Mexican Descendants Win in Colo. Court

abc ^ | 12/10/03

[knak]

Colorado Descendants of Mexican Settlers Win Court Ruling on Access to Ranch Land

The Associated Press

DENVER Dec. 10 — Fences that have kept descendants of Mexican settlers from grazing cattle and gathering firewood on a southern Colorado mountain will soon come down.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a state high court decision that concluded descendants of the original settlers had the right to use the 77,500-acre Taylor Ranch in the San Luis Valley.

"They never thought they could get it back, but we've won," Shirley Romero Otero, a descendant of settlers, said Wednesday. "Now I see people with hope and lots of pride."

Jeff Goldstein, a lawyer representing the descendants, said, "It's really a vindication of their rights. They've been saying this for over 40 years."

Stephen Kinnaird, a lawyer involved in the Supreme Court case representing the ranch owners, declined comment.

The 14,047-foot Culebra Peak and surrounding ranch land, about 180 miles south of Denver, became a part of the United States in 1848 after the Mexican-American war. Residents used it for hunting, grazing and gathering wood to build and heat their adobe homes.

The battle began in 1960 after North Carolina timberman Jack Taylor bought the land, including the mountain.

Taylor put up a fence and ordered that trespassers be shot. There were frequent reports of tensions and beatings between the ranch and the valley residents.

With the Supreme Court challenge scuttled, the descendants and the current owners must agree on a management plan for the property, as ordered by the state court, before access is allowed.

They must also trace property titles back to when the settlers first arrived under a land grant from Mexico since only current property holders who are descendants have access rights. The state court ordered the ranch owners to pay for that work.

Otero, 48, remembers joining her family and neighbors on a summer trek to the land to gather enough wood for the winter. It wasn't just a chore, she recalls, but a big social event where the children would play and everyone would picnic together.

"I just want to go up there, at my age, and enjoy the spirituality of the mountain, the beautiful surroundings and the peace and tranquility that it will bring to me," Otero said.

[bert]

.....I don't know the whole story here....

For starters, rely on James Mitchner.

Read "Centenial" and "Texas" to get the flavor of the interaction between Mexicans and Americans early on.

Mitchner is long but he did the research on complex historical events.

[nightdriver]

Do the taxes get shared too? (Oooops! My bias is showing again.)

[MARTIAL MONK]

When we got it from mexico any mexican claim became moot

Wrong. We agreed to honor the claims.

Had Kearney not made his famous rooftop speech promising security to those inhabitants who were quiet, it is likely that he would have been in a hornet's nest greater than the handful of California lancers that stopped him. Donophan's irregulars would have found their trip down the Rio Grande almost as unpleasant as the dirty sock incident.

[Quix]

Aren't we also talking about centuries of continuous use here by a certain family or set of families?

The land buyer should have researched this issue out ahead of time.

Continuously used rights-of-way can have similar results in court.

And old fence lines can take precedence over surveys.

as I understand things in the 'old west' where we live!

[Poohbah]

Much of the Southwest is under the Spanish "metes and bounds" system, rather than the American range and township system. (One guide: look for old--pre-1821--place names featuring the word "Rancho." That means it was a Spanish land grant, and was done under metes and bounds.)

Metes and bounds surveying is much looser than range and township methods.

Aren't we also talking about centuries of continuous use here by a certain family or set of families?

Exactly.

[MARTIAL MONK]

When the Americans occupied Santa Fe, one of the first things they did was drag out the old Spanish records and burn them. Centuries of intricately documented claims were lost. There were also many common law claims because farmers would follow the canals and extend them without patenting the surrounding land. Whites stole much of this developed land simply by filing deeds. The uneducated Mexicans lost thousands of claims.

Lost were claims for grazing rights as far west as the San Francisco Mountains in Arizona and deep into Texaz.

[Quix]

I acquired decades ago, a land grant deed and some associated documents to such a chunk of land. I don't recall where it was.

I think I eventually sent it to a library in California which specialized in such things. It was an interesting, kind of beautiful bit of history.

Thanks for your kind replies.

[Vidi_Vici_Vinnny]

"Aztlan and Reconquista are becoming politically imposed court imposed realities to be complied with. The claims for Spain announced by Cortez will be recognized."

You might be correct. The only salvation for us northerners will be the Treaty of San Ildefonso and the wisdom of Jefferson's payment to the French.

And somewhere there are a lot of pissed Indians.

[Doctor Stochastic]

To paraphras Luis Chama (in "Joe Kidd"): "There was a fire."

[tracer]

Descendant: one who descends (onto).....

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

advice to the rancher.

Burn the trees and salt the ground.

[MARTIAL MONK]

Somehow this thread got me thinking about an incident on Col. Donophan's march down the Rio Grande into Mexico. They had small cannon and at one point wanted to fire a salute with one. Discovering that they had no packing, one of the soldiers volunteered one of his socks. At the blast the sock wadding flew across the courtyard and wrapped around the head of an unfortunate on the other side. After more than a few choice words the poor guy allowed that he would rather be hit by grape than a sock worn continuously by a Missouri frontiersman for three months without a wash.