Atrisco Land Grant
Encyclopedia
The Atrisco Land Grant of 1692 is one among many Spanish land grants in New Mexico
. It is in the the Atrisco Valley (Valle de Atrisco) in the vicinity of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The grant was established during the New World
expansion of the Spanish Empire
, as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain
(Nueva España). Out of hundreds of land grants, Spain
made only a few during the Spanish (1598-1821) period of rule, while the remainder were made by Mexico
(1821-1826) following the Mexican War of Independence
. The Atrisco land was given to an individual, with the intention to found a settlement, while other grants were made to individuals, or to communal groups establishing settlements, or to Pueblos for communal lands that were already in their possession, such as the Pueblos of Sandia
to the north of Atrisco, and Isleta
to the south. Other nearby land grants included the Elena Gallegos to the east, created in 1694 for Diego Montoya and where much of northern Albuquerque is now built; the Alameda, granted in 1710 to Francisco Montes Vigil to the north and extending west of the Rio Grande; the Carnuel made to the residents of Cañon de Carnué (Tijeras Canyon) to the east; and the Parajito to the south.
In 1598 under order of King Philip II of Spain
, Don Juan de Oñate
traveled northward on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (utilized for trade among native tribes from the earliest of times) fording the Rio Grande, or Río del Norte, at the present-day El Paso and claiming all of the northern frontier beyond the river for colonization by Spain. By the early 1600s Spanish agricultural units dotted the 27 miles of previously unsettled Rio Grande Valley between the Sandia and Isleta Pueblos and in 1632 a Spanish settlement was on the site of present day Old Town in Albuquerque, where in 1706 the Villa de Albuquerque was established, to include a presidio (military garrison).
The Pueblo Revolt
of 1680 resulted in the expulsion of Spanish settlers south to El Paso. In 1688 Diego de Vargas
was appointed Spanish Governor
of the New Spain
territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México
and arrived to assume his duties in 1691. With a converted Zia war captain and only six soldiers, seven cannon, and a Franciscan priest, he recaptured Santa Fe in 1692 by convincing the Native Americans to except clemency and protection in exchange for sworn allegiance. He had taken 12 other towns in a similar manner and proclaimed a formal act of repossession to complete the "bloodless" Reconquest (Reconquista). Although two more major uprisings were to occur, including Second Pueblo Revolt attempt of 1696, the Spanish were again in control of their settlements.
Fernando Duran y Chaves II was one of the New Mexicans of the volunteer army contributing to this successful campaign, and in 1692 received from de Vargas, on the condition that Don Fernando be one of the settlers and that the land be properly developed, a 41,533 acre grant extending west of the Rio Grande, in the area where Fernando's father, Don Pedro had lived prior to the Pueblo Revolt. Having met the conditions of the grant, Durán y Chaves gained formal possession of the land in 1703. In 1768, the land grant was expanded by 25,958 acres further west and over the escarpment to the Rio Puerco, in order to accommodate the increasing Atrisco population, now greater than 200. However, due to Apache and Navajo attacks much of the land could not be utilized safely for grazing, and the Atrisqueños were forced to stay near the Río Grande valley until the nineteenth century. With the the defeat of the Navajo
at Armijo Lake in 1864, the security of the increased pasture lands was finally obtained.
At the close of the Mexican–American War
in 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
was signed, and New Mexico officially became a territory of the United States. Article VIII of the Treaty honored existing land grants, ensuring the property rights of Mexican citizens living in the transferred territories. However, despite these assurances, through interpretation and modifications of the Treaty, the property rights of Mexican citizens were often not honored. In 1854 the U.S. Congress established the office of the Surveyor General of New Mexico to ascertain "the origin, nature, character, and extent to all claims to lands under the laws, usages, and customs of Spain and Mexico." In 1886 surveyor general George Washington Julian
recommended approval of the Atrisco grant claims submitted by lawyers representing 150 Atrisco residents. But in 1887, the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the Department of Interior rejected the request citing an incomplete listing of legal heirs, lack of evidence for both the original grant and for the continued occupation of the lands, and insufficiency of boundary details.
Congress had tried to deal with each New Mexico land grant by special bill and the House had formed a Committee on Private Land Claims, seats on which were sought after as a way of dispensing patronage. By 1880 the corruption inherent in determining these claims by politics rather than on a legal basis forced an end to this practice. The United States Court of Private Land Claims
was created in 1891 to adjudicate the land claims under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Although in its 13 years of adjudication, only 82 of 282 New Mexico cases were confirmed and only 10% of the land claimed in 300 total cases was retained by claimants, under this process the Atrisqueños gained permanent possession of their land. After forming a community land grant corporation (the Town of Atrisco) of the 225 heirs in 1892, both Atrisco land grants were confirmed in 1894 by the United States Court of Private Land Claims.
