Prior to 1786, when a peace treaty was concluded with the Comanches, Spanish settlements in New Mexico were confined to the Rio Grande valley and nearby.

The reduced threat from the Comanches, the most numerous and dangerous of the Indian peoples surrounding the New Mexican settlements, permitted the expansion of the Spanish eastward into the Pecos River valley and onto the Great Plains.

[7] In 1822 the government of New Mexico created the Anton Chico Land Grant, 378,537 acres (153,188 ha) in size.

In exchange they promised to take up residence in the grant area, to hold the land in common for themselves and future settlers, and to obtain firearms and bows and arrows to defend the settlement against Indian attacks.

The initial settlers came to Anton Chico from La Cuesta (now called Villanueva), 20 kilometres (12 miles) upstream on the Pecos River.

Anton Chico was resettled in 1834, this time with success[9] Seven settlements grew along 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) of the Pecos River.

[12] Anton Chico achieved its maximum prominence about 1890 when it had a population of 900 people, all or nearly all Hispanic, and was a mercantile center for much of eastern New Mexico.