Santa Fe daily New Mexican., 1897-10-07
LAND GRANTS DECIDED.
Court OF Private land Claims Handed
Down Decisions in the CieneguiiIa.
YalIecitO and santa Clara Grants
Before Adjournment.

The land court on Tuesday afternoon
took final adjournment for the term
The next term at Santa Fe will be held
on January 25, 1898, at which time all the
untried cases on the docket will stand
for trial, to be taken up in the order in
which they stand on the docket. A term
of court has also been called at Tucson,
Ariz., for January 10,
Before adjournment the court handed
down an opinion in the Andres Montoya
or Cienegullla grant, Nos. 2O4 and 243
This is the grant upon which the town OF
Cieneguilla, in this county, is situated
and the preliminary survey of the grant
covered an area of over $4,000 aores
reaching almost to the city of Santa Fe
and including the town of Aqua Fria
Tue decision of the court as announced
by Mr.. Justice Sluss confirms the grant,
with boundaries including 5000 or 1900
acres in the immediate vicinity of the
settlement of Cieneguills,
This decision will give great satisfac-
tion to the numerous owners of small
holdings southeast of Santa Fe as well
as to the people of La Oienega who have
for years had controversy with the
Cieneguilla people as to their north
boundary, the courts decision fixing the
dividing line between these settlements
at the top of the divide between the two
settlements, instead of at the old road
fixed by the preliminary survey. Messrs'
Catron & Gortner appeared for the claim
ants in this case and Assistant United
States Attorney Pope for the govern
ment.
The court, through the chief Justice
also decided the Vallecito de Lobato
grant cases, numbers 142, 2O4 and 236,
which were on trial all of Tuesday. This
grant as claimed covers 114,00O acres oi
fine land, along the Ojo Caliente river in
Rio Arriba county and in it is located the
town of Vallecito. The decision of the
court rejected the grant, the chiet justice
announcing that in the opinion of the
court there was at the date of the grant
in 1924, no power in the political chief of
New Mexico to make grant and that
even if he had the power he failed to ex-
ercise it in the case at bar. Mr.. F. W
Clancy and Mr.. George Hill Howard ap
p6hr6u IOT bIlo RTdub cldluubutb, MT l.. d
Catron for the owners of the TERRA ANA
rilla grant with which the grant claimed
conflicts and Mr.. Pope for the United
States.
The court also handed down decision
sustaining the governments objection to
the survey of the Canada dc Santa CLARA
grant, This grant is owned by the In
dians of Santa Clara and as surveyed it
is ribbon like affair 100 or 80 yards
wide and 20 or more miles long, being
| the valley of the Santa CLARA canon. The
governments contention was that the
survey should not 60 more than ten miles
west and the courts decision sustained
this contention, and In effect outs the
ribbon in two. United States Attorney
Reynolds appeared for the governmen,
and Mr.. j. Fl. Orist for the Indians.
The motion for a rehearing in the towr
of Bernelillo case, filed by the govern
ment, was overruled, Mr.. Justice Murray
dissenting.
The motion for rehearing filed by
claimants in the Jose Garcia case, No. 80
was continued to next term.
The United States attorneys Office il
busy this week making an annual report
to the attorney general of the work done
by the land court during the past year
An abstract of this report will appear in
these columns within q few days.