The history of the Hispano occupation of the Piedra
Lumbre Grant, like the Polvadera Grant that borders it to the
south, precedes the tenure of the grantee to whom it was ultimately
confirmed. The first official record of its use by Hispano settlers
predates the 1766 grant by at least 30 years, and it is probable
that nearby settlements made use of this large grassland valley
to pasture their livestock in the 1720s.
José Riaño Tagle, a wealthy Spaniard who immigrated
to New Mexico in the early 1720s and whose main residence was
in Santa Fe, is said to have received a grant of one square league
to pasture livestock in the Piedra Lumbre area sometime during
the tenure of Governor Gervasio Cruzate y Gongora (1731-1736).
While there is no evidence of a grant document or that Riaño
lived on the grant, he did have a wooden house and corrals constructed
for his herdsmen.
In 1740 three brothers, Miguel, Juan, and Bernardo Montoya,
who already owned farmland in the Abiquiu area, submitted a petition
requesting a grant south of Riaño's one square league.
On 14 September 1740, the Montoya brothers took possession of
this area and shortly thereafter came to an agreement with Riaño
to use his house and corrals, and in all probability, his pasturelands.
After Riaño's death in 1743, the Montoya brothers' father,
Antonio, acquired Riaño's holdings in the Piedra Lumbre
from Riaño's widow in exchange for a house in Santa Fe.
However, the Montoyas were only able to make use of the land
until 1745 when Juan was killed and Miguel seriously wounded
during an Indian attack. When Miguel's father and remaining brother
died the following year, the Montoya family abandoned the grant
and left the Abiquíu area to take up residence in the
more secure Rio Abajo valley south of present-day Albuquerque.
The grant apparently remained abandoned until 1760 when
Pedro Martín Serrano (Serrano was ultimately dropped from
the surname), a lieutenant in the Chama militia and prominent
local landowner, acquired rights to use the grant from a kinsman
of Miguel Montoya, Domingo de Luna. Martín Serrano utilized
the grant through this arrangement for six years until 1766 when
he purchased it from Diego de Luna. He then petitioned Governor
Thomas Veléz Cachupín for a new grant, which included
the entire Piedra Lumbre Valley, but not the highlands area to
the south. The boundaries requested were: north, some red bluffs;
south, Pedernal Hill; east, a stony hill looking towards Abiquíu;
west, the mesa adjoining the Cañon de la Piedra Lumbre
(Mesa Prieta). In response to Governor Veléz Cachupín's
request that Martín Serrano indicate the distance between
boundaries and the number of livestock he pastured there, he
stated that the boundaries were approximately three leagues by
three leagues, and that he owned 480 branded cattle, 164 horses
and mules, and 2,700 sheep.
In his petition, Pedro Martín Serrano recounted
the earlier occupation and possible grants of land to Riaño
and the Montoya family. Martín Serrano noted that about
six years previously he had reached an oral agreement with Domingo
de Luna, lieutenant of the Tome militia and apparent successor
to the Montoya interests, to graze his livestock. Martín
Serrano also stated that Domingo de la Luna had transferred his
interest in the land to him. This was crucial to the settlement
of a later lawsuit by the Montoyas in favor of Pedro Martín
Serrano.
After recounting this history, Pedro Martín Serrano
asked Governor Vélez Cachupín for a grant of the
land encompassed by the above boundaries. Vélez Cachupín
noted that neither Riaño nor the Montoya family had settled
the land for the requisite period of time, and made the grant
to Martín Serrano (whom the governor called simply, Pedro
Martín), as a private grant. The grant mentioned Martín
Serrano's personal merits as one of the primary motives for making
the grant: "Mindful of the personal qualities and merits
of this party, he being a descendant of the ancient settlers
of this province," and contained a clause stating that Martín
Serrano would "enjoy and hold [the grant] in fee and dominion."
These factors, together with a clause indicating that there would
be no common use rights on grant for "pasture, water, woods,
and cultivable lands," make it clear that at that time Governor
Cachupín intended the Piedra Lumbre grant to be a private
grant to Pedro Martín Serrano, his family and his heirs.
