Santa Barbara was first established by native New Mexican farmers in 1851, along the road between the
Jornada del Muerto and
Cooke's Wagon Road northwest of the
San Diego Crossing.
Apache raids soon drove them away until 1853 when
Fort Thorn, was constructed nearby to the west northwest that protected it from the raids of the Apache.[3]
Following the abandonment of Fort Thorn in 1859, the fort continued to be the location of the Apache Agency of Dr.
Michael Steck. However the Agency and Santa Barbara were abandoned in 1860 in the face resumed Navajo raiding.[4] Hatch was later founded in 1875, on the site of Santa Barbara.[5]
^Julyan, Robert Hixson (1998) "Hatch " The place names of New Mexico (2nd ed.) University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, p. 162,
ISBN0-8263-1688-3