Land grants were meant to reward men who had served the state. They weren’t intended to encourage land speculation, nor were they supposed to countenance bribery. The Spanish government monitored them to ensure they were used as intended. In 1724, Juan de Bustamante questioned all the concessions made by Juan Flores Mogollón in 1714 along the Río Chama.
Antonio Trujillo claimed he had received land "which is wild and unsettled, on the opposite side of the Del Norte river" from Flores. He then "made a ditch and plowed up a field" that was shown as proof of occupancy.
His father, Diego Trujillo, had been granted land west of the Chama in 1714. Antonio’s apparently was the same San Gabriel-Yunque land granted to Bartolomé Sánchez that year. Trujillo described it as having a hill on the east bank of the Río Grande, and a table land reaching the Chama on the west and north. The Chama river was the south boundary.
Diego had married Catalina Griego, granddaughter of Juan Griego II. Antonio’s wife was María Márquez de Ayala, whose parents migrated from Mexico City in 1693. Witnesses for their diligencia matrimonial included Cristóbal Crespín.
Crespín’s grant also was called for revalidation. He said he had come north from Zacatecas with his mother, Juana de Ancizo de la Cruz. Since she was not given "even a small lot of land to enable her to build a house," he had enlisted with the Santa Fé presidio. He retired in 1714 because he had become too ill to serve. He had asked for an extension to prove settlement in 1715, because he was still ill. At the time, he complained José Trujillo was infringing on his land by building corrals.
His partner in the grant, Nicolás Griego, was the son of Augustín Griego and Josefa Luján. Angélico Chávez didn’t know Augustín’s relation to the family. Ralph Twitchell didn’t include the outcome of his grant inquiry in his summary of the Spanish archives in Santa Fé.
Cristóbal de Torres gave Antonio Trujillo "royal possession" of his grant in 1720 as chief justice and war captain for Santa Cruz. In 1724 he received his own grant for land on the Chama from Bustamante. He then gave lands to Nicolás Jorge, Juana Luján, Josefa de Madrid, Antonio de Sandoval, Juan de Serna, José Trujillo, Mateo Trujillo, Francisco Trujillo, and María Margarita Trujillo.
In 1731, Torres’ son Diego was tentiente alcalde in Santa Cruz when he petitioned Gervasio Cruzat y Góngora to clarify the grant. His father had died, and none of the subgrantees had made settlements.
This one was judged speculation by Cruzat, who revoked it in 1733. Mateo Trujillo had been granted land south of Santa Clara in 1700, that was revoked in 1724 because all he had done was erect a cross on two Sundays. Antonio de Sandoval lived in Santa Fé. Nicolás Jorge’s father had been sargento mayor of the presidio in 1694 when Crespín enlisted.
However, Diego must have been allowed to keep his family’s portion. His mother, Angela de Layva, made her will in 1727 in Chama. Angélico Chávez lists him as one of the original settlers of the community in 1731.
The term Chama was used for any settlement along the river, not just the one at San Gabriel-Yunque. In 1727 Pablo Manuel Trujillo of Pojoaque married Francisca Márquez of Chama. Marriages were contracted between all the families. One of Diego Torres’ sisters, María, married Antonio de Salazar. Another, Margarita, wed Bartolomé Trujillo, likely brother of José.
So many people were living west of the Río Grande by 1732 that Crozat ordered a ferry be established.
Notes:
Chávez, Angélico. New Mexico Roots, Ltd, 1982.
_____. Origins of New Mexico Families, 1992 revised edition.
Christmas, Henrietta Martinez. "Cristobal Crespín - Lands near the Chama River 1714," 17 April 2013 posting for her blog, 1598 New Mexico; quotation from Crespín grant.
Páez Hurtado, Juan. Petition in regard to the calling of their grants, in Twitchell; includes Bartolomé Lobato, Salvador de Santisteban, Antonio Trujillo, Antonio de Salazar, Cristóbal Crespín, Nicolás Griego, Nicolás Valverde, and Juan de Mestas.
Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. Spanish Archives of New Mexico, volume 1, 1914.
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