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<~' <br />Val <br />,Y <br />36 <br />registered until 1879, however. The Maxwell Grant encompassed <br />nearly two million acres, of which only about 1,130 acres, or <br />less than one percent of the total, is included within the <br />project area. <br />The remaining patents number 60, beginning with a homestead entry <br />in 1882, and ending with a coal lands withdrawal in 1965. Of the <br />._ patent types listed, coal entry was most frequently registered <br />(27 patents or 45 percent of the total), followed by homestead <br />entry (21 patents or 35 percent), coal lands withdrawal (7 <br />patents or 12 percent), USGS reservoir sites and forest reserve <br />withdrawals (2 patents or 3 percent each), and an indemnity list <br />base (school section) and townsite (1 patent or 2 percent each). <br />Patent entries are clustered during at least four time periods. <br />Seven patents, all homestead entry, were given in 1882-1885; 19 <br />patents (10 coal entry, 5 homestead entry, 2 USGS reservoir <br />sites, 1 indemnity list base, and the Weston townsite) between <br />1888 and 1894; 30 patents (15 coal entry, 7 homestead entry, 6 <br />coal lands withdrawal, and 2 Forest Reserve withdrawals) between <br />1902 and 1915; and 4 patents (2 coal entry and 2 homestead entry) <br />between 1919 and 1921. A single coal lands withdrawal was <br />granted in 1964. <br />Fr"~ The size of the homestead entries ranges between 40 and 160 <br />L- acres, for a total of 2,763.06 acres and a mean of 131.57 acres. <br />The first homestead entry was patented in 1882 and the greatest <br />number of patents (~=6) were awarded in 1884. The last homestead <br />r entry patent was given in 1921, and the mean date of homestead <br />entry patents is 1897. Since it takes a minimum of five years <br />to prove up a homestead claim (Friedman 1985:151), then the <br />~~ average year of homestead establishment in the project area was <br />1892. Looking at the spatial distribution of the homestead <br />entries, the earliest patents were made in the Picketwire Valley, <br />where the soils were most fertile and farming could be practiced. <br />=~ ~ Later homestead entry patents are distributed within the canyons <br />'+ that are tributary to, and north of, the Purgatoire River. As <br />= available land next to the river was reduced, settlements <br />` ', expanded into the canyons which probably had a few areas of <br />`;~ fertile soil. It is also interesting to note that the ethnicity <br />of ~ the homestead entry patentees is Hispanic. If a homestead <br />patent holder is required to prove his claim by occupying the <br />land, then we would expect that some evidence of that occupation <br />should be present: one or more buildings, foundations, <br />structural material, or trash. Therefore, it is expected that <br />~; ~ eas 21 historic sites related to homesteading will be <br />present within the project area and located near a drainage. <br />I'4 The 27 coal entry patents range in size between 35.54 and 160 <br />LL;; acres, with a total of 3,578.42 acres and a mean of 132.57 acres. <br />This first coal entry patent was granted in 1888, and the last <br />patent in 1920. The mean date of coal entry patents is 1901. <br />It is unknown what coal entry patentees were required to do on <br />the land to prove up the claim. If we assume, however, that soma <br />physical evidence of their claim was placed on the land, then at <br />~~. <br />