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TA,::- ("11 _ __ _ _ •• •• _ _ _ _ _ _ ,.ae_·.:!" - - - -- - - -.. ,:·!!4 __ ··EDITORIAL
por Maria Valdez
Oac:e again, tile fate of tile aoantaia tract and tit e
liveliltood of
11ulti-ge11erations of resideats of tile traditioaal villages of tlle Saagre de Cristo Laad Grant is beiag disc•ssed. Some of tlle disc•ssiou are beiag coad•cted by tlle Colorado
S•preae Co•rt wllile o tilers
wUI be lleld betweea tlle Taylor Faaily Estate and several 111 terested parties wll o waat to pucllase tile laad.
Tile ceaterfold aap, la
tllis p•blicatioa, was produed so tllat resideats caa view II.ow iaportaat tlle disc•ssioas of ta Sierra are to
tile coaanity. If yoa look
carer.Hy, at tlle aap, yo• will
see tllat aacla of tlle Coaaty
II.as fallea into'"tlae . ltaads of a few owaers. Tllis llas sllaped Costilla Coanty iato a developers paradise. Oa tile eut is La Sierra or tile Taylor
Raacll: a 77,000 Mo•ataia Tract witll creeks nnning like veias fro• tke ao•ataia
slopes. Alive wltll wood aad wild Ii fe, the v ilia ges la ave coae to depead oa la Sierra to
aaiataia a traditioaal
lifestyle tllat is q dckly
vaaisk lag 111 America. Tll is is tlle life blood of the
coaa ••ity. To the 11ortll is
tlle Rito Seco witll 2,200 acre Battle Mnataia Gold operatioa on tile llistoric El
Poao Miaiag District. To tlle
so•tllwest is Wild Horse Mesa
aad. tile aew Melby Raacll. To
tlle west is tlle Hecla Miaiag
Coapa11y, AKA, "Colorado
Aggregate" scoria aiae. Ia additioa, tllere are rngllly 27
.... ~~ ..
coaaercial land s•bdivisioas
wllicll create a cllecker board
grid pattern· on tile co•nty. Land sabdivisions iacl•de Forbes Developlllent and.
several otker large pieces owaed by tile Melby Fa• ily aad otkers.
Costilla Coaaty llas aad coatia•es to be nled by a few
individ•al corporatioas wllfrll
llave beea at work for aea.rly 150 yea.rs to gaia coatrol of
tke l~n-d, water, wood, and llllneral resources. A q•ick review of history ls aecessary to begaa to ••derstaad wlly a•lti-geaeratioas settlers are
beco •lag o•tsiders la aa area
tlleir aacestors were pro• ised
as coaaoa laad.
Wllea tlle So•tllwest evolved iato a proviace of Spabl aad later tlle Rep•blic of Mexico, ladivld•als aad
aore coaaoaly gro•ps of
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citl.zeas, wlao were wililag to baild, defead, aad establisk ecoao• ically prod•ctive
peraa11eat settleaeats, were
give• coaauaal titles to
laad. By 1821, Spaaisll proviaces becaae part of tlle Rep• blic of Mexico.
After 187.l aad tlle opeaiag of tlle Saata Fe Trail fo relg a trapper/traders wll o caae to Taos, fouad the deaocratic ideals of Mexico.
Dey· also discov·ered tllat tlley coald obtain laad graats
tllrougll legal loop lloles,
111 ter-• aITiage wi tll po werf• I
· faailies, aad friendsllip witla
politicos. Tllese early laad developers aaaipulated laad
graat c•stoas while
coatinuiag to pro• ise Mexico
coaaoa laad riglats · to
uanspectiag and tnstiag
settlers. However, oace tlae
area was occupied aad declared
U.S. Territory, ••der the
Treaty of Guadalupe IDdalgo, proaises were forgotten.
After aaay years, witllout
writtea docuaeatatioa,
settlers fiaally were able to
llave Beaubiea produe deeds
for coaaoa aad ladividual
laad. Soae wllo caae aay
llave aever llave obtaiaed a foraally wrlttea docuaeat, especially tlle poorer
fl.I.allies. IR a tiae wllea
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owaerslllp , especially in the
froa tier laads wllere tkere
were few offlcals a11d
custoaary uawrittea tradltioa
applied, aaay aay II.ave 11ever
recieved tlae deeds tlley
ea.naed. Wlaat ever tile exact
coaditioas, aaay settlers
EDITORIAL
From Page,5
por Maria Valdez
the land by William Gilpin
who purchased the majority of
the land grant from the family of Carlos Beaubien in 1864.
