The Wichitas felt their original ancestors came forth from the rocky points of the mountains, which rank among the oldest ranges on earth. Formation of these mountains began some 500 million years ago when stratified layers of eroded silt were deposited. Through the ages climatic forces have chiseled and sculptured the mountains until all that remain of the once lofty escarpments are weather-reduced knobs and domes.

The mountains are rich in lore. Spanish traders bartered with several native American tribes for hides and other artifacts and legends persist of hidden treasures of Spanish gold. Colonel Henry Dodge made the first American contact with the tribes when he and a troop of dragoons visited the area in 1834 in an effort to halt tribal raids of the Santa Fe Trail. Marauding bands of Comanches used the mountains as a resting and hiding site after pillaging in Texas and Mexico and, in 1843, J.C. Eldredge, commissioned by President Sam Houston of Texas to make a treaty with the Comanches, found them camped in the mountains where negotiations took place. Captain R. B. Marcy, directed to explore the source of the Red River in 1852, investigated the Wichitas, collected specimens of flora and fauna, noted geological formations and named Mount Scott. General Phil Sheridan shot elk near the mountain which now bears his name.