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Maxwell Land Grant

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The grant was owned by frontiersmanLucien B. Maxwell.
An 1893 map of the Maxwell Land Grant in New Mexico and Colorado.
The lands of the grant reach from the Great Plains to the crest of the Sangre de Cristo mountains an east-west distance of almost 50 miles (80 km).
Baldy Mountain,12,441 ft (3,792 m) in elevation, is in the grant area.
Fishers Peakin Colorado is the northeastern boundary of the grant.

TheMaxwell Land Grant,also known as theBeaubien-Miranda Land Grant,was a 1,714,765-acre (6,939.41 km2)Mexican land grantinColfax County, New Mexico,and part of adjoiningLas Animas County, Colorado.This 1841 land grant was one of the largest contiguous private landholdings in the history of the United States. The New Mexico communities ofCimarron,Dawson,Elizabethtown,Baldy Town,Maxwell,Miami,Raton,Rayado,Springer,Ute ParkandVermejo Parkcame to be located within the grant,[1][2]as well as numerous places that are nowghost towns.[3]

The governor of New Mexico (then part of Mexico) awarded the grant to Mexican citizensCarlos BeaubienandGuadalupe Mirandain 1841. Boundaries at first were vague. The owners encouraged settlement on the grant lands. Beaubien's son-in-lawLucien B. Maxwellattained ownership of the grant and sold it to European investors in 1870.Goldandcoalmining,ranching,and agriculture were the principal economic activities on grant lands. The grant had been established and first settled on the basis of Mexican land law and practices. Anglo land law clashed with Mexican law resulting in many legal disputes about the ownership of grant lands and rights of the owners, settlers, and miners. In theColfax County WarandStonewallincident in the 1870s and 1880s several people were killed and the U.S. military had to be called in to maintain order. By 1900, the ownership disputes had been resolved by theSupreme Court of the United Statesin favor of the European investors, settlers had been expelled from the grant, and the European owners began selling off portions of the land.

Owners of the land within the grant in the 20th and 21st century include theVermejo Park Ranch,Philmont Scout Ranch,theNational Rifle Association of America,theMaxwell National Wildlife Refuge,Fishers Peak State Park,and theU.S. Forest Service.

Geography

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The Maxwell Land grant has an area of 1,714,765 acres (6,939.41 km2) in New Mexico and southern Colorado. The grant lands measure almost 60 miles (97 km) from north to south and 50 miles (80 km) from east to west, reaching from theGreat Plainsto the crest of theSangre de Cristo Mountains.The highest elevation in the grant isCulebra Peaknear its northwestern border in Colorado with an elevation of 14,053 ft (4,283 m) and the lowest elevation is 5,700 ft (1,700 m) near the town ofSpringer, New Mexicoat its southeastern border.[4][5]

The northern boundaries of the Maxwell grant are the south bank and southern tributaries of thePurgatoire Riverin Colorado from its headwaters near Culebra Peak downstream almost to the city ofTrinidad, Colorado.The summit ofFishers Peakis the northeastern corner of the grant. In New Mexico the grant area contains the headwaters of theCanadian Riverand its tributaries theCimmaron,Vermejo,and Rayado rivers. The southeastern boundary is near the town of Springer and extends westward almost to the 21st centuryAngel Fire Resort.Raton, New Mexico(2020 population: 6,041) is the largest town within the boundaries of the grant.[6]

Vegetation types are typical of New Mexico and correspond to elevation.Steppegrassland is found at the lowest elevations. At progressively higher elevations arepiñon-juniper woodlands,ponderosa pineforests,spruce-firandaspenforests, andKrummholz.Alpine tundrais found at elevations above 12,000 ft (3,700 m). Snowfall is heavy at the highest elevations.[7]

