It then levels off to a level area on top of an elevation of 4,810 feet (1,470 meters), with a high point summit called Mesa Peak at 4,916 feet on the northeast edge of the Mesa.
[2] On May 27, 1598, as the Oñate Expedition entered Piro lands from the south after crossing the Jornada del Muerto, Juan de Oñate named this mesa "Mesilla de Guinea" (little table of Guinea [Africa]) named this because the mesa was made of black rock.
This mesa became the southern boundary marker of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
When the Spanish returned to New Mexico after the Pueblo Revolt, the governor Antonio de Otermin called the place he camped on the trail around the mesa next to the river as "El Contadero" (The Counting Place).
The taxes on imported animals and goods in the caravans from the south supported the government and the pathway around the mesa remained known as El Contadero (The Counting Place).