Wetherill
A History of Discovery
Tome, New Mexico
History of the Tome Spanish Land Grant
1739-1967
1739 125,000 acres granted to 30 Town of Tome
families by the Spanish Crown
1848 The Town of Tome Land Grant was affirmed by the United States
in the signing of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Treaty turned New Mexico over to
the United
States with a promise that land grants would remain intact.
1856 Claim was filed in Santa Fe, NM and a patent was issued.
1892 Valencia district court names 200 persons as rightful heirs to
the grant.
Oct. 31, 1952 Town of Tome files "determination of heirship" suit in
District Court. 270 persons
established as heirs. Attorney Paul Larazolo was hired by the Tome
Board of
Trustees. Larazolo hired Tibo J. Chavez, then an attorney, to
compile a list of the rightful owners of the grant.
Jul. 29, 1955 Conversion of the community grant to Tome Land and
Improvement Corporation
takes place. Land grant members became shareholders.
May 1, 1965 Special meeting called to consider sale of 47,000 acres.
Restraining order halts
meeting until July 3, 1965.
Jul. 3, 1965 Stockholders allow sale by vote of 119-95.
Jan 1, 1967 Battle continues to brew between "Progressive" and
"Conservative" factions over
whether to sell the land.
May 11, 1967 Progressives win a majority on board of directors
clearing way for sale.
Jun 1, 1967 Corporation decides to advertise land for sale.
Jun 29, 1967 Stockholders agree to sell by vote of 175-18.
Jul. 6, 1968 Contract for sale of land to Horizon Corporation
approved by board for
$4.7 million. Calls for $712,000 down payment with approximate
payment
of $22,000 monthly for 15 years plus interest. The land is now part
of
Horizon's Tierra del Sol (per Alb Journal 11/1/81), formerly known
as Rio
Communities. The President of Tome Land and Improvement Co. is
Gillie
Sanchez. 256 stockholders were to receive an estimated $23,000 over
a
15 year period.
Jul. 12, 1968 Group of 38 former stockholders, who had sold their
shares to stockholders for
as little as $45 and most for an average of $150 (Alb Journal
8/7/77), file $1.1 million
suit for fraud claiming they were cheated out of their shares by
board of directors.
Aug. 8, 1968 Group of about 125 claimants not issued shares in 1952
"determination of heirship"
suit file to regain their rights.
Nov. 4, 1968 Sale of grant to Horizon completed.
Dec 7, 1968 Group of 77 dissidents, from the routes of the so called
"Tome Protective Association"
who were against the sale, file suit expressing dissatisfaction with
the final terms of the
sale. They press for one-time payment of at least $40,000 a share,
not including
mineral rights. The dissidents were represented by attorney Ernest
Romero.
1969 Supreme Court awards 38 former stockholders with about half the
value of their former
interests (about $9,000 each).
1969 Judge Garnett Burks disallows suit by 125 claimants saying
their case barred by
statute of limitations.
Aug. 25, 1971 Supreme Court (Supreme Court Justice, Dan Sosa)
reverses Burks' decision and
orders case of 125 to be reheard.
Feb. 2, 1972 Supreme Court awards an average of $15,000 one-time
payments to the 77 dissidents,
who had filed suit in 1968.
Feb. 5, 1973 Judge Edmund H. Kase begins deliberation of suit by 125
claimants.
Dec. 20, 1974 District Court allows First National Bank, as trustee,
to impound payments in order to
pay unexpected tax liability to IRS.
April 1975 Payments resumed to stockholders with payment of $500,000
completed to IRS.
April 1975 Judge Kase rules against 125 claimants saying their case
barred by statute of limitations.
April 1976 Payments interrupted again pending final Supreme Court
decision on case of 125
claimants.
Jul. 17, 1977 Group of about 30 stockholders hold meeting protesting
last interruption and to air
grievances about history of land grant sale.
Jul. 17, 1977 Final briefs submitted by attorneys for both sides in
case involving 125 claimants.
Mar. 4, 1978 NM Supreme Court rules in favor of 125 claimants,
declaring 1952 determination
of heirship suit set aside. The Supreme Court ruled, that:
- There was no statutory authority in the state legal code until
1961 for land grant
boards to determine heirs
- It wasn't until 1967 that land grant boards were permitted by
state law to
convert to private corporations
The Court orders District Court to begin the process of determining
heirs anew.
1978 New Mexico Supreme Court disbanded the Tome Land Improvement
Co. (High
Country News, December 4, 2000)
Jun. 29, 1979 More than 10,000 claimants file claims to heirship
c(Alb Journal 7/14/79). Three
special masters (one being, Vernon Salvador) appointed to review
claims by District
Judge Edmund Kase of Socorro. Court ruled that only persons who were
21 at the
time of the sale on November 4, 1968, and who could prove they were
descendants
of the 200 original owners of the land grant, could be eligible.
May 1980 District Judge Edmund Kase ordered fees for attorneys and
accountants representing
plaintiffs, intervenors, and trustees in the 12 year battle for
distribution of funds from
the sale of the land grant be paid fees totaling more than $400,000.
Supreme Court ruled that proceedings in district court in 1953 to
determine
rightful owners of interest are void and invalid. The Supreme Court
ordered the
District court to make a determination of all the rightful heirs and
to distribute the proceeds
from the sale of the lands to them.
1981 Federal Trade Commission prosecutes Horizon Corporation.
Nov. 1, 1981 (Alb Journal) Judge Edmund Kase of Socorro appointed 3
special masters, in June
1981, to hear the claims of more than 10,000 persons. However, as
the court's criteria
Early 1980's Valley Improvement Association (VIA) was formed
promising to turn mess on Rio del
Oro to gold, (High County News, December 4, 2000).
