Welcome to the homepage for the merced del Cañón de Carnué.  The Cañón de Carnué land grant (merced) was founded in 1763, re-established in 1819 while New Mexico was part of New Spain, and granted a patent by the Court of Private Land Claims in 1903.  It is a unit of government of the state of New Mexico governed by a five-member board of trustees.

The merced is located east of Albuquerque, starting at the city limits, and extending east and north toward Tijeras, Cañoncito, and San Antonio.  It holds regular meetings at the Cañón de Carnué Land Grant hall, 340 Highway 66 E, Albuquerque, 87123.

«Somos de la sierra»: we are of the mountains, in all the senses of that phrase.  This place-—la sierra—-is home.  De la sierra (sometimes pronounced de la jierra) is how we have been defined, how we are recognized, how we identify ourselves; it is also where our ancestors lived.  Our experiences here have given this place, and the places in it, special meaning.  This also is a statement that what the land grant does goes beyond managing land and organizing programs.  It also seeks to preserve our culture and to memorialize our connections to «la jierra».

Site guide

The upcoming events tab (above) will direct you to land grant announcements. Board meetings are listed separately on the  meetings page; click on this tab to obtain the latest information on upcoming meetings, agendas (when available), cancellations, past meeting minutes, and our meetings policy. The side bar and the calendar to the right also list upcoming events and board meetings.  All land grant activities are open to the public; heirs and non-heirs are welcome to attend.

The news tab provides a summary of important recent events associated with the land grant.

The projects tab takes you to two pages that describe a range of activities, projects and programs conducted by the merced.  The first page identifies on-going projects.  The second page, which describes recent projects, can be reached here or by clicking on the “recent projects” link under “pages” in the right-hand sidebar.  

If you are new to the merced del Cañón de Carnué you may find useful information in the about, land, reference, and history pages.  Information on land grants in the Southwest may be found in the reference page, and at other websites identified on the links page.

Photo credits

All photos on this website were taken of places and objects located within the historic boundaries of the Cañón de Carnué land grant.  Unless otherwise indicated, the original photographs are the property of the Cañón de Carnué land grant. The Board of Trustees thanks the UNM Land Grant Studies Program of the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute for the initial development of this web site, and Jaelyn DeMaría of the LGSP who contributed photographs.