History

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Early days

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The land in the Maxwell Land Grant were originally occupied by theJicarilla ApacheIndians.[8]In 1885, Helen Hunt Jackson's report for theBureau of Indian Affairsreported the Jicarilla Apaches numbered 850 at Cimarron Agency, living upon what was called "Maxwell's Grant" in northeastern New Mexico.[9]In 1821, Mexico achieved independence from Spain and the new government of New Mexico continued the Spanish policy of encouraging settlement by makingland grants.[10]In the 1840s, during the last years of Mexican rule, in what have been called "grants of desperation," the New Mexican governor made several large individual grants to reward supporters and cronies, secure the borders of New Mexico against Indians, and counter growing U.S. influence, including fear of invasion of New Mexico by either the U.S. orTexaswhich was an independent county from 1836-1845.[11][12]

Beaubien and Miranda

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Carlos Beaubien(often called Charles) was aFrench-Canadiantrapper who became a Mexican citizen and a prosperous merchant inTaos, New MexicoHis partner,Guadalupe Miranda,was the secretary to GovernorManuel ArmijoinSanta Fe.On January 8, 1841, Beaubien and Miranda petitioned Armijo for a land grant. They had to swear that they would colonize and cultivate the land. Three days later, Armijo granted them the land on the condition that they put it to good use. However, Beaubien and Miranda failed to prove up the grant for the next two years. Taking possession of the delay was occasioned by an invasion by Texas, but on February 13, 1843, they asked thejustice of the peacein Taos to sign an order promising them possession of the land. The justice affirmed that he had marked the boundaries of the grant and that Beaubien and Miranda were in full possession of the land grant. Beaubien and Miranda gave Governor Armijo a one-fourth interest in the grant on March 2, 1843. Later, they gave traderCharles Benta one-fourth interest in the grant to promote settlement on the lands of the grant.[13][14]

The encroachments and the prominence of non-Hispanics in New Mexico caused a backlash. Padre Martinez (Antonio José Martínez) claimed the grant was illegal but a lawsuit was decided in favor of Beaubien and Miranda on April 18, 1844. Beaubien and Bent began settlement of the grant land along Ponil Creek and near the present site of Cimarron. In 1845, the first two Anglos,Kit CarsonandDick Owens,settled on grant land. In 1846, after theUnited Statesinvasion of New Mexico in theMexican-American War,Bent and Beaubien became officials in the new U.S. government of New Mexico territory. Armijo and Miranda fled to Mexico. On January 18, 1847, Hispanic rioters in theTaos Revoltkilled Charles Bent, Narciso Beaubien (the son of Charles), and Cornelio Virgil, who had established the Cimarron settlement. Beaubien survived as he was not in Taos at the time.[15]

The Jicarilla Apache, the original inhabitants of the grant lands, resisted white settlements until about 1855 when they were forced to sign a peace treaty with the U.S and began to move westward to anIndian Reservation.[16]

Lucien B. Maxwell

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Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell,born in Illinois, was amountain man,farmer, rancher, and merchant who married Luz Beaubien, the daughter of Carlos Beaubien. Beaubien hired Maxwell to manage his interests, and Maxwell and his wife settled first near the site ofRayado, New Mexico,in 1849. In 1860, Maxwell built a large home inCimarron,a stop on the Mountain Branch of theSanta Fe Trail.[17]In Maxwell's household was Deluvina, a youngNavajogirl Maxwell purchased from Apaches when they traveled through his ranch in the Cimarron Valley. Deluvina cared for several of Maxwell's children and grandchildren and later was a friend ofBilly the Kid.[18]

Maxwell made money by supplying beef and other commodities to the soldiers atFort Unionand to the Jicarillas living in the area. He acquired owernshp of all the land within the grant from the other heirs and lived in "frontier splendor"...lavishly hospitable to all visitors. "[19]He became one of the wealthiest men in New Mexico with the discovery of gold on the grant lands nearBaldy Mountainin 1867.

