El Cerrito is a village in

San Miguel County, New Mexico San Miguel County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,393. Its county seat is Las Vegas. San Miguel County comprises the Las Vegas Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The village is located in the upper Pecos River valley and was founded in 1824 by settlers from Villanueva, upstream. The majority of the population is

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

. Since 1939, El Cerrito has been the subject of several academic studies and books. Its prominence is due to the isolation of the village from major transportation routes and population centers and its Hispanic culture.

History

Prior to 1786, when a peace treaty was concluded with the

Comanches The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

settlements in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

were confined to the Rio Grande valley and nearby. The reduced threat from the Comanches, the most numerous and dangerous of the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

peoples surrounding the New Mexican settlements, permitted the expansion of the Spanish eastward toward the Great Plains. El Cerrito was one of the settlements founded in the Pecos River Valley in the

San Miguel del Vado Land Grant The San Miguel del Vado Land Grant (also known as the San Miguel del Bado Land Grant) is one of the Spanish land grants in New Mexico. On November 24, 1794, 53 men submitted a petition for land and were granted temporary possession on November 24, ...

, a area the New Mexican government gave to individuals and families in exchange for their commitment to take up residence on the frontier of the Spanish settlements. The motivations for the Pecos Valley settlements was to provide land to the growing population of New Mexico and to defend the Spanish and Puebloan settlements in the Rio Grande valley from raids by Apache and other Indian peoples. El Cerrito was settled by people from nearby Villanueva (then called La Cuesta) from 1824 to 1827. As one of the closest New Mexican settlements to the Great Plains with its bison herds and Plains Indians, many

Cibolero A Cibolero (plural: ''ciboleros'') was a Spanish colonial (and later Mexican) buffalo hunter from New Mexico. The Spanish word for buffalo as used in New Mexico is ''cibolo''; hence, the name ''Cibolero'' for buffalo hunter. Activities Ciboleros hu ...

s (bison hunters) and

Comanchero The Comancheros were a group of 18th- and 19th-century traders based in northern and central New Mexico. They made their living by trading with the nomadic Great Plains Indian tribes in northeastern New Mexico, West Texas, and other parts of the ...

s (traders with the Plains Indians) originated from El Cerrito and other Hispano communities along the Pecos River. A U.S. government survey in 1941 described El Cerrito: El Cerrito suffered an economic blow in 1904 when the United States Court of Private Land Claims invalidated the common ownership of nearly all the land of the San Miguel del Vado Land Grant, leaving the residents of El Cerrito owning only of irrigated land and house lots. Over time, as private ownership by outsiders of formerly-common lands expanded, residents lost the access to the grazing lands that were the basis of the village economy. From a population of 135 in 1940, the population declined to five aged adults in the late 1960s. The population increased to nine households in 1992 with 25 to 30 persons in full-time residence.Eastman and Krannich, p. 1

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in San Miguel County, New Mexico Villages in New Mexico 1824 establishments in Mexico