In 1935 James M. Hubbell filed suit to determine all legal heirs for respective benefits and entitled shares of the land grant corporation. As assigned, the court-appointed referee J. G. Whitehouse compiled a list of present heirs and respective fractional “shares” based upon the corrected list of the original incorporators for of Town of Atrisco. His report was filed in 1936 and approved by the district court judge. Later, other petitions appeared, requiring supplementary reports and amendments. The last petition under James M. Hubbell v. Town of Atrisco was in 1952.
In 1967 Westland Development Co. Inc. was formed to represent the interests the land grant heirs as stock holders, and submitted the articles of incorporation and bylaws to a mass meeting of the heirs who voted 583 to 528 in its favor. The Board of Trustees of the Town of Atrisco refused to transfer title to grant lands until overruled by the Supreme Court of New Mexico in 1969.
The company foresees that the land will be very profitable for it stock holders in the future, since the growing population of Albuquerque
is restricted from growth to the north and east by Pueblo lands, and by mountains to the east. In 1990, Barbara Page (Gallegos), president and chief executive officer of Westland stated that "We're going to be a very aggressive developer in the west end of the city."
Spanish land grants in New Mexico
The Spanish, and later the Mexican, government encouraged settlement of the Territorio de Nuevo Mexico by the establishment of large land grants, many of which were turned into ranchos, devoted to the raising of cattle and sheep. The owners of these ranchos patterned themselves after the landed...
. It is in the the Atrisco Valley (Valle de Atrisco) in the vicinity of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The grant was established during the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
expansion of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
(Nueva España). Out of hundreds of land grants, Spain
History of Spain
The history of Spain involves all the other peoples and nations within the Iberian peninsula formerly known as Hispania, and includes still today the nations of Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain...
made only a few during the Spanish (1598-1821) period of rule, while the remainder were made by Mexico
History of Mexico
The history of Mexico, a country located in the southern portion of North America, covers a period of more than two millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the country produced complex indigenous civilizations before being conquered by the Spanish in the 16th Century.Since the...
(1821-1826) following the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
. The Atrisco land was given to an individual, with the intention to found a settlement, while other grants were made to individuals, or to communal groups establishing settlements, or to Pueblos for communal lands that were already in their possession, such as the Pueblos of Sandia
Sandia Pueblo
Sandia Pueblo is a tribe of Native American Pueblo people inhabiting a 101.114 km² reservation of the same name in the eastern Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico, located three miles south of Bernalillo off Highway 85 in southern Sandoval County and northern Bernalillo County, at...
to the north of Atrisco, and Isleta
Isleta Pueblo
Isleta Pueblo is an unincorporated Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established around the 14th century.-Overview:...
to the south. Other nearby land grants included the Elena Gallegos to the east, created in 1694 for Diego Montoya and where much of northern Albuquerque is now built; the Alameda, granted in 1710 to Francisco Montes Vigil to the north and extending west of the Rio Grande; the Carnuel made to the residents of Cañon de Carnué (Tijeras Canyon) to the east; and the Parajito to the south.
In 1598 under order of King Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, Don Juan de Oñate
Juan de Oñate
Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar was a Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico, and founder of various settlements in the present day Southwest of the United States.-Biography:...
traveled northward on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (utilized for trade among native tribes from the earliest of times) fording the Rio Grande, or Río del Norte, at the present-day El Paso and claiming all of the northern frontier beyond the river for colonization by Spain. By the early 1600s Spanish agricultural units dotted the 27 miles of previously unsettled Rio Grande Valley between the Sandia and Isleta Pueblos and in 1632 a Spanish settlement was on the site of present day Old Town in Albuquerque, where in 1706 the Villa de Albuquerque was established, to include a presidio (military garrison).
The Pueblo Revolt
Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, or Popé's Rebellion, was an uprising of several pueblos of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization of the Americas in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.-Background:...
of 1680 resulted in the expulsion of Spanish settlers south to El Paso. In 1688 Diego de Vargas
Diego de Vargas
Diego de Vargas Zapata y Luján Ponce de León y Contreras , commonly known as Don Diego de Vargas, was a Spanish Governor of the New Spain territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, today the U.S. states of New Mexico and Arizona, titular 1690 – 1692, effective 1692 – 1696 and 1703 – 1704...
was appointed Spanish Governor
Spanish governors of New Mexico
The following is a list of governors of the Province of New Mexico under the Viceroyalty of New Spain.*Juan de Oñate *Cristóbal de Oñate *Pedro de Peralta *Bernadino de Ceballos...
of the New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México was a province of New Spain and later Mexico that existed from the late 16th century up through the mid-19th century. It was centered on the upper valley of the Rio Grande , in an area that included most of the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico...
and arrived to assume his duties in 1691. With a converted Zia war captain and only six soldiers, seven cannon, and a Franciscan priest, he recaptured Santa Fe in 1692 by convincing the Native Americans to except clemency and protection in exchange for sworn allegiance. He had taken 12 other towns in a similar manner and proclaimed a formal act of repossession to complete the "bloodless" Reconquest (Reconquista). Although two more major uprisings were to occur, including Second Pueblo Revolt attempt of 1696, the Spanish were again in control of their settlements.
