Did you know…?
… you are living on a 17th Century Spanish land grant? The Atrisco Land Grant of 1692 was one of many Spanish land grants made within the area now known as New Mexico during Spain’s expansion of their empire into the New World. Even earlier, in 1598, the notorious Juan de Oñate settled in the pueblo of
San Gabriel (Tewa) and Okay Owingeh (formerly known as San Juan). His cruelty toward Native Americans is documented and resulted in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 during which time, the Spanish presence was driven south to El Paso and Juarez. In 1692, the Spanish made another attempt to colonize northward by creating of the Atrisco Land Grant and awarding it to Fernando Duran y Chavez.
Fast forward to the early 1900s when President Theodore Roosevelt signed approval for formation of the Town of Atrisco, comprising some 83,000 acres. Between the time of the Spanish colonization efforts and the creation of the Town itself, there were many legal challenges to several land sales and other issues involving the Atrisco heirs and in 1940, the New Mexico State District Court took control of all land grant affairs. In 1967, Atrisco became a for-profit corporation and Westland Development Company became the corporate arm of Atrisco.
Between 1967 and 1990, various bitter disputes involving the heirs and the land grant continued to delay any further development. It was during this time that almost 2,000 acres of the land grant were sold to the Federal government for $33 million to create part of the Petroglyph National Monument.
Another fast forward to 2005 when residential development became more important because the City of Albuquerque had become “land-locked” between the Sandia Mountains to the east, and the Native American lands to the south and north of the City. To grow the City, the obvious solution was to build on the former Atrisco Land Grant. Bids for the land were made for some time and involved court battles and perhaps squabbles between those representing the Atrisco heirs. The final bid was by SunCal Companies of California in one of the largest land purchases in the country at $315 per share with a promise of $1 million per year for an Atrisco Heritage Foundation to honor the people and preserve the history of the area, and establishment of Atrisco Oil & Gas LLC to handle oil and natural gas exploration on the former Westland property.
The real estate “crash” of 2008 took its toll on this enormous undertaking and although a quick search through internet sources did not produce details of the transactions taking place during the intervening years, it appears that both Westland Development Company and SunCal Companies found it necessary to declare bankruptcy in 2011.
When you look at your neighborhood and work on creating your home on this historic area, consider the centuries of exploration, settlement, disputes between nations and peoples and the struggles that took place to allow you this vista overlooking the Rio Grande Valley and the Sandia Mountains to our east.
This article is not intended to be an accurate or definitive history but should be viewed as an introduction to the history of this area that might encourage more individual research into other land grant issues that are so much a part of our State. It is intended to create interest in our neighborhood. Sally Breeden
Interested in reading more about the Atrisco Land Grant?
