Texcocan Villages v. Hacienda La Blanca
Audencia (Royal Audience) of Mexico City (1774-1757)
P.E.B. Coy, Justice for the Indian in Eighteenth-Century Mexico, 12 Am. J. Leg. Hist. 41, 43-46, 49 (1968)
- Written by Curtis Parvin, JD
Facts
Crop-growing Indians (plaintiffs) in the villages surrounding the municipality of Texcoco, a former Indian capital on Lake Texcoco near Mexico City, complained that cattle-ranch hacienda owners (defendants) were interfering with the Indians’ ability to gather wood and create charcoal from adjacent hillsides that the Indians had long accessed for these purposes. Underlying the claim were the rights to water flowing from the hillside and the rights of the Indians to have their farms free of wandering cattle. The Spanish crown owned the land concerned. The land was not entrusted to private individuals; instead, the crown granted local control over the land to the Alcalde Mayor (judicial magistrate). The parties engaged in over a decade of litigation before the Royal Audience in Mexico City.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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