[1] The springs discharge into three rock pools with sandy bottoms located near the ruins of an old bathhouse and a historical stagecoach stop.

[2] The hot springs were used by the Puebloan cultures for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of the Spanish, and knew it by the name Wa-pu-mee meaning "water of long life".

[3][better source needed] The springs later were visited by Spanish explorers in the area, who were searching for the fabled fountain of youth.

In 1880, the Chili Line (Santa Fe Branch) of the narrow-gauge Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad began stopping at Taos Junction, and the hot springs became a tourist attraction that was accessible by stagecoach.

[4] In 1906, British-born traveler Arthur Rochford Manby coerced a claim to the 60,000+ acre Antonio Martínez land grant on which the springs were located.

Other local legends state that he returned to Europe, and that it was not his body that was found, but rather it was "part of a ruse to avoid his creditors.