New Mexico public-land surveys are referred to the New Mexico Principal Meridian and described by section, township and range, but some land in the state traces instead to Spanish and Mexican land grants that the United States confirmed through the Surveyor General of New Mexico and the Court of Private Land Claims.
The General Land Office's 1894 Manual of Surveying Instructions, reproduced in the Bureau of Land Management's history of the rectangular survey, places the New Mexico meridian at longitude 106° 53' 40" west, with its base line at latitude 34° 15' 25" north. In 1894 it governed the surveys in New Mexico except those in the northwest corner of the territory, which were then referred to the Navajo meridian and base line.
That Navajo exception is history. A 1994 Bureau of Land Management memorandum records that the townships surveyed or partially surveyed in New Mexico under the Navajo Special Meridian were cancelled by a memorandum dated June 17, 1936. The current township plats are in BLM's General Land Office Records.
So a New Mexico description reads like any public-land-survey description: aliquot part, section, township and range, and the meridian. For how to read one, see the township and range guide.
Before the township grid, Spain (1598–1821) and Mexico (1821–1846) granted land to individuals and communities. The New Mexico State Records Center and Archives notes that because the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 destroyed nearly all Spanish documents in New Mexico, grants can be confirmed with certainty only from after the Spanish reconquest of 1693.
The United States had to decide which grants to recognize. In 1854 it created the office of the Surveyor General of New Mexico to ascertain the origin, nature, character and extent of claims under Spanish and Mexican law and to make recommendations to Congress on them; of about 180 non-Pueblo claims the Surveyor General considered, 46 were confirmed. In 1891 Congress created the Court of Private Land Claims, which over thirteen years considered 282 New Mexico claims and confirmed 82.
For a tract whose title traces to a confirmed grant, the grant records matter. The case files of the Surveyor General and the Court of Private Land Claims are in the Spanish Archives of New Mexico I collection, also known as the Land Records of New Mexico, at the State Archives.
New Mexico also holds a large trust estate. The New Mexico State Land Office manages about nine million surface acres and 13 million mineral acres, allocated to the state by the Ferguson Act of 1898 and the Enabling Act of 1910, and leases it for oil, gas and mineral development, among other uses, to fund public schools and other institutions. Trust minerals are leased by the Land Office, not by private owners, so whether a tract is state trust land changes who leases its minerals.
| Record | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Federal patents and township plats | BLM General Land Office Records |
| Spanish and Mexican land grant files | Spanish Archives of New Mexico I, New Mexico State Records Center and Archives |
| State trust land and mineral leases | New Mexico State Land Office |
A New Mexico tract may trace to a confirmed grant, may be federal or state trust land, or may have passed to private owners by federal patent, and each path leaves its records in a different place.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Have a New Mexico title examiner confirm what a specific description covers.
The Public Land Survey System (Township and Range)
Oil & Gas Encyclopedia — all terms
Educational information only — not legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult a qualified attorney, CPA, or landman about your specific situation.
The New Mexico Principal Meridian, at longitude 106 degrees 53 minutes 40 seconds west with a base line at latitude 34 degrees 15 minutes 25 seconds north. Surveys once referred to the Navajo Special Meridian in the northwest corner were cancelled in 1936, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
A grant of land made by Spain (1598 to 1821) or Mexico (1821 to 1846). After 1848 the United States confirmed some of them through the Surveyor General of New Mexico, created in 1854, and the Court of Private Land Claims, created in 1891.
According to the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, 46 of about 180 non-Pueblo claims considered by the Surveyor General, who made recommendations to Congress, were confirmed, and the Court of Private Land Claims confirmed 82 of 282 claims it considered.
In the Spanish Archives of New Mexico I collection, also called the Land Records of New Mexico, at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives. It contains the Surveyor General and Court of Private Land Claims case files.
The New Mexico State Land Office, which manages about 13 million mineral acres of state trust land granted under the Ferguson Act of 1898 and the Enabling Act of 1910.
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