[2][3] The name of the range has been in use for at least 100 years, though it has been called the "Sierra del Ojo" and the "Sonoyta Mountains" on some older maps.

A map created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers around 1920 labeled the range the "Quitovaquita Mountains."

These pools are in contrast to "Agua Salada," which is located further downstream on the river and yields only highly mineralized and brackish water.

The Davidson Canyon area and the associated bajada to the south of the range contain the northernmost populations of senita cactus (Pachycereus schottii).

This columnar cactus is very common further south in Mexico, but in the United States it is restricted to small areas of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and this isolated population in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.