The San Miguel del Vado Land Grant (also known as the San Miguel del Bado Land Grant) is one of the Spanish land grants in New Mexico. On November 24, 1794, 53 men submitted a petition for land and were granted temporary possession on November 24, 1794, pending satisfaction of prescribed criteria. A second grant was obtained by 58 men and their respective families on March 12, 1803. Two days later, the procedure was repeated at San José del Vado, north of San Miguel del Vado, distributing farm land to an additional 47 heads of household, including two women.
Thirteen of the original men who applied for the grant were genízaros, Native Americans who had been captured or sold into slavery. Some of them had complained of poor conditions and were granted lands by the governor for farming and grazing and to provide a buffer of protection against the raids of Plains Indians, primarily Comanche, who were menacing towns such as Santa Fé. In 1896, the Supreme Court decreed in "United States v. Sandoval" to reduce the land in the grant from the surveyor general's estimated 315,000 acres, including common lands, to little more than 5,000 acres then under private ownership.
History.
This land grant was in the vicinity of the Pecos River, below the Pecos Pueblo, which was eventually abandoned by the dwindling population of Native Americans, the remnants of which moved to Jemez Pueblo in 1838. A "vado" or "bado" is a word for a place where a river is forged. This vado was a meeting place for trade between the Plains and Pueblo tribes. It was a passage through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for the Puebloan peoples of the Rio Grande valley to access the plains for buffalo hunting. It became the passage for the later Spanish explorers, "comancheros" and other frontier traders, "ciboleros" and other buffalo hunters, Indian fighters, the Santa Fe Trail, Civil War armies, and later still for the southern route of the transcontinental railroad.
In 1540, Pecos Pueblo (then known as "Cicuique") had been the only pueblo to send a delegation of about 20 men, led by Bigotes, to respond to Coronado's open invitation to the Pueblo Peoples to meet with him at the Zuni Pueblos ("Seis Ciudades de Cíbola") following his "Conquest of Cíbola". Bigotes' men were multilingual and traveled as traders, emissaries, and spies. They enticed Coronado to appoint Captain Hernando de Alvarado to further expeditions eastward. Under this guidance, the Spanish saw the Tiwa Pueblos of the Rio Grande valley. Then they ventured further to Bigotes' Cicuique pueblo on the Pecos river, and through the mountain passage below, to see the plains buffalo further east.
The first permanent Spanish settlement in northern New Mexico was led by Juan de Oñate in the summer of 1598. Oñate's "pobladores" or colonists extended "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro" over 600 miles, reaching the San Juan Pueblo (currently Ohkay Owingeh) in the Tewa province and establishing the Hispanic settlement of San Gabriel in the Tewa pueblo of Yunque on the Rio Grande. Oñate rewarded the "pobladores" with "encomiendas" or grants of Indian labor, for meritorious service, obligating these "encomenderos" to defend the Pueblos and provide them religious instruction. In return for these "services", Pueblo peoples were required to pay a tax, or ‘tribute.’ Prior to the Pueblo Revolt, Pecos was considered to be the richest "encomienda" due mainly to the procurement and export of buffalo hides from the plains. Pecos Pueblo had long been a hub for trade between Plains Indians to the east and the Pueblo peoples to the west. In 1583 the Chamuscado-Rodríguez party described Pecos Pueblo as the finest and largest of the pueblos seen by the party. Pecos Pueblo may have housed a garrison of ten Spanish soldiers and their family members from 1750 until the establishment of the San Miguel del Vado Grant.
In 1794, the San Miguel petition was submitted with the partial truth that this was a genízaro settlement, in order to provide more viable argument for attaining the grant. The site was described as being about 20 miles downstream and southeast of Pecos pueblo, where the trail to the plains crossed the river, with sufficient space for both the petitioners and some of the more destitute residents of the province.
The criteria to be met by the grantees were as follows:
First. That the tract aforesaid has to be in common, not only in regard to themselves, but also to all the settlers who may join them in the future. Second. That with respect to the dangers of the place, they shall have to keep themselves equipped with firearms, and bows and arrows, in which they shall be inspected as well at the time of settling as at any time the alcalde [local head government official] in office may deem proper, provided that after two years settlement all the arms they have must be firearms, under the penalty that all who do not comply with this requirement shall be sent out of the settlement. Third. That the plaza they may construct shall be according as expressed in their petition; and in the mean time they shall reside in the pueblo of Pecos, where there are sufficient accommodations for the aforesaid fifty-two families. Fourth. That to the alcalde in office in said pueblo they shall set apart a small, separate piece of these lands for him to cultivate for himself at his will, without their children or successors making any objection thereto; and the same for his successor in office. Fifth. That the construction of their plaza, as well as the opening of acequias [irrigation ditches], and all other work that may be deemed proper for the common welfare, shall be performed by the community with that union which in their government they must preserve.
The boundaries were described as:
in the north the "Río de la Vaca" from the place called La "Ranchería" to "El Agua Caliente"; in the south "El Cañón Blanco"; in the east "La Cuesta" and "Los Cerritos de Bernal"; and in the west the place commonly called "El Gusano" (South San Isidro).
