by J. J. Bowden The long depression in the United States following the panic of 1819, caused many adventurous Americans to consider Mexico’s generous offers of land for colonists who would settle along its northern frontiers. Under the Empresario system, East Texas was rapidly settled and developed. However, the…
by J. J. Bowden While Don Juan de Onate was marching northward during the conquest of New Mexico in 1598, he found the Piro Indians to be peaceful and receptive to the extension of Spanish control over their dominion, Onate was especially gratified with the friendly reception he received…
Doña Ana County is in south-central New Mexico bordering Texas and Mexico. The county is reputed to be named for the legendary Doña Ana Robledo who was renowned for her charitable acts in the 17th century. However, some records indicate that the true origin of the name is Doña…
Jocelyn Jean Bowden was born June 20, 1927, in El Paso, Texas, to Jocelyn Kennedy and Ruth Florence Holmes Bowden. He attended Austin High School in El Paso, graduating in 1944. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy on April 28, 1945, serving in…
by J. J. Bowden A fancied resemblance to the Spanish town of Seville prompted Governor Juan de Onate to name the most northerly Piro pueblo Nueva Sevilla when he visited it during his Conquest of New Mexico in 1598, Nueva Sevilla was situated on the east bank of the…
by J. J. Bowden About the same time that he was requesting the additional lands covered by the Fray Cristobal Grant, Pedro Armendaris was also seeking a grant covering a tract of land lying northwest of his original grant at Valverde In this petition, which was dated May 1,…
by J. J. Bowden On November 22, 1819, Pedro Ascue de Armendaris, the then Collector of Tithes and formerly First Lieutenant of the Garrison of San Elizario, petitioned the Governor of New Mexico for a grant covering a tract of land at Valverde for the purpose of cultivation and…
by J. J. Bowden Antonio Sandoval, a prominent resident of Albuquerque, petitioned the Governor of New Mexico, Manuel Armijo, on November 24, 1845, asking for a grant covering a tract of unoccupied land surrounding the Bosque del Apache and having the following boundaries: … from what is called El…
by J. J. Bowden Felicita Ramirez de Crespin filed a suit in the Court of Private Land Claims on March 2, 1893, against the United States, seeking the confirmation of her claim to an 18,000‑acre tract of land known as the San Acasio Grant. She claimed that her father, Serafin Ramirez, had…
by J. J. Bowden The common combination of large families and insufficient land prompted a group of thirty‑four colonists from Santa Cruz, led by Captain Diego de Torres, to petition Governor Gaspar Domingo de Mendoza for a grant covering a choice tract of vacant land located on both sides…
