by J. J. Bowden
Albino Chacon filed the Spanish title papers pertaining to the Cadillal Grant in Surveyor General William Pelham’s office in March 5 1857.[1] The papers showed that Joaquin Chaves and twenty‑eight other citizens of Galisteo presented a petition to the Ayuntamiento of Santa Fe on January 31, 1846, registering the tract of land in the valley of the Cadillal Creek, which they had been occupying and cultivating for several years. They described the boundaries of the tract as being:
… from Tacubaya which is towards the east to La Joya which is towards the west; and from the Canada de en Medio, on the north, to the foot of the hills, on the south.
The Ayuntamiento referred the petition to the town’s solicitor, Manuel Baca y Delgado for a report. Baca, on February 7, 1846, reported that the land was uncultivated, was being used only as a pasturage for loose animals, and had only a limited amount of water. However, he noted the land was very fertile, and through their diligent labors, the petitioners had made it very productive. Therefore, he recommended that the grant be made, subject to the conditions that the petitioners fence their fields and not molest the animals grazing in the vicinity. Based upon this favorable report, the Ayuntamiento issued the grant two days later and directed Alcalde Jose Albino Chacon to place the grantees in legal possession of the premises. In compliance with the Ayuntamiento’s order, Chacon went to the grant on February 23, 1846, delivered possession of the concession to the grantees, and allotted each a fifty‑vara individual farm tract of land along the creek.
Since the grant was located entirely within the out boundaries of the Domingo Fernandez Grant, which was confirmed by Congress in 1860,[2] no action was taken on the claim.
[1] The Cadillal Grant No F‑90 (Mss , Records of the S.G.N.M.).
[2] An Act to Confirm Certain Private Land Claims in the Territory of New Mexico, Chap. 167, 12 Stat 71 (1860).
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