Here is a historical chronology of southeastern Sandoval County.
10,000 BC
Estimates vary considerably, but it is generally believed that Paleo-Indians arrived in the Rio Grande Valley late in the last Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago.
700 AD
Prehistoric Indians began building above-ground communal buildings, and by 900 AD, they were probably settling into villages that evolved into the communities existing when Francisco de Coronado arrived.
1540-42 AD
Francisco de Coronado arrived at Tiguex Province in the Rio Grande Valley, where he kept his headquarters until his departure in the spring of 1542. The Tiguex War was waged against the pueblos during the winter of 1540-41.
1598
Juan de Oñate and his band of Spanish colonists passed by what would become Bernalillo on the way north to establish New Mexico’s first capital at San Gabriel, near San Juan Pueblo.
1680
During the Pueblo Revolt, when the Spaniards were driven out of New Mexico, they hurried along the Rio Grande on the way to El Paso. The pueblos of what would become Sandoval County were profoundly affected by the coming and going of the Spaniards.
1692-96
Diego de Vargas re-conquered New Mexico.
1695
De Vargas established the community of Bernalillo.
1704
De Vargas died at Bernalillo after becoming ill while in pursuit of hostile Apaches.
1810
The Mexican Revolt against Spanish rule began. Because soldiers were moved south to fight insurgents, Apaches and Navajos resumed attacks on villages in the middle Rio Grande valley.
1821
Mexico achieves independence from Spain.
The first pack train of goods arrived in Santa Fe over what would come to be called the Santa Fe Trail. This marked the beginning of legal business between New Mexico and the United States.
Don José Leandro Perea became a trader of goods that arrived via the Santa Fe Trail.
1842
The Mexican government made the beginnings of counties in New Mexico. Part of what would become Sandoval County was then in Santa Ana County.
1846
Early in the Mexican War, the U.S. “Army of the West” under Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny occupied Santa Fe after officials of the Mexican government fled. Perea, living in Bernalillo, loaned money to the fledgling American government.
1848
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico, ending the Mexican War. Property rights in New Mexico were to be respected under the provisions of the treaty.
1862
The U.S. Civil War found its way into the middle Rio Grande Valley as troops of the Union and the Confederacy moved from Texas north to Glorieta Pass, and then back south.
Confederate troops stopped long enough in Bernalillo to hunt for the wealth Perea was said to have possessed. They didn’t find it.
1876
Santa Ana County was absorbed by Bernalillo County.
1878
Town of Bernalillo became the seat of government for Bernalillo County.
1880
The railroad arrived in the middle Rio Grande Valley and Albuquerque, causing the most significant change in quality of life in New Mexico history.
1883
Bernalillo County seat is moved back to Albuquerque.
1903
Sandoval County was created with the Town of Bernalillo as seat of government.
1949
Los Alamos County was carved out of northeastern Sandoval County and a bit of Santa Fe County.
1961
The American Realty and Petroleum Company (AMREP) purchased 55,000 acres of land in southeastern Sandoval County. It came to be called Rio Rancho Estates.
1981
Rio Rancho was incorporated as a city.
2020
Population of Rio Rancho estimated at 98,000.
Population of Sandoval County estimated at 146,000.
(Don Bullis is a Rio Rancho resident, NM centennial historian, award-winning author; named the Best Local Author in the 2018 and 2019 Rio Rancho Observer Readers’ Choice. “Ellos Pasaron por Aqui” is translated as “They Passed by Here.”)