Atrisco Land Grant

The Atrisco Land Grant (merced) of 1692 is one among many Spanish land grants in New Mexico. It is in the Atrisco Valley (Valle de Atrisco) south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The grant was established during the New World expansion of the Spanish Empire, as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Nueva España). Out of hundreds of land grants, Spain made only a few during the first 200 years of Spanish rule (1598–1821).

The Atrisco land was given to individuals who intended to found a settlement. Other grants were made to individuals, or to communal groups establishing settlements, or to Pueblo peoples for communal lands that they already occupied, such as the Pueblos of Sandia to the north of Atrisco, and Isleta to the south. Other nearby land grants included the Elena Gallegos to the east, created in 1694 for Diego Montoya, it has developed as northern Albuquerque. The Alameda was granted in 1710 to Francisco Montes Vigil to the north and extends west of the Rio Grande; the Carnuel was granted to the residents of Cañon de Carnué (Tijeras Canyon) to the east; and the Pajarito to people in the south. In the 18th century, the Crown granted land to genízaros, at the request of missionaries.

The remainder of land grants were made by Mexico (1821–1826) following the Mexican War of Independence. Many land grant claims were challenged after the United States took over the territory in the later 19th century, and 90% of Mexican claimants in cases that went to court were dispossessed. Some achieved legal ownership of their land under US authority. In the late 20th century, heirs to grantees voted to set up a company to manage their land grants together as stockholders. It is one of the few areas of metropolitan Albuquerque that has the potential for development, as the city in other directions is limited by natural features.

In 1598 under order of King Philip II of Spain, Don Juan de Oñate traveled northward on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (based on a Native American trail used by various cultures from the earliest of times) fording the Rio Grande, or Río del Norte, at the present-day El Paso. He claimed all of the northern frontier beyond the river for colonization by Spain. By the early 1600s, Spanish agricultural units dotted the 27 miles of previously unsettled Rio Grande Valley between the Sandia and Isleta pueblos. In 1632 a Spanish settlement had developed at the site of present-day Old Town in Albuquerque. In 1706 the Villa de Albuquerque was established, to include a presidio (military garrison).

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