Abeyta, Federico (Albuquerque, NM), part 1
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Document Type
Audio
Publication Date
5-6-1981
Recommended Citation
Atrisco Oral History Project (MSS 565), Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of New Mexico.
COinS
Comments
Born in Atrisco on September 2, 1912. Family genealogy and the place where he grew up on Amalia and Aragón streets. His mother was originally of the surname Armijo, but the person who raised her changed her surname to Candelaria. Memories of his childhood; they had open range for the cattle as the Atrisco Merced stretched from The Río Grande to Río Puerco. He went to the Atrisco school on San Ignacio Road. He couldn't speak Spanish in the school as the language of instruction was English. Children were beaten by the teachers if caught speaking Spanish. Memories of his classmates and time in the school. He finished the 8th. grade and then he went to work in 'La Borrega'. His father passed when he was 11 years old. His experience as a sheep shepherd with other children and Navajo Indians who used to passed by the prairie where they used to herd sheep. He used to work for Isidro Sandoval. Las tiendas [general stores] in la Plaza Vieja de Atrisco. Las juntas de la Merced: Eduardo Sanchez was a commissioner of the Merced when his father confronted him due to abuse of power and deceptive practices to take the lands from poor families in la Merced. The commissioner elections of the Merced de Atrsico. Las elecciones eran cada cuatro años para elegir nueve comisionados. The West Land Corporation changed the system and elections. A pre-requisite to run for commissioner was to be an heir of la Merced. He mentions that there used to be fraud in elections. The intervention of the Courts in the management and distribution of lands in la Merced, las tazaciones [Tax impositions], and the corrupted practices of the commissioners that ended with peoples' loss of land and the eventual disappearance of La Merced de Atrisco.