It was released to growers in 1913[2] by Mexican-American horticulturist Dr. Fabián García, who began selecting local breeds in 1894 for improvement.

In 1888, the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (NMA&MA, now known as New Mexico State University) began a chile improvement program to improve crop yields and disease resistance in chile plants for the farmers of the region.

Historically, chiles varied widely in their yield and piquancy, and farmers had little control or prediction of these genetic variables.

and "No special effort [has been] made to produce a blight [chile wilt] resistant strain at this time.

It is hoped that in the near future more intensive work can be undertaken to produce and establish an absolutely blight resistant variety."