Land grants in New Mexico and Colorado
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Land grants in New Mexico and Colorado were awarded to individuals and communities by the Spanish and Mexican governments to encourage settlement and expansion of the Territorio de Nuevo Mexico, which included southern Colorado. Land grants by the Spanish and Mexicans between 1692 and 1846 numbered 291 in New Mexico, four partly in New Mexico and partly in Colorado, and three in Colorado. The land area of grants totaled tens of thousands of square miles. "The two major types of land grants were private grants made to individuals, and communal grants made to groups of people for the purpose of establishing settlements. Communal land grants were also made to Pueblos for the lands they inhabited."[1] The majority of the land area within grants was designated as common land for residents. Common land was mostly used for grazing cattle and sheep and harvesting timber. Smaller acreages within the grants were devoted to irrigation agriculture and home sites. The principal objectives of the land grants were to encourage the foundation of new communities and to expand the settled area on the frontiers of New Mexico for defense from Indian raids.
After its conquest of New Mexico in 1846, the United States adjudicated the grants and confirmed 157 as valid. The peace treaty between the U.S. and Mexico in 1848 guaranteed the right of former Mexican citizens to their land, but the adherence to that language was inconsistent and compromised by U.S. legal actions which were often corrupt and biased in favor of Anglo claimants and Anglo land practices. By the early 20th century, the Hispano grantees and their descendants had lost a large percentage of the grant land to Anglos and public domain national forests. Hispano protests, legal action, and occasional violence to regain or retain their traditional rights to usage of grant lands continued into the 21st century.