Fernando Duran y Chaves II was one of the New Mexicans of the volunteer army contributing to this successful campaign, and in 1692 received from de Vargas, on the condition that Don Fernando be one of the settlers and that the land be properly developed, a 41,533 acre grant extending west of the Rio Grande, in the area where Fernando's father, Don Pedro had lived prior to the Pueblo Revolt. Having met the conditions of the grant, Durán y Chaves gained formal possession of the land in 1703. In 1768, the land grant was expanded by 25,958 acres further west and over the escarpment to the Rio Puerco, in order to accommodate the increasing Atrisco population, now greater than 200. However, due to Apache and Navajo attacks much of the land could not be utilized safely for grazing, and the Atrisqueños were forced to stay near the Río Grande valley until the nineteenth century. With the the defeat of the Navajo
Navajo Wars
The Navajo Wars were a series of battles and other conflicts, often separated with treaties that involved raids by different Navajo bands on the rancheras along the Rio Grande and the counter campaigns by the Spanish, Mexican, and United States governments, and sometimes their civilian elements....
at Armijo Lake in 1864, the security of the increased pasture lands was finally obtained.
At the close of the Mexican–American War
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
in 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
was signed, and New Mexico officially became a territory of the United States. Article VIII of the Treaty honored existing land grants, ensuring the property rights of Mexican citizens living in the transferred territories. However, despite these assurances, through interpretation and modifications of the Treaty, the property rights of Mexican citizens were often not honored. In 1854 the U.S. Congress established the office of the Surveyor General of New Mexico to ascertain "the origin, nature, character, and extent to all claims to lands under the laws, usages, and customs of Spain and Mexico." In 1886 surveyor general George Washington Julian
George Washington Julian
George Washington Julian was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer and writer who served in Congress from Indiana. He was the son-in-law of Joshua Reed Giddings.-Biography:...
recommended approval of the Atrisco grant claims submitted by lawyers representing 150 Atrisco residents. But in 1887, the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the Department of Interior rejected the request citing an incomplete listing of legal heirs, lack of evidence for both the original grant and for the continued occupation of the lands, and insufficiency of boundary details.
Congress had tried to deal with each New Mexico land grant by special bill and the House had formed a Committee on Private Land Claims, seats on which were sought after as a way of dispensing patronage. By 1880 the corruption inherent in determining these claims by politics rather than on a legal basis forced an end to this practice. The United States Court of Private Land Claims
United States Court of Private Land Claims
The United States Court of Private Land Claims , was a United States court created to decide land claims guaranteed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in the territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, and in the states of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming.-Origins:During Spanish and Mexican rule...
was created in 1891 to adjudicate the land claims under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Although in its 13 years of adjudication, only 82 of 282 New Mexico cases were confirmed and only 10% of the land claimed in 300 total cases was retained by claimants, under this process the Atrisqueños gained permanent possession of their land. After forming a community land grant corporation (the Town of Atrisco) of the 225 heirs in 1892, both Atrisco land grants were confirmed in 1894 by the United States Court of Private Land Claims.
In 1935 James M. Hubbell filed suit to determine all legal heirs for respective benefits and entitled shares of the land grant corporation. As assigned, the court-appointed referee J. G. Whitehouse compiled a list of present heirs and respective fractional “shares” based upon the corrected list of the original incorporators for of Town of Atrisco. His report was filed in 1936 and approved by the district court judge. Later, other petitions appeared, requiring supplementary reports and amendments. The last petition under James M. Hubbell v. Town of Atrisco was in 1952.
In 1967 Westland Development Co. Inc. was formed to represent the interests the land grant heirs as stock holders, and submitted the articles of incorporation and bylaws to a mass meeting of the heirs who voted 583 to 528 in its favor. The Board of Trustees of the Town of Atrisco refused to transfer title to grant lands until overruled by the Supreme Court of New Mexico in 1969.
The company foresees that the land will be very profitable for it stock holders in the future, since the growing population of Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
is restricted from growth to the north and east by Pueblo lands, and by mountains to the east. In 1990, Barbara Page (Gallegos), president and chief executive officer of Westland stated that "We're going to be a very aggressive developer in the west end of the city."