Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-08
LARGE LAND GRANTS
Immense Tracts Owned by
Corporations or Individuals.
WORLDS BIGGEST FARM
STRETCHES OVER AN AREA OF
EIGHT MILLION ACRES.
NIL IL To 20 Tr0s
WORLDS BIGGEST FARM
Trains Take Over Half Day to Cross
It-owner Lives in a 100000
Castle and Rules $4,000 vassals.

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
ord-Herald
ALBUQUERQUE N. M, July 80, 1900
One of the most serious objections to the
admission of New Mexico to the Union Is
that a considerable portion of the territory
is held in large tracts by corporations and
Individual owners. Nearly all the avail
able water Is also taken up. which gives
the men who hold it the control OF the
pasture lands for leagues around them, and
thus shuts out the immigration and fetaros
development The Maxwell grant. which
included $50 900 acres. as l wrote you the
other day. has been largely cut up and
sold; but several other large bodies of land.
quite as important. are being held for
speculative prices by the owners These
grants were made to colonization companies
and individuals OF influence by the gov
ernmeut of Spain before the independence
of Mexico. and by the latter government
after independence, to reward pup-ic
servants and military heroes for their
services. to promote colonization anu ~
to enrich the favortes OF persons in
power. After the annexation of New
Mexico several of the grants We're con-
frmed by our Congress and others oy the
courts. Finally a special tribunal was APP
pointed for the purpose OF investigating
all claims of this sort and deter inning the
titles to all of the disputed lands IN New
Mexico and Arizona. That court. as GOV
ernor Otero stated in his interview the
other day has completed its work and mas
gone out of existence, leaving no ooDortu-
nifty for litigation to the ownership OF
land in the two territories ENORMOUS
tracts were confirmed to individuals VINO
had paid little or nothing for them; but
81 1jr
that was confirmed.
Grant to Duke Of Albuquerque
The city of Albuquerque originally stood
near the center of a grant of seven million
acres. made by the King of Spain to the
Duke of Albuquerque, who was one Oh MS
favorites, a hundred and fifty years ago
or more The dukes of that name nave
been important personages at the Spanish
court for many centuries in a poltlcai'
military and social way. They nave peen
very rich and have held enormous estates
in Spain. They have palace IN nau ID
have ranked among the most loyal ana
powerful supporters of the throne. But
whichever duke it was to whom the Dig
grant in New Mexico was gwen ne olo
not show any interest in his new posses
sion. He never did anything to colonize
or improve it, and from time TO tlme' ootn
before and after independence, PORTIONS VI
the same tract were granted 10 oIuei pe.
sons without remonstrance from the Alou-
oueroue family. Thus. when the matter
came before Congress. after annexation
the claims were so conflictlng anu coilus
Ing that none of them were conhrmed- anu
the whole grant was pronounced public DO
main.
Largest Farm in the World.
Seven millions of acres sounds ike
very large piece of land. but there Is a
larger one across the border In the state
of Chihua hua. 1t belongs to Don Luis Ter
razas. and is undoubtedly the largest Iarm
in the world. 1t contains about eight MIL
lion acres In solid tract; mountains
,asas and prairies. Its boundaries are
$50 miles from north to south ana loV lilies
from east to west, and the trains on the
Mexican Central railroad take more thah
half a day to cross it. Don Luis TerraZas
does not know how many cattle ne owns
but he is believed to have something over
a million head. He brands from 2oo'ooo 10
300 COO calves every spring. lie Is sup
nose5 to have something like 100000 sheep
md 1n0 COO horses, and employs more than
a thousand COW punchers, shepherds. herd
bosses and other cattlemen. He mas more
than 100 ranch houses scattered over ms
estates each being the Headquarters OF
division covering anywhere from ooooo 10
100 900 acres He has his own slaughter
house and packing plant near the city VI
Chihuahua, on the edge OF his ranch, where
he annually kills 2J0000 cattle and as many
sheep and a large number OF nogS, anu
sbips the carcasses to the capital ana the
other cities of Mexico upon his own re-
frigerator cars He also packs ana pre-
serves a great deal of beef. pork and othef
meats, but handles no animals lhae are hol
raised on his own place.
Non mis- lives in a castle which cost two
million silver dollars. 1t Is even more
magnificent than the castle at Chepultepec.
Love
II was brought from Spain. He lives IKE
one of the ancient baronS, monarch or all
he surveys. but Is an ardent supporter anu
Intimate friend of President DiaZ, and mas
several times placed his fortune and his en-
tire force of men at the presidents dis
Dosal He once offered to assume the pub
lie debt of Mexico. His Son-ln-laW, MI
Enrique Creel is the financial adviser OF
the administrator and was the most active
and influential force in bringing Mexico
around to gold standard OF money. Be
tween thirty and forty thousand people
i've upon the estate of Don Luis, and he
controls their destinies with power even.
more absolute than the Car of Russia
ever exercises in his domains.
The Mora and Other Grants.
Fortunately, there are no such conditions
In New Mexico. The largest tract of land
remaining undivided is called 1.-The Mora
grant" 1t lies in the northern part OF the
y, OAASS
belonged to a Frenchman named Beaubein.
one Of the original owners of the Maxwell
grant 1t was inherited by Maxwelfs wife.
and was purchased from her children by
Senator Elkins of West Virginia, Judge Ca
iron of Santa Fe and their associates. who
still own 1t. The land has not been offered
for SALE either in whole or in part but Is
leased In large sections to Mexican ranch
men for pasture at cents per year for
each lead of sheep and rs cents per year
for each head of horses or cattle. A large
portion is under cultivation. on shares. for
half the crop. and two men have contracts
for cutting railway ties and telegraph poles
in the timber that covers the foothills and
the mountains
The next largest tract is the Pabla Mon
toya grant. better known as the Bell ranch.
comprising about $4,000 acres, and owned
by the Waddingham family. a widow and
several children. living in Boston. One of
the daughters is the wife of Chief Justice
Mills of New Mexico. The property Origi-
nally belonged to a Spaniard, who received
1t as a reward for military services. His
heirs sold it to Mr.. Waddingham, a Yankee
pioneer. 1t is unusually valuable tract
of land, because it has so much water on
IL. 1t Is intersected by mountain streams.
rLn,r mot