Josefa Baca / Pajarito Land Grant

Josefa Baca, also, Pajarito Land Grant. . , Josefa Baca , c.1685-1746 , Josefa Baca, a descendant of colonists arriving in 1600, acquired the Sitio de San Ysidro de Pajarito, which included a hacienda and large tract of land south of present-day Albuquerque. Establishing a ranch with 950 head of sheep, horses, cattle, and goats with her livestock brand, Josefa became the progenitor of generations of New Mexicans. The Village of Pajarito developed around the Baca family compound., Pajarito Land Grant , Josefa's son, Antonio, sold the Pajarito tract to Clemente Gutierrez. His heirs sought confirmation of their claim to the land from the surveyor general in 1877. The Court of Private Land Claims, on the presumption that a grant had been made to Josefa Baca, confirmed the Pajarito Land Grant in 1894 and patented it in 1914. Five generations after Josefa's death, her land and ranch remained with the same family, passing to a fifth great-granddaughter and direct descendant, Juliana Gutierrez, wife of James Hubbell. The hacienda, lands, acequias, and orchards that survive today are a testament to the family's prosperity.