What is today Cuba, located in the northwestern part of Sandoval County, was originally settled by Spanish colonists in 1769. It was on the northwestern fringe of the Spanish New World empire (1492-1821). It was called “Nacimiento” for the nearby Sierra Nacimiento. It appears by that name on a map by Bernardo Miera y Pacheco in 1779. The full name of the community was El Naciemiento de Nuestra Señora, which translates as “The Birthday of Our Lady.”