Maxwell sold the grant in 1870 for $650,000 to a group of Anglo and Hispanic land speculators called theSanta Fe Ringwho quickly marketed it to English investors for $1,350,000 who then found Dutch investors to issue $5,000,000 in stock in the Maxwell Land Grant and Railroad Company.[20]Meanwhile, Maxwell retired toFort Sumner, New Mexicowhere he died in 1875. In 1881, Billy the Kid was killed in Maxwell's Fort Sumner home, then belonging to his son Pete Maxwell.[21]

However, legal challenges to the grant erupted. A Mexican law of 1824 limited the size of grants to individuals to 48,000 acres (190 km2). According to that law the maximum acreage of the Maxwell grant should have been 96,000 acres (390 km2) as the grant was made to two persons, Beaubien and Miranda.[22]In 1869, a government survey determined that the Maxwell grant should legally only comprise 96,000 acres. A ten-year court battle ensued in which the new grant owners obtained title to all 1,714,765 acres (693,941 ha) of the original grant.[23]

Foreign ownership and violent resistance

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The ghost town ofTercio, Colorado.Coal mining was important in the early 20th century.

The new foreign owners faced a different property rights situation than was their experience. The right to reside upon and use the land in New Mexico was based on traditional practices and customs, common lands, and relationships and reciprocal obligations similar to the medieval practice of lords andvassals.Documents regarding land ownership were few and far between. By contrast, the Anglo system demanded the identification of owners, precise definition of what was owned, and legal documents substantiating ownership. Anglo judges generally did not understand the New Mexican system and favored the Anglo to the detriment of Hispanics occupying land in the Maxwell grant.[24]

In 1870, when the British and later Dutch owners took ownership of the Maxwell grant a substantial population of Anglo, Hispanic, and Jicarilla miners and farmers were living on the land. The gold-mining town of Elizabethtown had a population of almost 7,000.[25]By the mid 1870s it was a ghost town as the mines ceased to be profitable, but farmers and ranchers occupied lands and some of the miners settled down within the grant area. The Maxwell Land Grant Company intended to develop the resources of the grant which included coal, timber, ranch and farm lands and tried to collect rent from the inhabitants and expel those who refused to pay rent. The inhabitants claimed that they lived in thepublic domainor had been given the rights to the land by Lucien Maxwell. Protests erupted and on October 27, 1870 miners burned down the company's office in Elizabethtown. Soldiers were sent into Elizabethtown to keep the peace and more than a decade of legal battles began concerning ownership of the land.[26]

Attempts to evict the settlers on the grant, who the company called "squatters," were aided by members of the unsavorySanta Fe Ringof land speculators, several of whom occupied prominent positions in the New Mexican government. In 1875, in theColfax County War,an anti-Maxwell company preacher named F.J. Tolby was murdered which initiated a series of murders related to the dispute between company and settlers. Many of the settlers either departed or were evicted,[27]but in 1885 there were still 380 homesites, divided about equally between Anglos and Hispanics, in the grant area. The Jicarilla had been relocated by this time to a reservation west of the Maxwell grant land. The Maxwell Company's attempts to evict the settlers living on grant lands got help from theSupreme Court of the United Stateswhich ruled in 1887 that the company was the legal owner of the 1.7 million acres in the grant. Armed with the Supreme Court decision, the Maxwell company redoubled its efforts to evict settlers.[28][29]

The Stonewall incident in 1888 was the most violent of many incidents in the dispute between the Maxwell Company and the settlers on grant lands. The company had sold 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of grant land in Colorado to a group of investors including Colorado governor,Alva Adams.The investors intended to develop the land for tourism and sought the immediate eviction of the settlers. A large group of settlers, mostly Hispanics, gathered to protest and surrounded a hotel in Stonewall where the company's employees barricaded themselves. A gunfight ensued in which three of the protesters were shot and killed. In the aftermath several of the protesters were arrested and later convicted of inciting a riot.[30]

Most Anglos were either evicted or made peace with the company by 1890, but resistance by Hispanics consisting of raids on company property to cut fences and burn barns peaked in 1891. The company managed to quell the resistance by signing leases with Hispanic settlers which gave the company 25 percent of their crops. The company's top priority was to obtain clear ownership of the land and the leases were in accord with the Hispanic custom in New Mexico of "partido." By signing leases, the settlers acknowledged the ownership of the company. The Maxwell company was also mindful of the "wars" in other parts of New Mexico in which Hispanics had successfully organized to win partial victories over land speculators and developers.[31][32]

In 1894 the Supreme Court reaffirmed its 1887 decision erasing the last hopes of settlers for legal remedies to prevent their expulsion from the grant lands. By 1899 the Maxwell company had gained uncontested ownership of nearly all the land in the Maxwell grant.[33]

