From Land Grant to Legal Battle: The Fight for Communal Land Rights in Colorado’s San Luis Valley

Abstract

This thesis investigates the long-standing legal, environmental, and cultural battle over communal land rights in San Luis, Colorado, the oldest town in the state and home to descendants of Spanish and Mexican land grantees. Centered on the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant, this paper explores how a community with deep cultural and ancestral ties to the land has resisted efforts by wealthy private landowners to restrict access to La Sierra, a highland a communally used tract historically used for cattle grazing, firewood collection, and recreational activities. Through an analysis of historical documents, legal cases, interviews with community leaders, and field research, this paper traces the conflict from its colonial origins in 1844 through the ongoing litigation efforts in 2025. It considers how American property law, which is built around individual ownership, has failed to recognize culturally rooted forms of land stewardship, effectively undermining the rights promised by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to the settlers. This paper also addresses rural gentrification, analyzing how the privatization of natural resources by billionaires has pushed out locals and threatened to erase the traditions that have kept this community alive. By combining policy analysis, philosophical inquiry, and firsthand perspectives, this thesis proposes a culturally sensitive framework for land governance that respects historical claims, protects the ecological integrity of the land, and supports sustainable coexistence between private owners and community members. The story of San Luis is more than a land war; it is a testament to cultural resilience and a model for addressing land injustice throughout rural America.