Vélez Cachupín directed that the adjoining
landowners be notified when Martín Serrano was placed
in possession, particularly "the Indians of the Pueblo of
Abiquiú." If there was no objections to the grant,
the alcalde was directed to "cause permanent landmarks to
be erected on the boundaries." On 18 February 1766, Alcalde
Manuel García Pareja placed Pedro Martín Serrano
in possession of the Piedra Lumbre grant. The alcalde notified
an adjoining landowner, Geronimo Martín, who had no objection
to the grant boundaries, but he did not notify the Indians of
the Pueblo of Abiquiú as directed by Governor Vélez
Cachupín. It may not have been necessary to do so since
none of the boundaries of the Piedra Lumbre grant adjoined the
Pueblo of Abiquiú, but since the Polvadera grant to the
south did overlap the Abiquiú grant, and since he had
been ordered to do so by Governor Vélez Cachupín,
Alcalde García Pareja should have notified the Indians
of the Pueblo of Abiquiú and given them the chance to
accept or reject the boundaries of the Piedra Lumbre grant. The
Pueblo of Abiquiú would later complain about restrictions
placed on grazing on the Piedra Lumbre quasi-common lands.
At the same time, Pedro Martín Serrano's cousin, Juan
Pablo Martín Serrano, also a lieutenant in the militia,
petitioned Governor Veléz Cachupín for a grant
of the highlands area to the south of the Piedra Lumbre, which
had been included in the original Montoya grant and which ultimately
became the Polvadera Grant. Both the Piedra Lumbre and Polvadera
grants were made in February of 1766.
These two grants were challenged by heirs to the Montoya
family however, who filed a complaint with Governor Veléz
Cachupín. The Montoya heirs claimed both grants belonged
to their family because their forbearers had occupied them for
the prescribed four-year period, and therefore the family had
obtained ownership. Pedro Martín Serrano responded that
he had acquired ownership of the Montoya's interest by virtue
of his purchase from the Montoyas' kinsman, Diego de Luna, and
therefore the Montoyas had no claim against him. The Montoyas
subsequently acknowledged the legitimacy of Pedro's claim but
continued to press their claim against Juan Pablo Martín
Serrano for the Polvadera Grant. Governor Veléz Cachupín
considered the claims and counterclaims for six months and finally
in February 1767 awarded the Montoyas a grant in the Rio Abajo
to settle the case and revalidated title to the Piedra Lumbre
and Polvadera to the Martín Serrano cousins.
In July 1806 Mariano Martín, grandson of Pedro Martín
Serrano, petitioned Governor Joaquín Real Alencanster
on behalf of himself and his kinsmen, to revalidate the Piedra
Lumbre grant after its abandonment due to Indian attacks. Martín
described the grant as La Casa del Riaño and asked that
it be revalidated with the same boundaries as the original grant,
"so as to enable us to plant our fields under fence so as
not to interrupt the pastures that are [connected] with the places
of Abiquiú and Chama." Governor Alencaster asked
Alcalde Manuel García de la Mora for a report on the petition
and de la Mora responded that the grant was three leagues by
three leagues and implied that it should be revalidated so the
grantees "may cultivate the agricultural land that may be
under fence, as [it was] by the ancient settlers."
Governor Alencaster then revalidated the grant directing
the alcalde to place the settlers in possession "of the
tillable lands that may be under acequias that may belong to
them through ancient right." The governor alluded to complaints
from the residents of Abiquiú regarding pastures and watering
places on the Piedra Lumbre grant. It appears that the people
of Abiquiú did claim use-rights in the Piedra Lumbre grant
and should have been notified, as Governor Vélez Cachupín
had ordered when the Piedra Lumbre grant was first made.
Alcalde García de la Mora placed the grantees in
possession in the spring of 1807. This time he called the place
de la Piedra Lumbre and Casas de Riaños. The boundaries
were somewhat different: north, the same red bluffs; south, the
peak called Pedernal; east, the questa cita de piedra (the rocky
hill); and west, a black mesa. García de la Mora observed
the formalities of taking possession by pulling up weeds, casting
stones, and shouting "long live the King." The key
language which changed the Piedra Lumbre grant to a quasi-community
grant was the following: "The pastures and watering places
are common as to those in possession with the free right to plant
wherever there may be tillable lands that may be put under acequias."
