Cañon de San Diego Land Grant (Part 1 of 3)

Origin of the Cañon de San Diego Land Grant (1788-1808)

The story of the Cañon de San Diego land grant begins with two brothers, Francisco Xavier and José Antonio García de Noriega. They were scions of Lieutenant General Alonso García who, during the Pueblo Revolt, led the fleeing Spanish families from the Rio Abajo area south to safety. After a long period of exile at El Paso del Norte, he and his family returned to New Mexico with the Vargas reconquest. Francisco and Antonio most likely grew up in the Albuquerque area, as they were the sons of Albuquerque residents Blas García de Noriega and Antonia Molinar. The brothers followed similar life trajectories, both becoming Navajo interpreters and marrying Spanish women at Nuestra Señora de los Dolores church at Sandia Pueblo. Francisco married María de Jesús Aranda y Saavedra on December 10, 1777 and Antonio married María Francisca de la Trinidad Gutiérrez on September 26, 1785.

The brothers jointly petitioned Governor Fernando de la Concha to grant them land in the Cañon de San Diego for cultivation and pasturing a few animals, stating that they did not own any land for such purposes and that the canyon was vacant. On January 27, 1788, the governor, in the name of the king, granted their request and directed the chief alcalde of the Queres district, Antonio Armenta, to formalize the grant through the act of possession, on the condition that it not infringe upon the rights of the Indians or any other citizens in the vicinity.

On February 6, 1788, Armenta proceeded to the Cañon de San Diego with the García brothers and performed the ceremonial act of possession, pulling up grass and throwing stones to the four winds, shouting three times, “Long live the king our Lord!” Armenta recorded the boundaries of the grants as: on the north side, the waterfall; on the south side, the junction of the rivers and also a point of a red mesa on the lands of the Indians; and on the east and west, the very high mesas on both sides of the canyon. Two witnesses signed the document, Salvador Antonio Sandoval and Nicolás Ortiz.

Ten years later, the García brothers, along with nineteen other heads of families (four of whom were also brothers of the Garcías)[i] petitioned Governor Fernando Chacón for a community land grant comprised of vacant and uncultivated lands in the Cañon de Jemez adjoining the lands of the Jemez Pueblo Indians. They stated that the settlement of the land would be beneficial to the province and advantageous for themselves and their descendants. They asked for the boundaries of the grant to be designated as: from east to west to the middle arroyo called los Torreones and the line running from north to south to the Vallecito de la Cueva which is in front of the waterfall, and in a transverse line from the aforementioned arroyo to the Rito de la Jara. On March 6, 1798, Governor Chacon granted the land in the name of the king under the following conditions: 1) at least twenty citizens settle on the land; 2) the land be distributed in equal portions; 3) the lands descend from father to son or his heirs; and 4) the grantees were prohibited from selling or otherwise disposing of the lands granted. A settler could be replaced with another, with preference given to existing residents or persons marrying into the community under the express condition that no remuneration be made to the person relinquishing their share of the grant. In addition, the governor ordered a sufficient amount of land set aside for communal pasturage and watering and for settlement growth. He then ordered the chief alcalde of the jurisdiction, Antonio Armenta, to place the parties in possession of the grant.

On March 14, 1798, Armenta summoned the Jemez Pueblo Indians to the Cañon de San Diego and found that there were a surplus of 2,100 varas[ii] of land over which they had no formal rights, although claimed by them. Finding nobody else with a better claim to the land and in the presence of all twenty-one heads of household, Armenta conducted the ceremony of legal possession. Each settler received 300 varas of land, with the surplus reserved for the benefit of all. He designated the boundaries as: on the north, the Vallecito de la Cueva; on the south, one league of land owned by the Jemez Pueblo Indians; on the east, the boundary of the town of Vallecito; and on the west, the opening toward the middle arroyo and the Rito de la Jara. The act of possession was witnessed and signed by Salvador López and Jose Miguel García.

On the same day, the García brothers took pains to ensure that their rights to the land that had been granted to them earlier were protected. The brothers made public statements, before all the assembled families and the chief alcalde, regarding their rights to the land under the first grant. According to the document, all present acknowledged and agreed that they and their heirs would not interfere with the brothers’ rights under the prior grant. Therefore, the Garcías claimed land under the private grant as separate and distinct from the land they now claimed under the new community land grant.

The Garcías’ were prudent to document their claim under the prior grant, for in 1808, a dispute arose between them and the newer settlers. The latter alleged that the larger grant gave them rights to the entirety of the Cañon de San Diego. Refuting these claims, Antonio García presented his original grant documents to the chief alcalde of the Jemez district, Ignacio Sánchez Vergara, including the statement showing that the settlers had agreed to acknowledge the earlier grant. Vergara wrote to Governor José Manrique explaining the situation and noting that the Garcías’ title appeared to be lawful. He asked the governor to decide whether or not the land of the Garcías was included in the community land grant and for his authorization to make a copy of the grant such that, when and if confirmed by the governor, it could be placed in the government archives. On December 13, 1808, the governor responded that the situation required no decision on his part, as the documents clearly showed the rights and precedence of the Garcías. He added that since two former governors had recognized the Garcías’ claims, the other settlers had no right to appeal their case except to the royal audiencia of Guadalajara, as it was the only authority that could annul an act by a governor.

Petition and Approval of Community Land Grant (1859-1860)

Many years later, after New Mexico became a territory of the United States, land grants made by Spain or Mexico had to go through a legal process to be recognized by the United States. On June 4, 1859, the community of Cañoncito petitioned the US Surveyor General in Santa Fe for recognition of the 1798 community land grant of the Cañon de San Diego.[iii] That same month, two witnesses provided sworn testimony to support the claim. The brief statements indicated that the town had been founded about sixty years previously, had a population of about 300 inhabitants and had existed when the United States took possession of the territory. The surveyor general, William Pelham, noted that the trial for the case had been set for June 6, 1859 although there are no records from such a trial—only the sworn statements of the two witnesses as described. On June 11th, Mr. Pelham approved the grant and ordered its transmittal to Congress for approval. Congress approved the grant on June 21, 1860 under the name “Town of Cañon de San Diego de los Jemez.” Later that year, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States and the outbreak of the civil war precluded any further actions of Congress related to land grants.

Continued in Part 2

Note: the source of the information regarding the history of the grant can be found in the New Mexico State Archives, Land Grant Case Files, Court of Private Land Claims Case No. 100 and Survey General Reports Nos. 25 & 122.

[i] The other brothers were: Miguel, Salvador, José Manuel and Juan Blas Nepomuceno. Antonio Abad García was a nephew, the son of their eldest brother Vicente.

[ii] The Castilian vara was a unit of measure equivalent to approximately 3 feet.

[iii] The petitioners were Francisco García, Jesús Baca and Pablo Gallego, on behalf of themselves and the other community members.