and San Juan Pueblo.
Oñate’s pobladores or colonists extended El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro over 600 miles reaching the San Juan Pueblo (currently Ohkay Owingeh) in the Tewa province and establishing the Hispanic settlement of San Gabriel in the Tewa pueblo of Yunque on the Rio Grande.
A 2012 documentary film, "The Young Ancestors", follows a group of teenagers from Santa Fe Preparatory School as they learn the Tewa language in a self-study program with the help of a mentor, seventh grade literature teacher Laura Kaye Eagles.
Despite the shelter of "dense masses of cedar and large fragments of rock" that were formed into defensive positions, the Tewa warriors and Mexican defenders in the battle were routed by U.S. Col. Sterling Price, military governor, and his Missouri Mounted Volunteers, leading to the U.S. siege of Taos Pueblo less than a week's forced march later.