Following a period of about 20 years of development to meet the grant requirements, individual parcels of land were allotted by don Pedro Bautista Pino in the name of Governor Chacón's verbal order of March 12, 1803. Pino measured the total distance along the river that was under irrigation with the aid of his assistant José Miguel Tafoya. After setting aside a portion of land for grazing their livestock and sheep as commons and additional land for future inhabitants to cultivate under oversight of the justice of the precinct, the remainder was divided by the number of families to obtain the number of "suertes" or chances, and heads of families drew lots for their "repartos" or shares, which they were not allowed to sell for a period of ten years. Two days later, he repeated a similar procedure at the settlement of San José del Vado, three miles upstream from San Miguel, distributing farm land to an additional forty-five men and two women as heads of household. On March 30, 1803 Governor Fernando Chacón approved the grant.
The San Miguel settlers had finished their church by 1811, and in 1812 the Pecos Pueblo priest moved to San Miguel. San Miguel's population now outnumbered the declining Pecos Pueblo which was suffering from Hispanic encroachment of their land and Comanche raids. Following the Mexican War of Independence which ended in 1821, San Miguel del Bado became the administrative headquarters for the northeastern plains region of New Mexico with the election of an "ayuntamiento" or town council. In 1827 a detachment of Santa Fe "presidio" (the only formal presidio in New Mexico in the Mexican period) soldiers stationed at San Miguel classified as a separate company for protection against Indians and to reduce Santa Fe Trail smuggling and import tax evasion. In order to pacify hostile Plains Indians, soldiers were regularly provided with lances, firearm parts and trinkets for gifts. Bishop José Antonio Laureano de Zubiría, the first bishop to visit New Mexico in 72 years, visited the San Miguel church in 1833, describing it as "utterly deprived" and noted that "this parish church lacks even the most essential things for the celebration of the divine mysteries." The customs house was moved from Santa Fe to San Miguel in 1835. This military protection encouraged permanent settlement of the Las Vegas grant. The expansion of the increasing population of San Miguel into areas further south along the Pecos River and into areas of northeastern New Mexico (such as Las Vegas, Sapello, and Ocate) was also supported in an 1831 petition to the governor by José Francisco Leyba, the parish priest of San Miguel. He also included the observation that losses of cattle and sheep growers suffered under Indians would be lessened if Las Vegas became a permanent settlement with occasional military protection. The Las Vegas grant was completed between 1835 and 1838.
During the Mexican–American War in 1846 General Kearny's forces followed the Santa Fe Trail below Bent's Fort to invade and establish a U.S. provisional government of New Mexico. Prior to reaching Santa Fe, he gave speeches from house-tops in Las Vegas, Tecolote and San Miguel, absolving the people from their allegiance to governor Manuel Armijo and Mexico. He promised protection of life, property and religion to all who would peacably submit to the United States government, and death for those who would resist. After leaving Tecolote, the following events within the San Miguel del Vado land grant, as well as some occurring five years earlier during the 1841 Texan Santa Fe Expedition, were described.
Having marched twenty miles, we encamped within about six miles of San Miguel, near a small rancho, where we found plenty of water, wood, and fine grass for our animals. On the 16th, after a progress of six miles, we arrived at San Miguel, situated on the river Pecos, and famous as being the place near which the Texan army under command of Gen. McLeod, fell into the hands of Gen. Salezar and Gov. Armijo, in 1841. Here again Gen. Kearny, assembling the citizens of the place, as usual, on the terraced roof of some spacious building, delivered to them a stern, sententious speech, absolving them from any further allegiance to the Mexican government. When the general was about to compel them to swear fealty to our government on the sacred cross, the Alcalde and Priest objected. The general inquired the grounds of their objection. They replied, that the oath he required them to take would virtually render them traitors to their country, a sin of which they disdained to be guilty. Gen. Kearny having promised protection to their persons and property, as to other citizens of the United States, and also having threatened to subvert the town unless they should submit, they were at length induced to take the oath.
The army having proceeded about ten miles farther, encamped on the Pecos, near San José. Here the water was excellent, but the grass was indifferent. Bold springs of delicious water gush from the rocks. During the night of the 16th, while we were encamped at San José, the picket guard placed out by Col. Doniphan, took the son of the Mexican general, Salezar, prisoner. He was a spy, and was held in custody until our arrival at Santa Fé, where he was afterwards set at liberty. This prisoner's father, Gen. Salezar is the same detestable wretch who captured the Texans near Anton Chico and San Miguel, and treated them with such wanton cruelty and inhumanity.
Two other Mexican soldiers were made prisoners the same night. On the morning of the 17th, these last mentioned prisoners were by order of Gen. Kearny conducted through our camps and shown our cannon. They were then suffered to depart, and tell their own people what they had seen. To color and exaggerate accounts is a truly Mexican characteristic. They therefore returned to their comrades in arms, representing our number at 5,000 men, and declaring we had so many pieces of cannon, that they could not count them. This highly colored account of our strength, no doubt spread dismay through their ranks, and increased the desertions from Armijo's standard, which were already going on to an extent well calculated to alarm him.
Donaciano Vigil had,