by J. J. Bowden
Florencio Sandoval filed a suit[1] in the Court of Private Land Claims against the United States on March 2, 1893, seeking the confirmation of the Las Lomitas Grant. He alleged that sometime prior to 1825 the Pueblo of San Felipe had acquired a grant covering a tract of land known as Las Lomitas, which was bounded:
On the north, by an arroyo; on the east, by the Rio Grande; on the south, by the lands purchased early in the seventeenth century by the inhabitants of the Pueblo of Santa Ana from Ana de Baca and Ana de Quitarío Contreras; and on the west, by the limits of he Pueblo of Santa Ana and contained about 120,000 acres.
Continuing, he stated that the grant had been subdivided and conveyed by the inhabitants of the Pueblo of San Felipe to a number of individuals. Sandoval, in turn, purchased all of these interests and, therefore, became the owner of the grant. However, he was unable to produce any evidence that a grant had been made. The only documentary evidence of his title consisted of the six deeds by which he acquired his interests. In closing, he prayed that the matter of said grant and his rights as the legal representative of the San Felipe Indians be inquired into by the Court and be determined by its decree. The government filed a general answer putting into issue the allegations contained in Sandoval’s petition.
The case was set for trial on May 20, 1697, at which time Sandoval announced that he no longer wished to further prosecute his suit. As a result of this action, the Court rejected the grant and dismissed his petition.[2]
[1] Sandoval v. United States, No. 156 (Mss., Records of the Ct. Pvt. L. Cl.).
[2] 3 Journal 219 (Mss., Records of the Ct. Pvt. L. Cl.).
Las Lomitas Grant; J.J. Bowden's research on land grant