March 1982 About 280 former shareholders who voted for the sale and
who received about
$1.7 million ordered by the Supreme Court to reimburse the money.
Aug. 18, 1982 Final report describing who can share in disbursement
of about $2 million from
the 1968 sale should be completed within two weeks.
Jun. 1, 1983 Supreme Court orders about 70 dissenters to the sale
who settled out of court
in 1972 to repay about $700,000.
Jul. 15, 1983 Kase scheduled an August 12, 1983 hearing to discuss
the distribution of nearly
$2.5 million.
Sep. 1983 Former shareholders preparing to go to court to fight
court order to repay money
previously distributed from sale of grant. Writ to be prepared by
Attorney Thomas Esquibel.
Oct. 5, 1983 Kase set deadline of 4 p.m. on Friday for any
additional claims of heirs, previous
deadline was June 29, 1979.
Nov. 18, 1983 The Court has proposed the following discounts for
"prompt repayment": 50% on
amounts less than $5,000; 33-1/3% on amounts between $5,000-$16,000;
and 20%
on amounts greater than $16,000 (Alb Journal).
Nov. 23, 1983 Per newspaper article, heirs of:
- A-1 class: Persons who as of Nov. 4, 1968 were 21 years of age and
either
were owners and proprietors, or were persons of the class who were
then
eligible to become owners and proprietors by descent from the class
of
determined owners and proprietors at the time of the incorporation
of the
Town of Tome Land Grant.
- A-2 class: Persons who are heirs or successors of a person who, as
of
Nov. 4, 1968, was an owner or proprietor or a person of the class
who was
eligible on such date to become an owner or proprietor be descent
from the class
of determined owners at the time of that incorporation.
Dec. 12, 1983 Judge Kase ruled that approximately $2.5 million which
was distributed to 350
shareholders must be paid back for reallocation to the heirs.
Dec. 1983 Disbursement of $1.6 million to 3500 heirs (approx. $500
each).
c
May 18, 1985 Approximately 40 former shareholders attended town
meeting in Belen sponsored
by U.S. Representative Bill Richardson to try and enlist his support
in reaction to the
1982 court order for recollection of money disbursed in 1968.
Jun. 12, 1985 NM Supreme Court denied a petition to stop collection
of $2.5 million from
former shareholders of the Tome Land and Improvement Co. June 9th
deadline
in order to qualify for discounts offered by the court expired with
denial of the petition,
per Peter Moughan Jr., a court appointed special collection officer.
Earlier in the week
NM congressional delegation said they would ask the IRS to refund
$500,000 in taxes
paid by former Tome Land Grant heirs, because they felt the taxes
were an inequity.
Sep. 4, 1985 Per Albuquerque Journal article: Horizon Corporation
has abandoned its plans to
develop the 47,000 acre grant. Horizon corporation has divested
itself of most of
the grant lands. The grant has since been subdivided into more than
90,000 pieces
of property with more than 30,000 owners, most absentee owners from
other states.
An accounting prepared by the state District Court in Valencia
county shows that
funds received from the 1968 sale of the grant totaled $7.6 million.
That includes
the original $4.7 million sale price and almost $3 million in
interest (including $1.4
million interest from Horizon Corporation. and $1.6 million to
eligible claimants
(approximately $500 each); about $1.2 million paid to attorneys;
another $900,000
paid in state and federal taxes and bank service charges;
approximately $1 million
remains in trust.
Dec. 1986 $60 distribution to heirs.
1999 Study is being conducted by the Federal General Accounting
Office (GAO) on land
grant claims in NM, requested by Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff
Bingaman. The
GAO, which is the investigative arm of Congress, must issue a
preliminary report by
December with a final report to Congress, and the president, due by
December 2002.
Under a bill introduced in February by Bingaman and Domenici, if the
report finds that
the treaty was violated then the U.S. Justice Department is required
to identify possible
remedies.
Apr 20, 2000 $45 distribution to heirs.
Jul. 23, 2000 Heirs of the Tome Land Grant believe about 100,000
acres on the west face of the
Manzanos, now federal forest land in the Cibola National Forest,
belong to them.
100,000 acres on the west face of the Manzanos were lost when the
boundary was drawn
incorrectly at the base of the mountains by the U.S. Surveyor
General in 1871 during the
administration of Ulysses S. Grant to verify the grant boundaries in
accordance with the
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Aug. 2000 $45 distribution.
Dec. 29, 2000 Per Albuquerque Journal: Heirs of the Tome Land Grant
want a Judge Kase to tell
them how he decided on rightful heirs and how $4.7 million was
distributed. There are
now over 6,000 heirs. Some received $500, some $23,000. Request for
hearing filed
recently in state District Court in Los Lunas. The Town of Tome Land
Grant Research
Council contends mistakes were made when NM Supreme court ruled in
1978 that
incorporation in 1955 was null and void.
Mar. 1, 2001 New Mexico Land Grant Forum is asking community land
grant heirs to form land
grant boards so the government and other encities will have an
official body to contact
for land grant issues and events.
April 2001 During Tome Land Grant meeting an interim board of
trustees was formed and officers
were elected. President, Lawrence Sanchez; Vice-president, Leo
Marquez; Secretary,
Rita Padilla-Gutierrez; Treasurer, Donna Montano-Salas; board
member, Ray Garcia.
May 25, 2001 $25 distribution.
Click here for a photo of one of the last checks issued and the attached letter. It was for $45.00 and was total payment for the sale of the the Tome Land Grant of $4.6 million.
Fall Colors Near Tome, New Mexico
Tome Jail Built 1875
The 1875 Tome Jail with 2 foot thick Adobe and rock walls. National Register of Historic Places. (Building #77000932) Tome Plaza, Tome, New Mexico
Stone over the Tome Jail door.