Land sales

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Dawson

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In the late 1860s, Lucien Maxwell sold more than 24,000 acres (97 km2) of land toJohn Barkley Dawsonfor $3,700.[25]The Maxwell Company later attempted to evict Dawson but his ownership of the land was confirmed by a court in 1901. Coal was discovered on the land in 1895 and in 1901 Dawson sold the land to C.B Eddy for $400,000. Eddy and associates created the Dawson Fuel Company and constructed a railroad to the site of the mines. In 1905 Eddy sold the mines and railroad to thePhelps DodgeCompany.[34]The mining town ofDawson, New Mexicogrew to have a population of 6,000 in 1913. In that same year an explosion killed 263 workers, most of whom were Hispanics and foreign-born Italians, Greeks, and others.[35]In 1923 another mine explosion killed 122 miners.[36] In 1950, the mines were closed and Dawson became a ghost town.[37]

Chase Ranch

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In 1867,Manly and Theresa Chasesettled along Ponil Creek. They purchased 1,900 acres (770 ha) for $2.50 per acre from Lucien Maxwell. Manly became the manager and owner of several sheep ranches later established in the region. The Chase family expanded the ranch to comprise 11,000 acres. The last descendant of the Chase family to own the ranch died in 2012. In 2013, the ranch signed a 50-year lease with the Philmont Scout Ranch giving Philmont the management of the ranch.[38]

Vermejo Park and Valle Vidal

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Valle Vidal is a high elevation valley looking toward the Sangre de Cristo Range.

In 1902, William Bartlett, a wealthy grain operator fromChicago,bought 205,000 acres (830 km2) of the grant along the drainage of theVermejo River.Under the agreement, he withheld part of the last payment until the Maxwell Land Grant Company evicted the last of the Hispanic "squatters" who had lived for many years along the Vermejo River. Bartlett's Vermejo Park portion of the grant passed through several owners during the twentieth century. In 1926, Vermejo Park became an exclusive fishing and hunting club whose guests included many wealthy businessmen andHollywoodcelebrities.Pennzoilbought the Vermejo Park Ranch in 1973.[39]In 1982, Pennzoil donated 101,794 acres (411.95 km2) of the ranch known asValle Vidalto the US government. This area is managed by theUS Forest Service.In 1992 media ownerTed Turnerpurchased the property from Pennzoil. He used much of the former cattle pasturage forbison,[40]traditionally called buffalo in North America.[41]He opened the Vermejo Park lodge to paying guests, mostly fishermen and hunters. Atlas Energy Group produces gas on the ranch. The Vermejo Park Ranch consists of 550,000 acres (2,200 km2), most of which was part of the Maxwell Land Grant.[42][43]

Philmont

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Waite Phillips home, now owned by Philmont Scout Ranch.

Beginning in 1922,Waite Phillips,an oilman fromTulsa, Oklahoma,assembled a block of land on the Maxwell Land Grant. Phillips bought over 300,000 acres (1,200 km2), and named his ranchPhilmont.In two separate gifts in 1938 and 1941, Phillips donated 127,395 acres (515.55 km2) as a wilderness camping area for theBoy Scouts of America.In 1963,Norton Clapp,an officer of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, donated another piece of the Maxwell Land Grant to Philmont.[44]This was theBaldy Mountain mining areaconsisting of 10,098 acres (40.87 km2).[44]

Other parcels

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The Moreno Valley andEagle Nest Lake,8,172 ft (2,491 m) in elevation, are located near the western boundaries of the grant area.