In closing the Act of Possession, García de la Mora
attempted to establish certain rules and penalties that would
govern the use of the quasi-common lands on the Piedra Lumbre
grant. First, the Piedra Lumbre settlers were to put up fences
around their planted fields so that they would not be damaged
by animals grazing on the quasi-common lands, either from the
Pueblo of Abiquiú, from the community of Chama, or the
animals owned by the settlers and heirs of Pedro Martín
Serrano. Garcia de la Mora established the following penalties
for those who interfered with the pasture rights of nearby communities
such as Abiquiú Pueblo: The first time there was an infraction
[i.e. stock of neighboring communities damaging planted fields]
"they shall suffer (the damages caused) for the first time;"
the second time the penalty was twelve pesos and eight days in
jail; the third time the penalty was twenty-five dollars and
eight days in jail. These penalties were almost never imposed
but Alcalde García de la Mora was making clear that there
was a serious concern about grazing livestock from neighboring
areas such as the Pueblo of Abiquiú causing damage to
planted fields on the Piedra Lumbre grant. Alcalde García
de la Mora then placed the petitioners in possession of "the
ancient cultivated fields which this tract had which [were] apportioned
in equal parts so they might do their planting." This partition
of the Piedra Lumbre grant in 1806 established the Piedra Lumbre
grant as a class 2, Hispano quasi-community grant.kinds ofnity
grant is t is
The adjudication of the Piedra Lumbre, like that of the
Polvadera, was plagued by a number of questionable legal decisions
and practices, such as faulty genealogies and failure to notify
those in possession of the adjudication. On 29 March 1872, José
P. Gallegos, a resident of the Piedra Lumbre grant, petitioned
Surveyor General James K. Proudfit to confirm the validity of
the Piedra Lumbre grant to himself and a large number of other
claimants. As evidence of their claim, Gallegos submitted an
official copy of the 1766 grant. Based solely on the legitimacy
of the grant documents, Proudfit recommended confirmation of
the grant in the name of the heirs and assigns of Pedro Martín
Serrano. "The communal character of the extensive grazing
land on the grant, which had developed through many generations
of use, received absolutely no notice." A preliminary survey
of the grant undertaken in 1877 showed that it contained 48,336.12
acres. Congress, however, failed to act on Proudfit's recommendation
and the claim remained pending until the Court of Private Land
Claims was established in 1891.
On August 19, 1892, a petition was submitted to the Court
of Private Land Claims by attorney George Hill Howard on behalf
of 16 individuals who resided on or near the Piedra Lumbre grant.
He alsosubmitted an official copy of the 1806 revalidation document
as evidence of the legitimacy of their claim. While the case
was pending, land speculators Thomas B. Catron, José María
Chávez, and Ramón Salazar (Chávez and Salazar
were also involved in the adjudication of the Polvadera Grant),
filed as cross defendants in the case claiming they held conveyances
from the heirs of the original grantee "To legitimize their
claims Catron, Chávez, and Salazar concocted a greatly
distorted and abbreviated genealogy in which the grandson of
the grantee, also named Pedro Martín Serrano, was represented
as the original grantee. Conveniently, the alleged grantee's
four children had either moved to California where they sold
their interests to the speculators, or they had died, leaving
few if any heirs. The rights of the few resident descendants
of the alleged grantee were also purchased by this group of speculators."
The three speculators installed Chávez' son, Francisco,
as agent of the grant, who posted notices offering to lease pasture
to locals and commercial stockman and attempted to run off anyone
who did not lease from him.
On August 30, 1893, the Court of Private Land Claims ruled
the Piedra Lumbre grant valid and confirmed the entire area covered
by the preliminary survey to the heirs and assigns of Pedro Martín
Serrano. The Court, however, did not rule on the legitimacy of
the claims of individual claimants. Matthew Reynolds, attorney
for the United States Government, appealed the decision to the
Supreme Court, objecting (as he also did to the confirmation
of the Polvadera), that if these grants were confirmed without
specific claimants " . . . then where old papers can be
found in possession of private individuals, or among the archives,
although the grantee may never have taken possession of the property,
may have abandoned it a century and a half ago, yet if some irresponsible
Mexican can be found to swear he is the great-grandson of the
original grantee named in the papers the Court will confirm a
grant to an unlimited quantity in the abstract on the original
grantee, his heirs, and legal representatives. The danger of
perpetration of frauds upon the government under the present
construction of the act, is very much greater than it ever has
been from the forgery and manufacturing of title papers and deeds."
The appeal, however, was dismissed.
The real battle for possession of the grant took place
in Rio Arriba County District Court in 1894. "Little or
no attempt was made to assure notice and representation for all
parties who might claim adverse possession, so it is highly unlikely
that many of the residents, the so-called squatters, were even
aware that the adjudication was in progress." On June 2,
1894, the district court awarded thirty-seven fifty-fourths of
the grant to Catron and associates and the remaining seventeen
fifty-fourths to the claimants represented by George Hill Howard.
The grant was then partitioned, deeding the northern third to
the claimants Howard represented and the southern two-thirds
to the land speculators. All other grant residents and local
grazers were dispossessed of their land and grazing rights. Catron
subsequently became agent for the entire grant.
The Piedra Lumbre grant was officially surveyed by Deputy
Surveyor George H. Pradt in November of 1897 and found to contain
49, 747.89 acres. It was patented on July 21, 1902. |