Event.ally the legal system,
with preferences for
Anglo-American concepts of well
documented single ownership
over Spa•lsla and Mexican
comma.Bal custoas, allowed for th.e crea.tio• a feada.l state oat of Costilla Co• n ty. Especially ••der tile directio• of Gilpi• wllo ffllS tile first Territorial Goveraor of Colorado aad dose frlead of tile Liacol• a.da iaistratio•. ·
Tile awesoae fact is tllat today, at tile hl'll of tile
% 1st. Cea t•ry, locals a.re
findiag tlleaselves o• a. few s• all pieces of la.ad
~1TO••ded by several powerflll la.ad developers aad •i•i•g coapallies witla
aoaey aecessary to obta.l• a.ad destroy tile ea vlro•• eat legally.
Tills year a. citizens
aoveaeat ffllS able to lobby
tile Co•aty Coaaissloaers to approve la.ad • se reg•la.tioas to coatrol private developers. Tills was a. loag aad dlfflnlt battle b•t it Is a. begia•l•g to protect tile la.ad. Tile Laad Rlgllts Coaacil ls also trying
to do its best to ask Ila.rd
q•estloas rega.rdlag co••••a.l rlgllts to la. Stern.. Tllese q•estloas llave bee• p•t before tile Colorado Sa.pre•e
Cout I• Deaver. Tile J•stlces
will llopefally coaslder tile lllstorlc bias of tile legal
systea wllea dea.llag witll
Spaala aad Mexlca.• laad
graats. It Is still oar Jaope th.t deaocra.cy will be practiced a.s it lla.s bee• preaclled.
A secoad type of direct dlsnssloa lla.ve a.lrea.dy be
aaderway betwee• tile Taylor Estate, wlao a.re a.tteaptlag to sell tllelr fa tilers laad
lloldlags a.s sbplar rtgllts.
T\e • lddle ••• betweea tll e
Taylors aad poteatlal bayers
Is tile Coaservatloa Faad of
Boalder . Altlloagll tile Fud laa.s aegotlated witll several private bayers laterested l• tile Taylor Estate, It seeas
that the Taylors remain
independent.
Once again the Governor and others a.re proposing to
talk to the Taylor Family
a.bout land purchase/swap
deal. This has been proposed several times in the 1970 's.
Current discussions with
i• terested parties 'will
·iavolve The Land Rights Co••cil, which. llas p•t an effective do•d over tile title
tllroagll Rael vs Taylor. Tile Costilla. Coaaty Coaserva.acy District a.ad otller Costilla.
Coaaty officials will also be a part of tile dlsnssioas. Oa J••e %1 tile State of Colon.do,
tllro•gll Director Kea Salazar of tile Dlvlsio• of Nat•ral Reso•rces, stated tlla.t Ile will coordiaate dlsc•ssloas oa
beltalf of tile goveraor. However it ls Jaoped tllat
otller grassroots co••••ity gro•ps like . Peoples Alteraa.tlve Eaergy Services will be a.t tile table to ha.la.ace views.
Oa tile sldellaes of tit ese disca.ssloas . will be •o•-resldeat tlalrd party
eaviroaaeatal a.cadeaics with
"carpet bags" fall of ideas to solvlag oar probleas tllro•gh proaotioa of tllelr lash tioas a.ad or persoaa.l goals.
At tills polat it will take a crystal ball to predict wkat will llappea. All we ca.a do ls look at lllstory a.ad lea.ra. Hopehlly, tllose iavolved i• tile dlsc•sslons will llave a.
stroag a oral a.ad etll ica.l core to •pllold tile peoples rights over tlleir owa i• terests. Co••••ia.l rlgllts • a.st
always be a pivotal point and ao represeatlve sltould
co•
a it tile laad to a. 1 arge debt th.at aay oae day be defaalted on for la.ck of revea•e. Tile co•• isslonaea hers ••st also reject plaas wlllcla force faad
raistag pay•e•ts tllro•g-ll
sc la ea es wk le ll sacrifice the
land a.ad its reso•rces to obtaia rights wllicll tra.dttioaal co•• •nities laistorica.lly retain.