Cimarron Canyon State Parkextends along Cimarron Canyon from Eagle Nest Lake to Ute Park and alongU.S. Route 64.The park is part of the Colin Neblett State Wildlife Area, which consists of 33,116 acres (134.02 km2) acres of former grant land. This area was purchased by the state of New Mexico in the early 1950s.[45]

TheWhittington Center,founded in 1973, is the largest shooting and hunting complex in the world. It is owned by the National Rifle Association and covers 33,000 acres (130 km2) of the Maxwell Land Grant.[46]

Fishers Peak State Parkin Colorado is 19,200 acres (78 km2) in area. The State Park was established in 2020 by the purchase of a privately-owned ranch by the state of Colorado.[47]The Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge, 3,699 acres (14.97 km2), in New Mexico preserves habitat forwaterfowland other animals.[48]

Supreme Court cases

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Six cases involving the land grant went to the United States Supreme Court:

  • Maxwell Land-Grant Case,121U.S. 325 (1887)[49]
  • Maxwell Land-Grant Case,122U.S. 365 (1887)[50]
  • Interstate Land Co. v. Maxwell Land Grant Co.,139U.S. 569 (1891)[51]
  • Maxwell Land Grant Co. v. Dawson,151U.S. 586 (1894)[52]
  • Russell v. Maxwell Land Grant Co.,158U.S. 253 (1895)[53]
  • Thompson v. Maxwell Land Grant & R. Co.,168U.S. 451 (1897)[54]

