|
back to historical accounts
Having recognized that in this villa of Santa Fe there
is not the supply of water which is requisite to insure
the irrigation of the cultivated fields, in order to maintain
the families domiciled thereon; and having recognized that
this said villa has better accommodations for the reception
of the families which the King, our Lord, whom God preserve,
has seen fit to send for the settlement of this said kingdom
and its frontiers; and finding the Villa Nueva de Santa
Cruz already inhabited by the Mexican-Spanish subjects
of the King, our Lord, Carlos Segundo [Charles Second],
I assign them to said villa for the aforesaid reasons.
I, the said Governor and Capitán General, have decided
to go personally to the said Villa Nueva de Santa Cruz,
not only to prepare and order them, but also to inform
them that they need four houses; and likewise to examine
the lands, whose sections are uncultivated, being naturally
fertile, and being under irrigation as they are, and able
to use the water which the rest have had generally in great
abundance, assured by their ditches, clean and running,
which have been established at my own expense, as I have
also repaired and made their dam secure.
I order and command the nineteen families of the forty-four
which arrived on the 9th day of May of last year, one thousand
six hundred and ninety-five, who are the following, whom
I appoint, choose, name, order and command to go and settle
in said Villa Nueva, enjoying the same freedom, privileges
and respect that the King, our Lord, whom God guard, is
able to grant them.
…After their arrival at the said Villa, I, the said
Governor and Capitán General, will go in person
and place them in the said four houses, and I will also
order the Alcalde Mayor to divide the aforesaid lands that
he showed me and assigned to them. I will likewise give
each one three almudes of corn for planting…
…likewise this will serve them as a patent to be
residents belonging and assigned to the said Villa Nueva
of Santa Cruz, and as such will further their use of the
said lands, and their right to the pastures, woods, waters
and minerals, as it appears in the grant made to the said
Mexican residents of said Villa Nueva, and that the said
order made in their favor will be sufficient title for
the privileges derived from the grant that I, the said
Governor and Capitán General have assigned to them
in the name of his Majesty.
Don Diego de Vargas Zavala Luján Ponze de León
(Rubric) By order of his Excellency, the Governor and
Capitán General. Domingo de la Barreda (Rubric)
Secretary of Government [and] War
The decree can be found in its entirety at the Spanish
Archives of New Mexico, SANM I Translations, archive no.
817, State Records Center and Archives, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The April 19, 1695, proclamation and the subsequent possession
ceremony are at archive no. 882.
From Rivera, José A. (1998). Acequia culture:
Water, land & community in the Southwest. Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press.
|
