The Ignacio Area is a multi-ethnic community situated in a long ranching valley with the La Plata Mountains to the north. The early residents were the Ute Indians, primarily the Weminuche band.

In 1899, unallotted land in the eastern portion of the reservation was made available to non-Native Americans. At this time the Hall brothers were running the trading post and post office. This and the narrow gauge rail station to the south were all that existed in the way of a town. Hans Aspaas purchased the trading post in 1908. At the same time the Ute wife of a Civil War Veteran, John Taylor, died and the 169 acre allotment that he inherited was immediately sold to the Halls.

June 1910, both the Hall and the Aspaas lands were filed with the La Plata County Clerk and in 1913 Ignacio was incorporated.

Today the town is a supply center for the surrounding Southern Ute Indian Reservation and ranches and a crossroads for the gas and oil industry.