Some authorities place the date of the establishment of the earliest of these communities as in the latter part of the eighteenth century. All that is definitely known is that some of them were found in 1875. These villages were small, probably of never more than 100 population, their houses of adobe and rock huddled together in some sheltered break close to a running stream. Small irrigated fields grew the few crops they needed and their flocks ranged the broad plains, following the best grass. Cattlemen drove most of the sheep herders back into New Mexico, and forced the few who remained to turn to cattle raising.
Today there are only the scattered ruins of buildings and corrals.
In Oldham County alone there are nearly a dozen such sites in isolated spots inaccessible except afoot or horseback. On private property, they can be visited only by permission of the ranch owners. Today this level expanse is rich, producing oil, gas, wheat, small grain crops, and fine Herefords. At intervals the countryside is covered with a pall of smoke from factories and refineries. The land, once believed to be suitable only for ranching, is generally fertile, and tractors have furrowed it mile upon mile.