Arizona citizen., 1876-03-25
Arizona Land Grants.

accounted for on the ground that claim , ants were only waiting for locations to
 assume some value of consequence.
 Three years ago, it having become the
 interest of certain parties 10 ascertain
 something reliable about land grants in
 Arizona, Mir R c. Hopkins, of San
 Francisco and prominent in Califor
 nia Spanish land grant lore, was en-
 gagged to visit Mexico and thoroughly | investigate the subject. His prelimi- nary report thereupOn was made Feb
 ruary :, 1873, and copy of tns report,
 shortly after Its filing in the General
 Land Office at Washington, was oJtaln-
 cd and published by the Alta Caliior
 mia newspaper While subsequent farther investigations have tended 10 d certain extent to lay the land grant ghost in Arizona, we have thought it of
 sufficient general interest to revive the
 report referred to above, and we publish
 it below. MT Hopkins, writing from
 Guaymas, says in this report:
 1 After several weeks of hard work l have concluded my examination Of the archives of Sonora, now found Ill tres, the present Capital of the State, and as ] indicated in my letter to you from that place, sent by the way of Tucson, l will { give you a brief statement as 10 the history of and the present condition of said records, and also as to the eXaml- nation l have made thereof.
 They go back to the year l66l, that being the date of the earliest record have found. All grants made between , that date and that of the Independence Iof Mexico, were made by the Governor ] of SpaIn, and those subsequently, made were given by the Treasurcr-GeneralO Ol the Department of Sonora and Slnaloa, of which the present Territory of Arl- Zona formed part, or at least the southern portion thereof
 The grants made by the Spanish Government, as well as those given aiterl the Independence of Mexico, were not pure donations, but were sales by the Governor to individuals who petluoned for the same Under the Spanish Gov ernmenI these sales were made m thel following manner: Any one desiring .to obtain a grant of land, made petl-, uon to the JueZ Sub-DelegGdo of the
 District m which the land was situated ! iJ was the duty Of this officer to cause . the land Co be surveyed anu appraised ! at its value per square league, which was generally very small-sometlmes as low as $j per league.
 After these preliminary proceedings were concluded, they were transmitted ] to the Gobcmador Politico y Militia 1.
 lntendente de Real Hacienda y JueZ PriVativO de Rentas, COmpOsiclOncs y Repartamientos de Tierras de lia Pro vIncias de Sonora SinalOa. This oii1- cer. who was the next in grade below the Comandante General, referred the matter to the Junta Provincial de Real Hacienda Provisional Board of Royal Treasury and, if approved by tnlsi Board. Il was returned to the GobcmadorI Intendentc. etc, who issued the tltleI for inc land and transmitted the same, | with the proceedings in relation there to 10 the Comandante General, whoI transmitted the same 10 the Vice key, in Mexico; the Comandante General, who had jurisdiction over the western Provinces of Mexico, resided sometimes in the city of Chihuahua and some times in the city of Durango.
 When the record of the proceedingSl was received by the Vice Key, he re ferrcd the same to the Fiscal de Real Hacienda Attorney of the Royal Treas ury). who gave a written opinion as to the legality of the proceedings, where upon It was referred to the Real I'll. bunal de Cuentas, and after receiving the approval of this Tribunal, 1t was returned to the Intendencia of Sonora and Sinaloa, there to remain as the re. cord evidence of title; and some oi these records have so remained m the |, archives of this country for more than two centuries.
 Before, however, the record was re- turned to the Intendencia, register was made of the grant in the City oi Mexico in the book called Libro de Nandamientos, Mesa de Memorials de ; Ia Contaduria, and so exceedingly par l ticular was the Spanish Government Tn making these grants, or rather sales, |; that proceedings were often sent back { to he amended. sometimes when the omission amounted only to the merest trifie. ,'
 After the Mexican Independence, and l under the law of the Mexican Congress of the 4th of August, 1891, the same system was pursued, except that the grants were made by tine Treasurer-Gen- eral of the Department of Sonora ana instead of the Governor h. tendente of the Spanish Government | and was not sent to Mexico for approV-. al
 The law of the Mexican Congress of the 4th of August, lS24, Tn specifying the rentas Tevenues) to be pald by lhG Department of Sonora to the General exccpts the public lands that k does not mention the same i| tbere being no express grant of the pup. lic lands by the General GOvcrnmentto. the Department of Sonora; and ihls Is the foundation of the grants oi lands Tn sonora and SinalOs, made between the dates of the Mexican Independence and the year 1852, the date ot the purchase of Arizona by the United States. The. foregoing is a brief history 0i the manner in which grants Of land nave been made in ihlS country by the Spanish and Mexican government
 As to the present condition of the. archives in which these grants are what l have learned nom hose emnloved in the offiCe and from my own judgment in the matter nave no doubt but that more than one-hall )f the records have been destroyed dur ng the civil strifes that have desolated his unfortunate country during the asst half century.
 There is hnMever- one ImpOrtant re-I 1