United States General Accounting Office Report to Congressional Requesters GAO June 2004 TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO Findings and Possible Options Regarding Longstanding Community Land Grant Claims in New Mexico GAO-04-59 Contents Letter 1 Executive Summary 2 Purpose of This Report 2 Historical Background 3 Results in Brief and Principal Findings 6 Congress Directed Implementation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo’s Property Provisions in New Mexico through Two Successive Procedures 6 Heirs Are Concerned That the United States Did Not Properly Protect Land Grants during the Confirmation Process, but the Process Complied with All U.S. Laws 8 Heirs and others Are Concerned that the United States Did Not Protect Community Land Grants After the Confirmation Process, but the United States Was Not Obligated to Protect Non-Pueblo Indian Land Grants after Confirmation 11 Concluding Observations and Possible Congressional Options in Response to Remaining Community Land Grant Concerns 12 Chapter 1 Introduction—Historical Background and the Current Controversy 14 Overview 14 New Mexico during the Spanish Period, 1598-1821 15 New Mexico during the Mexican Period, 1821-1848 19 The United States’ Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny 21 Texas Independence and Statehood and the Resulting Boundary Disputes between the United States and México 24 The Mexican-American War 25 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) 27 The Gadsden Purchase Treaty (1853) 32 Organization of the New U.S. Territory and Procedures to Resolve Land Grant Claims 33 Factors Contributing to Different Mexican and U.S. Systems of Land Ownership 34 The California Commission Legislation (1851 Act) 35 The New Mexico Surveyor General Legislation (1854 Act) 41 The Court of Private Land Claims Legislation (1891 Act) 43 Land Grant Issues in New Mexico Today 44 Objectives, Scope, and Methodology of This Report 45 GAO’s First Report 46 GAO’s Second Report 48 Page i GAO-04-59 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Summary 51 Chapter 2 Congress Directed Implementation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo’s Property Provisions in New Mexico through Two Successive Procedures 52 Overview 52 The Surveyor General of New Mexico Investigated Claims from 1854 to 1891 54 The Surveyor General Was Assigned Responsibility to Investigate Land Claims in 1854 55 The Investigation and Recommendation Process Followed by the Surveyor General 59 Early Criticism of the Land Grant Confirmation Process under the Surveyor General 67 Congressional Confirmations Ended after Controversy over the Size of Large-Acreage Grants (the Tameling Case) 70 The Surveyor General’s Investigation of Land Grant Claims Became More Rigorous in 1885 74 Repeated Attempts to Reform the Land Grant Confirmation Process Were Finally Successful 76 The Court of Private Land Claims Adjudicated Claims from 1891 to 1904 77 The CPLC Legislation Established Specific Requirements for Land Grant Adjudication 78 The Scope of the CPLC’s Equity Authority Was Unclear 81 The Land Grant Confirmation Process As Implemented by the CPLC 83 The Federal Government Awarded Small-Holding Claims within Rejected Land Grants 91 The Percentage of Acreage Awarded during the Two Confirmation Processes Is Substantially Higher Than Commonly Reported 92 Summary 96 Chapter 3 Heirs and Others Are Concerned That the United States Did Not Protect Community Land Grants during the Confirmation Process, but the Process Complied with All U.S. Laws 97 Overview 97 Land Grant Heirs and Others Have Concerns about the Results of the Confirmation Procedures for Community Land Grants 100 Acreage and Patenting Issues Regarding the 105 Confirmed Page ii GAO-04-59 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Community Land Grants 100 Issues Regarding the 49 Wholly Rejected Community Land Grants 108 Studies Have Focused on Three Core Reasons for Rejected Acreage 112 The Courts Restricted Seven Confirmed Grants to Their Individual Allotments (the Sandoval Case) 113 The CPLC Rejected Grants Made by Unauthorized Officials (the Cambuston and Vigil Cases) 118 The CPLC Rejected Grants That Relied on Copies Made by Unauthorized Officials (the Hayes Case) 121 Land Grant Heirs and Others Have Additional Concerns about the Fairness and Equity of the Confirmation Procedures Followed for Evaluating Community Land Grant Claims 124 Perceived Fairness and Due Process Issues with the Surveyor General Procedures 124 Perceived Equity Issues with the CPLC Process 140 Any Conflict between the Confirmation Statutes and the Treaty Would Have to Be Resolved under International Law or by Additional Congressional Action 141 Summary 144 Chapter 4 Heirs and Others Are Concerned That the United States Did Not Protect Community Land Grants after the Confirmation Process, but the United States Was Not Obligated to Protect Non-Pueblo Indian Lands Grants after