Spain owned the territory of Texas and gave land grants t...

The oldest surviving record of a Spanish land grant in Texas is the · 1720 title to the San Jose Mission in San Antonio. This important document is housed in the · Texas General Land Office. Approximately sixty titles still remain of record from the 130-year span of Spain’s active

 LAND TITLES: Although Spanish settlement of Texas began in the 1720s, only about 30 titles were issued to · settlers prior to Mexican independence in 1821, primarily in the San Antonio de Béxar and Nacogdoches · regions. Between 1824 and 1835, however, land commissioners, alcaldes, and political chiefs issued over · 3,700 titles under the colonization laws of the state of Coahuila y Texas. These documents contain a petition · from the grantee, an order of survey, the field notes, and the title of possession.

Galen Greaser, while working at the Texas General Land Office as the Spanish translator from 1984 to 2011, amassed a collection of documents related to his work at the GLO and his publications about the GLO. The collection consists of material related to the history of the Spanish Collection, South Texas land grants, legal cases for which he provided research and translation services and research files on individuals and specific issues related to the land policies and laws adopted by Spain and Mexico in the settlement of Texas.

Early settlers coming to Texas received grants of land by the Spanish, Mexican and Republic of Texas governments. Spain issued land grants as early as 1716 to groups of colonists for settlement in towns, then to individuals beginning in 1767.

Spanish missions and presidios had been somewhat successful in pacifying the native peples of northern Mexico so this system was used in Texas, too. When Apaches and Comaches got horses after the Pueoblo Revolt of 1680, it became clear that ...

The Texan frontier saw sporadic French and Spanish settlements, but Spain tightly regulated access to its colonial possessions, and in response to the threats to the north from Apachería and later Comanchería, and European outposts in the Mississippi Valley, had considered ways to make Texas into a buffer state for New Spain. Spain also wanted to attract foreign settlers ...

studied within the corltext of Texas government nctiorls ratllrr than · those of the federal governnlent. While the Treaty of Guad;tlupe Wi- dalgo established Uilitecl States sovereignty th~v)ughout the Southwest · and generally protected property rights acquired under Spain ;uld · Mexico, the agreement did not establish a procedure f i ~ r set~lirlg land · claims within the ceded territories.

Cuaron Grant was issued by a Mexican Judge in 1847 and was therefore ... Aloysius A. Leopold, Texas Practice Series: Land Titles and Title Examina- ... Josiah F. Crosby became State Representative and instigated · age of an Act, which created the Rio Grande Commission.74 · Bourland Commission, the Rio Grande Commission was de- o investigate Spanish and Mexican land grants, but specifically

This Comment discusses the history of Spanish and Mexican land grants in Texas and the complicated issues of: (1) recognizing the rights of original land grant owners; and (2) distinguishing what remedies, if any, shall be given to their heirs. Part II provides background of Spanish and Mexican land grants in Texas, including the provisions included in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, and the underlying cultural, political, and social issues.