New Mexico Office of the State Historian

• Maxwell Land Grant
• Maxwell Land Grant-An “Astounding Piracy of the Public Domain

Maxwell Land Grant-An “Astounding Piracy of the Public Domain

Former Surveyor General George Julian published an article in the North American Review attacking the Beaubien-Miranda Grant as an “astounding piracy of the public domain.”  His article prompted the New Mexico Bar Association to recommend to Congress a special tribunal to investigate all unconfirmed private land claims in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.  This action led to Congress creating the Court of Private Land Claims in 1891.

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