Cleveland; San Antonio de Mora
By Kathy Erdman
Cleveland has its roots in the early nineteenth century, when Governor Alberto Maynez established a policy to open new settlement in the verdant valleys of the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Created to relieve the overcrowding of settlements nestled in the narrow valleys on the west and drier side of the mountains, the policy influenced the settlement of current Mora County. The major flow of migration to the Mora Valley came from La Jolla (Velarde) and Embudo in the Rio Grande Valley, and Las Trampas, Chamisal and Santa Barbara (Penasco) located in present southern Taos County.[1]
San Antonio de Mora (the future town of Cleveland), sometimes referred to as El Valle de San Antonio, was established as part of this migration. Abandoned in 1833 due to Pawnee raids, the village resettled two years later under the authorization of the Mora Land Grant.[2] Under the land grant, the Mexican government granted Jose Tapia and his daughter Carmen Arce and 74 settlers 827,621 acres, known as La Merced de Mora. The alcalde, Judge Sanchez designated two plazas as part of the grant: San Antonio de lo de Mora (Cleveland) and Gertrudis de lo de Mora (Mora). The conveyance of these plazas recognized the existence of these settlements before the grant.
With the arrival of the Santa Fe Trail, Anglo merchants began to settle in the Mora Valley. This combined with a move of the short-lived Texas Republic to gain land in the area, led to resentment from the Hispano farmers, resulting in a small skirmish at Mora in 1843. Four years later a joint revolt in Taos and Mora against U.S. occupation resulted in the killing of six Anglo-Americans. In response, an American cavalry unit from Las Vegas entered the valley and, “after fierce fighting in the village streets, used a cannon to level Mora.” Despite the prolonged period of conflict, American and European immigrants continued to flow into the Mora Valley. The tide of Anglo-America influence crested in 1892 when the name of San Antonio de Mora changed to Cleveland in honor of President Grover Cleveland.
Essay taken from "James J. Cassidy House" National Register of Historic Places, April 2005.
[1]. Richard L. Nostrand. The Hispano Homeland. Norman, OK. University of Oklahoma Press, 1992: 80.
[2]. Robert J. Julyan. Place Names of New Mexico (second edition). University of New Mexico Press, 1998: 87-88.
San Antonio de Mora, a part of the Mora Land Grant, is now the town of Cleveland