Rufus Wheeler Peckham

“ Don Bartolom e Baca, captain of the volunteer militia company of cavalry of the villa of Alburquerque, residing in the jurisdiction of Tome, before you with the greatest respect and subordination, as by law required, represents: That he has a number of sheep, horned cattle, and horses, without legitimate property on which to keep them together under shepherds, cattle herders, and horse herders, to take care of them, and secure their safety, they now roving over different places, exposed to all the contingencies arising from their being scattered. ”

“ It is my will that my burial be humble, and with mass, with the body present. I also declare that I am lawfully married, in facie ecclesiae, to Dona Maria De La Luz Chaves, from which marriage we have had and have, as our legitimate children, Maria Rita, Manuela Antonia, Maria Manuela, Juan, Manuel, and Maria Lugarda. ”

“ In regard to proof of the fact of pasturing cattle as evidence of an adverse possession upon which to base a claim of title, we have held that such fact is of very slight weight when applied to cases arising under alleged grants of land of the nature of the one under consideration. ”

“ After a full consideration of the case, we must hold there is not sufficient evidence to show that at the time of the cession of the territory of New Mexico to the United States the predecessors or grantors of the petitioner had any title of any kind whatever, perfect or imperfect, to the land described in the petition herein, and, consequently, there could be no confirmation of any alleged imperfect title or grant. ”

“ He never himself resided on the land, but, subsequently to his taking possession from the alcalde, and at different times prior to his death, in 1834, other persons, embracing in all a number of families, had come upon Baca's portion of the land, and had dwelt there, without any molestation from him, and probably with his consent, on account of the protection their presence would afford to his interests against the Indians. ”

“ There is also evidence of some small attempts at cultivation within a narrow range of land contained in the grant,-hardly enough to speak of. Some of the witnesses for the petitioner said the place was called 'Torreon' because Baca built a torreon there, and the people gave it that name for that reason. The accuracy of this evidence becomes doubtful, to say the least, when, by referring to the original application of Baca to the acting governor for the grant, he describes it therein as 'a vacant * * * tract called the 'Torreon,' and which extends,' etc., as described. ”

“ His father died somewhere about 1880, and after his death the witness took the box of papers that had belonged, as he said, to his grandfather, and kept it. He did not know its contents until he was looking for some papers belonging to his father, when he found what he describes as a part of the grant of a tract to Bartolom e Baca. Witness took the paper to Manuel Antonio Otero, who said, 'Let us search for the other part and I will buy it from you and the other heirs;' and then, after a further search, the other part was found, and these papers thus found are the ones above set forth. ”