"To Hold for Themselves, Their Children, and Their Heirs": The Saga of Mexicano Settlement in the Lower Estancia Valley, 1800-1925

Author

Javier E. Sanchez, University of New Mexico - Main CampusFollow

Publication Date

Spring 5-17-2025

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on the mexicano settlement experience in central New Mexico’s lower Estancia Valley, where local settlers co-opted the settlement strategies and traditions of three successive political regimes and experienced a net gain in land ownership over the course of the Long 19^th Century. It invokes four major themes: settlement, culture, economics, and parentela (kinship). Regarding settlement, it explores the mechanics of mexicano frontier settlement traditions and illuminates how deeply rooted concepts such as presura, an ancient method of settling embattled frontier zones through seizure, occupancy, and utilization by the settlers themselves, are reflected in settlement patterns in the lower valley through the early twentieth century. Secondly, it elaborates on the cultural aspects of mexicano frontier society and explores the meaning of warfare with indigenous people and the effects of the incorporation of local semi-nomadic Indian populations into frontier communities, as well as that of the incorporation of those communities into larger indigenous cultural spaces. It explores the multi-faceted ways in which mexicano settlers used violence to protect their interests. Thirdly, it explores the complexity of local market economies and shows how small to medium family-based agricultural and mercantile enterprises were practical in their endeavors, maximizing settlers’ economic reach in boom times, while consolidating and holding onto their goods, lands, and herds during downturns. Finally, this dissertation centers on the role of parentela, or kinship, in mexicano frontier society and highlight its influence in economic relations and social organization. It elevates stories that link the experiences of criados, peones, and bandits with those of rancheros, politicians, farmers, and small merchants, including women, bi-ethnic people, and immigrants from Mexico. It closes with the observation that far from being pushed off their land, as many mexicano settlers were in the 19^th century; those in the lower valley eventually amassed over one-hundred thousand acres of land for themselves. By using this four-part framework to examine the saga of mexicano settlers in the lower Estancia Valley, I develop a model to synthesize a narrative regarding the larger history of mexicano frontier settlement across the Southwest Borderlands that explains mexicano land retention and expansion.

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Dr. L.M. Garcia y Griego

Second Committee Member

Dr. Larry Ball

Third Committee Member

Dr. Philip B. Gonzales

Fourth Committee Member

Dr. Barbara Reyes

Fifth Committee Member

Dr. Sam Truett

Language

English

Keywords

Southwest Borderlands, Frontier Settlement

Document Type

Dissertation

Recommended Citation

Sanchez, Javier E.. ""To Hold for Themselves, Their Children, and Their Heirs": The Saga of Mexicano Settlement in the Lower Estancia Valley, 1800-1925." (2025). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/420