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Show f PS APA ee PE nr 3 oN teers POY BEES tC ae ye errs NE eee ASP ieee ty tiers DIET OR RsReEP aA CORRACTniet oot TRON aPa Ral thy Re gee bist Sle Tatintetietit: TEAM RCRA RETA TN RAGE is xx ‘ (@ Fe 4 THE SPANISH ARCHIVES OF NEW MEXICO half-leather portfolios; the printed material has been, in part, repaired, mounted, and bound in half-morocco The unmounted portion is stored flat folio volumes. in manila jackets. A calendar, in English, is being prepared, with an index. This now includes the year 1823. In this compilation this calendar has been employed, not using the numbers exactly as they have been given by the Librarian. It is stated that these archives, of enormous importance to the people of New Mexico, will eventually be restored to the State. Of course this is possible but, considering the efforts which were successfully made in securing them for the Library of Congress, such action on the part of the general government, even at the request of a sovereign State, is highly improbable. New Mexicans can congratulate themselves that the records of the court of private land claims were permitted to remain in the custody of the surveyor-general. It is of prime importance that the State have copies of all the archives at Washington; it is also essential that those in the office of the surveyor-general be handled more carefully when examined by attorneys in courts or in his office. The same sort of treatment should be accorded those as has been given the archives at Washington, and photostat copies should be made of both collections. The Autos of Don Antonio de Otermin, governor and captain-general, and the Disculpa of Alonzo Garcia, heutenant-general, translations of which are given, consist of the record of events transpiring at the time of the Pueblo Rebellion which have been available for this publication. There are still other Autos of Otermin in the PREFATORY NOTE xxl archives at the City of Mexico, but the unfortunate course of events occurring in Mexico during the past few years has made it impossible to secure copies or translations. Those appearing here, so far as the writer knows, have not heretofore been published in the English language. The statement of the private land claims investigated by the surveyor-general of New Mexico is complete, as is also that of the cases finally disposed of in the court of private land claims. This compilation has been undertaken with the view of furnishing information promptly and accurately to those most interested — the people of New Mexico. The cost of publication has been borne in part by the State. It will be noticed that in some instances the titles are given in the Spanish language. These, however, are in the main translated and the contents of each archive, so far as is indicated by the title, are suggested to the reader. This portion of the catalogue, with some changes and other modifications, is taken from the ‘‘list’’ prepared by Mr. Bandelier. The method being somewhat unscientific when compared with the work performed under the direction of the librarian of Congress, which is most thorough, and the compiler lacking in that peculiar training and preparedness demanded by the rules governing this class of composition, the want of suitable intellectual equipment is apt to provoke unfavorable comment from some scholastic Pharisee. Comment and criticism of this sort, however, coming as they usually do from persons whose range of vision is limited to the four walls of a university quadrangle, |