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October 30, 2001 Dear Mr. Ephraim F. Moya: Thank you for your interest in the records housed at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives. Staff will provide searches of databases, catalog records, indexes and finding aids to verify the existence of pertinent records regarding your research topic. However, staff cannot perform research for patrons. Once the staff has identified the records pertinent to your query, arrangements can be made for you to view the records on-site. If you cannot visit the State Records Center and Archives, we can provide you with a list of historians who may be of further assistance. Based on your inquiry, documents pertinent to the study of land grants are available at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives. They are maintained within some of the collections noted below: (1) Spanish Archives of New Mexico I (SANM I). These are also known as the "Land Records of New Mexico" and are a microfilm collection that contains the Surveyor General of New Mexico and the Court of Private Land Claims case files. The land grant name of Sevilleta is listed on Microfilm Roll 22, SG 95 and PLC 55 and Roll #38. This information listed on the microfilm may be the same land grant that you are researching for your project; however, you will have to verify this data. (2) District Court Records. These are organized by county and contain litigation over land grants. Most of the district court records at the State Archives date from the territorial period (1851-1912). The subject card catalog in the Research Room will usually include references to specific cases that involved land grants; however, I did not locate any information under the name of La Joya land grant. (3) Land Grant Collection. These are Land grant documents donated by various donors. Napoleon B.Laughlin Papers. The collection consists of case files and a variety of documents such as wills, deeds, and estate records from legal cases handled by Laughlin. Series VII, IX, and X of the collection consist of documents concerning many New Mexico land grants, including the Las Trampas, Caha del Rio, Piedra Lumbre, Cieneguilla, Truchas, Antonio Martinez, Arroyo Hondo, Rancho del Rio Grande, La Joya de Cevilleta, and Tome land grants. (4) The agency will also acquire the working papers of the Guadalupe Hidalgo Task Force. This task force was established by the State of New Mexico to review, monitor, and assist the GAO in its investigation. Finding aids for the above collections may be accessed through the Online Archives of New Mexico at http://elibrary.unm.edu/oanm. The GAO has been collecting public comments on its report. The GAO report is completed and you can obtain a copy of this report from the GAO's web page. It appears that La Joya, New Mexico is located in Socorro; settlement; on the E side of the Rio Grande, on NM 304, 20 mi N of Socorro; Post Office as La Joya 1871-73, 1883-95, as Lajoya 1895-present. For most most of its long history, this inhabited settlement was known as Sevilleta, or more fully, La Joya de Sevilleta, Nueva Sevilleta was the name Oñate's expedition in 1598 gave a Piro Indian pueblo here, because its location on a bluff overlooking the Rio Guadaquivir, an early name for the Rio Grande - reminded them of Seville in Spain. The Benavides Memorial of 1630 mentions that the Piro name for the pueblo was Seelocu, meaning unknown. By the end of the 17th century, repeated Apache attacks had forced the pueblo to be all but abandoned, and it remained uninhabited until 1800 when a Spanish estancia was established, by the Robledos and Romeros, that took the name La Joya de Sevilleta. Although the Spanish joya means "ornament, jewel," it also can be translated "basin, hole", and the name here most likely refers to the settlement's location in a basin of the Rio Grande. Following its abandonment in the 18th century, the village was resettled around 1800, under orders of Governor Fernando Chacon; it was listed in Escudero's 1833 Noticias as Plaza Sevilleta and elsewhere as La Joya de Sevilleta and Pueblo de la Joya. US Census records showed it as El Jollal, then as Ranchitos de la Holla, then as La Jolla, essentially the name it bears today. If you require photocopies of documents exact references are required. Reference must include the appropriate citation needed to access a record; including; type of record, county, name of individual, date of record, volume and page. Fees for photocopies are 25 cents per page for paper documents and 50 cents per page for microfilm printouts. You can also purchase the Calendar to the Microfilm Edition of the Land Records of New Mexico for $10.00 each, excluding postage and handling. If you would like to purchase a specific microfilm roll from the Land Records Collection, each microfilm costs $16.00 for reproduction. Prepayment is required for photocopy fees and along with shipping and handling fees. If you have any questions, please call me at 505-476-7953 or email me at: jvillega@rain.state.nm.us Sincerely, José L. Villegas, Sr. Senior Archivist New Mexico State Records Center and Archives 1205 Camino Carlos Rey Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 |
| 2001.11.18 | Ephraim F. Moya |