The area that is now the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge was inhabited by the
Piro Pueblo prior to
Spanish arrival in 1598 in what is now the southwestern part of the
United States.
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which passed through the area, was the main transportation route from
Santa Fe, New Mexico, to
Mexico City, Mexico. In 1680, Governor
Antonio de Otermin of Santa Fe retreated through the area to
El Paso during the
Pueblo Revolt. By this time, the Piro Pueblo, as well as many other
Pueblos, were already abandoned due to Spaniard encroachment. After the Piro were gone, the Spanish built a military post called "New Sevilla" on the site. This post became an important stop on El Camino Real and was at various times named "Joya de Sevilleta" and "La Jolla",. The
Sevilleta de la Joya Land Grant was given to the people of Sevilleta by the Governor of New Mexico prior to Mexican independence from Spain in 1821. The area passed from Mexican to United States control as a result of the
Mexican–American War. Socorro county bought this land in a public sale in 1928, because taxes on land could not be paid by the community that owned the land grant. In 1936, General Thomas Campbell bought this land from Socorro County and used it as a cattle ranch. In 1966, shortly before his death, Campbell established a foundation that eventually decided to preserve the land of Sevilleta by creating a wildlife refuge. In 1973 the foundation gave the land to
The Nature Conservancy, which in turn gave it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On December 28, 1973, the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge was established. Four major biomes unite in Sevilleta: Pinon-Juniper Woodlands, Colorado Plateau Shrub-Steppe, Chihuahuan Desert, and Great Plains Grasslands. ==Long Term Ecological Research Program==