Confirmation 146 Overview 146 Heirs Claim That the United States Had a Fiduciary Duty to Protect Confirmed Land Grants 147 Heirs Transferred Some Community Lands to Private Ownership 149 Private Arrangements with Attorneys Resulted in Loss of Community Lands 150 Partitioning Suits Led to Breakup of Common Lands 151 Property Taxes and Subsequent Foreclosures Led to Loss of Land Ownership 152 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Provided No Special Protections for Community Land Grants After Confirmation 153 The U.S. Government Currently Has a Fiduciary Duty to Protect Pueblo Indian Lands 156 Summary 160 Page iii GAO-04-59 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Chapter 5 Concluding Observations and Possible Congressional Options in Response to Remaining Community Land Grant Concerns 161 Overview 161 Potential Considerations in Determining Whether Any Additional Action May Be Appropriate 162 Possible Congressional Options for Response to Remaining Concerns 164 Summary 170 Appendix I Confirmation of Land Grants under the Louisiana Purchase and Florida Treaties 171 The Louisiana Purchase Treaty 173 The Florida Treaty 175 Appendix II Articles VIII, IX, and Deleted Article X of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 177 Appendix III Excerpts from the Protocol of Querétaro 178 Appendix IV Excerpts from the Treaty Regarding the Gadsden Purchase 179 Appendix V Excerpts from the 1851 Act to Confirm California Land Grants 180 Appendix VI Excerpts from the 1854 Act Establishing the Office of the Surveyor General of New Mexico 183 Page iv GAO-04-59 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Appendix VII Excerpts from the 1891 Act Establishing the Court of Private Land Claims 184 Appendix VIII Organizations and Individuals Contacted for GAO’s Reports 189 Appendix IX Instructions Issued by Interior to the Surveyor General of New Mexico as Required by the 1854 Act 193 Appendix X Data on the 295 Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico 200 Appendix XI Results of Evaluations of Claims for Land Grants in New Mexico 209 Appendix XII Current Land Ownership within Originally Claimed Grant Boundaries 214 Appendix XIII Contacts and Staff Acknowledgements 221 Tables Table 1: Establishment of Surveyors General for the Southwestern United States 41 Table 2: Surveyors General of New Mexico, 1854-1925 42 Table 3: Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico 48 Table 4: Overview of the Results of the Surveyor General Land Grant Confirmation Process of Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico, 1854-1891 60 Page v GAO-04-59 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Table 5: Grants Recommended for Rejection in Original Decisions by the Surveyor General of New Mexico, 1854-1891 62 Table 6: Statutes Confirming Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico, 1854-1891 65 Table 7: Time Line of Key Events for the Maxwell and Sangre de Cristo Land Grants 72 Table 8: Mexican Land Grants Confirmed by Congress in Excess of 11 Square Leagues per Person in New Mexico, 1854- 1891 73 Table 9: Results of Surveyor General Julian’s Supplemental Reports, 1885-1889 75 Table 10: Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico for Which Claims Were Filed with the CPLC, 1891-1904 85 Table 11: Number of New Mexico Grants for Which Claims Were Filed and Ultimately Decided on Their Merits by the CPLC 87 Table 12: Number of Grants in New Mexico Confirmed or Rejected by the CPLC, 1891-1904 88 Table 13: CPLC Decisions Reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court 89 Table 14: Acreage Awarded for Spanish and Mexican Community and Individual Land Grants during the Surveyor General and the CPLC Land Grant Confirmation Processes in New Mexico with and without Adjustments (Subtractions) by GAO 93 Table 15: Summary of Adjusted Acreage Claimed in the CPLC’s 1904 Report 94 Table 16: Percentage of Acreage Awarded for Community and Individual Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico, As Adjusted by GAO 94 Table 17: Percentage of Spanish and Mexican Land Grants Confirmed in New Mexico, with and without Adjustments for Claims Not Pursued 96 Table 18: Results for the 105 Community Land Grants in New Mexico Confirmed in Part or Whole 101 Table 19: Community Land Grants with Boundary Disputes Adjudicated by the CPLC, 1891-1904 104 Table 20: Results for the 49 Wholly Rejected Community Land Grants in New Mexico 108 Table 21: Community Land Grants That Claimants Failed to Pursue and Possible Explanations for This Failure 109 Page vi GAO-04-59 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Table 22: Community Land Grants Rejected for a Variety of Legal Reasons Unrelated to Authority of Granting Official or Grant-Copying Official 111 Table 23: Community Land Grants Restricted to Their Individual Allotments 113 Table 24: Decisions by the CPLC for Seven Community Land Grants That Were Ultimately Restricted to Their Individual