The NM Land Grant Council has requested the New Mexico congressional delegation to support legislation that would return the campo santo of the San Joaquín del Río de Chama and surrounding area to the land grant-merced. This particular instance is an important example of the challenges faced by our communities as a result of the failure of the federal government to properly adjudicate Spanish-Mexican community land grants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This campo santo, where ancestors of present-day heirs of the land grant are buried actually lies within a wilderness area of the U.S. Forest Service. The Land Grant has obtained permission in recent years to enter and clean the campo santo and is now seeking a return of this area to the the land grant-merced, with the support of our members of Congress and Senators.
Photo: The area behind the barbed-wire fence is the location of ancestral burial grounds of the San Joaquín del Río de Chama. It is located in the wilderness area just south of the Chama River.
