Land Grants and Water Issues in New Mexico

Primary Sources


To search for primary materials related to land grants in archival collections in the Center for Southwest Research visit the New Mexico Archives Online (NMAO).

Listed below are a few archival collections in the CSWR with land grant material:

Thomas B. Catron Papers, 1840-1921. MSS 29 BC. Catron was an attorney for Hispanic land grant holders. Series 301 has original records of 282 land grant cases of the U.S. Court of Private Land Claims, Santa Fe District, 1891-1903, from Catron's office files. Some claims contain maps.  A few materials are related to Arizona. All papers and maps related to land claims from the Catron Collection (except boxes 44 and 45) are in the New Mexico Digital Collection.

United States Soil Conservation Service Region Eight Records, 1919-1953 - Southwest. MSS 289 BC. Soil and water reports, some with maps and photos, etc. Includes material for various Hispanic towns in New Mexico, Pueblo villages, and Navajo, Pima, Hualapai, Papago, San Carlos and San Xavier reservations in Arizona.  The Rio Grande series (Boxes 16 & 17) is available on New Mexico Digital Collection.

Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation, ca. 1800s-1970s. MSS 553 BC. Title abstracts, some with maps, for New Mexico properties, particularly Bernalillo County, Albuquerque, and some rural tracts, former land grants, etc., throughout state.

Tonantzin Land Institute Records, 1911-2000. MSS 666 BC. Records of the group's work in defense of community and sovereignty; also materials on U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, land grants, water rights, management, court cases, surveys, acequias, etc.
 

See also:

The Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC), located in the basement of UNM's Centennial Science & Engineering Library (CSEL) , has the largest collection of maps and other geographic information about New Mexico, including some maps on land grants and water use. Selected maps are available in New Mexico Digital Collection.

The Fray Angelico Chavez Library, Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, has some of its awesome New Mexico history maps online.

Help Using the NMAO

 

For NMAO

Suggestion - limit by institution = UNM Center for Southwest Research (or can open to any or all.)

Use the search box to find your term or topic.  When your results come up click open the blue highlighted collection title.

When looking inside an individual collection inventory, use CTRL + F to open a Find window - type in search term to locate it in the inventory.

Tip:  We suggest you open a collection and then use the print bottom on the upper righthand corner.  It will not print out a copy for you, but it will save the inventory of the collection to your desktop for an easier to read and search format.

To view material in person visit the Center for Southwest Research inside Zimmerman Library. (in Old West Wing)

If you need help or have questions, contact cswrref@unm.edu or 505-277-3814.