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Los Lunas
(Valencia; settlement, county seat; on NM 6 and 314, 13 mi N of Belen; PO 1855-57, 1865-present). Many of the Lunas in NM are descended from one Diego de Luna, born in 1635. In 1716 the San Clemente Land Grant, which encompassed the present village of Los Lunas, was given to Felix Candelaria. Antonio Jose, born 1808, has been called "the father of Los Lunas." A sheep rancher, he married Isabella Baca, from a prominent Belen family, and became a civic and political leader. Their son, Solomon Luna, married into the Otero family of Valencia, thus uniting two powerful and rich Republican families that dominated regional politics for almost a century; Luna played a major role in drafting the NM constitution. Luna County and the village of Luna in Catron County also commemorate this family. Through the influence of the Lunas, the seat of Valencia County was moved from Tome to Los Lunas in 1876.
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