References

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  1. ^Chilton, Lance (1984),New Mexico: A New Guide to the Colorful State.University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, page 301,ISBN0-8263-0732-9
  2. ^Fugate, Francis L. and Roberta B. (1989)Roadside History of New Mexico.Mountain Press, Missoula, Montana, p. 162,ISBN0-87842-242-0
  3. ^Stanley, F. (1952) "Chapter Thirteen: Ghost Towns of the Grant".The Grant that Maxwell Bought,World Press, Denver, Colorado, pages 205–230]OCLC5868328
  4. ^"Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo".General Accounting Office.2001. p. 25.Retrieved5 May2023.
  5. ^Google Earth Pro
  6. ^American Guide Series: Colorado, A Guide to the Highest State.New York: Hastings House. 1941. p. 377.
  7. ^"New Mexico – Climate".Encyclopædia Britannica.Retrieved2021-08-03.
  8. ^Montoya, Maria E. (2002).Translating property: the Maxwell Land Grant and the conflict over land in the American West, 1840-1900.Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 21.ISBN0-520-22744-1.
  9. ^Jackson, Helen Hunt (1995).Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government's Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes.University of Oklahoma Press. p.441.ISBN0-8061-2726-0.
  10. ^Ebright, Malcolm (1987).New Mexican Land Grants: The Legal Background.Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 21–26. Chapter One inLand, Water, and Culture,edited by Charles L. Briggs and John R. Van Ness.ISBN0826309895.
  11. ^Lamar, Howard R. (December 1962)."Land Policy in the Spanish Southwest: 1846-1891".The Journal of Economic History.22(4): 498–501.doi:10.1017/S0022050700066717.S2CID154377195.Retrieved15 May2023.
  12. ^McLain, Robert A."Peopling the Picketwire"(PDF).DTIC.U.S.Army Corps of Engineers. p. 50.Retrieved10 July2023.
  13. ^Laurie, Karen P. (1976). "History of Vermejo Park".New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook.27:87–92.
  14. ^Murphy, Lawrence R. (1967)."The Beaubien and Miranda Land Grant, 1841-1846".New Mexico Historical Review.42(1): 30–32.Retrieved15 June2023.
  15. ^Murphy 1967,pp. 33–40.
  16. ^Pritzker, Barry M. (2000).A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Cultures, and Peoples.Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 12–13.ISBN9780195138771.
  17. ^Freiberger, Harriet (1999).Lucien Maxwell: Villain or Visionary.Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sunstone Press. p. 160.ISBN0-86534-286-5.
  18. ^Mills, James B."A Fitting Funeral for Billy the Kid".True West Magazine.Retrieved25 June2023.
  19. ^Lamar 1962,p. 504.
  20. ^Lamar 1962,p. 505.
  21. ^Kreiser, Christinee M. (9 December 2019)."How Billy the Kid Died as Pat Garrett Tells It".Historynet.Retrieved25 June2023.
  22. ^Ebright 1987,p. 26.
  23. ^Lamar 1962,pp. 505–506.
  24. ^Montoya 2002,pp. 4–5.
  25. ^ab"The Maxwell (Beaubien-Miranda) Land Grant and the Colfax County War".Sangres.RetrievedDecember 20,2015.
  26. ^Loosbrock, Richard D. (1999)."Managing a Gold Rush: Mining on the Maxwell Land Grant, New Mexico 1867-1920"(PDF).Mining History.Retrieved25 June2023.
  27. ^Loosbrock 1999,p. 3-4.
  28. ^Rosenbaum, Robert J.; Larson, Robert W. (1987).Mexicano Resistant to the Expropriation of Grant Lands.Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 283–287.ISBN0826309895.Chapter inLand, Water, and Cultureedited by Charles L. Briggs and John R. Van Ness.
  29. ^Montoya 2002,pp. 157–158.
  30. ^Montoya 2002,pp. 155–156, 191–202.
  31. ^Rosenbaum & Larson 1987,pp. 283–287.
  32. ^Montoya 2002,p. 57.
  33. ^Montoya 2002,pp. 157–158, 205–206.
  34. ^Pettit Jr., R. F."Maxwell Land Grant"(PDF).New Mexico Geological Society.Archived(PDF)from the original on June 14, 2010.Retrieved25 June2023.
  35. ^"The Dawson Memorial".The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA).Archivedfrom the original on June 30, 2023.Retrieved28 June2023.
  36. ^"GenDisasters... Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods - Events That Touched Our Ancestors' Lives".Archived fromthe originalon January 17, 2012.RetrievedFebruary 21,2017.
  37. ^Villa, Elizabeth (2022-07-06)."Dawson, a booming New Mexico mining town turned ghost town".Las Cruces Sun News.Archivedfrom the original on July 12, 2022.Retrieved28 June2023.
  38. ^"Chase Ranch".Philmont Scout Ranch.Retrieved30 June2023.
  39. ^Laurie, Karen P."History of Vermejo Park, New Mexico"(PDF).New Mexico Geological Society.Retrieved25 June2023.
  40. ^"Vermejo Park Ranch".Turner Bison Exchange.Archivedfrom the original on February 9, 2021.Retrieved2021-02-08.
  41. ^Alyssa Urish (2007-11-18)."Fans welcome new Ralphie".Dailycamera.com. Archived fromthe originalon November 20, 2007.Retrieved2007-12-05.
  42. ^Abel, Ann (August 23, 2016)."Big House on the Prairie: Inside Ted Turner's Luxurious Casa Grande on His Vermejo Park Ranch".Forbes.Archivedfrom the original on August 5, 2016.Retrieved2021-02-10.
  43. ^"Vermejo Park: A Ted Turner Reserve".
  44. ^abRayburn, Rosalie."Philmont Scout Ranch a major economic, social player in northern New Mexico".www.abqjournal.com.Archived fromthe originalon July 11, 2016.RetrievedOctober 11,2017.
  45. ^"Colin Neblett Wildlife Area"(PDF).New Mexico State Wildlife.Archived(PDF)from the original on May 8, 2015.Retrieved6 July2023.
  46. ^Associated Press(2 May 2009)."The N.R.A. Whittington Center Shooting Range in New Mexico Caters to All in the Middle of Nowhere".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on April 3, 2016.Retrieved12 October2017.(subscription required)
  47. ^Argueta, Brenda (October 30, 2020)."Gov. Jared Polis officially opens Fishers Peak State Park in Trinidad".KOAA News 5.Pueblo, Colorado.Archivedfrom the original on October 31, 2020.RetrievedOctober 31,2020.
  48. ^"Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge".U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  49. ^"Maxwell Land Grant Case, 121 U.S. 325 (1887)".
  50. ^"Maxwell Land Grant Case, 122 U.S. 365 (1887)".
  51. ^"Interstate Land Co. v. Maxwell Land Grant Co., 139 U.S. 569 (1891)".
  52. ^"Maxwell Land Grant Co. v. Dawson, 151 U.S. 586 (1894)".
  53. ^"Russell v. Maxwell Land Grant Co., 158 U.S. 253 (1895)".
  54. ^"Thompson v. Maxwell Land Grant & Ry. Co., 168 U.S. 451 (1897)".

Further reading

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