National Park Service Banner NPS Arrowhead
 
Personal Information

Surname: Otero Given Name: Toribio de Sex: M
Place of Birth: Date of Birth: Order:
Place of Death: Date of Death: Cause of Death:
Race or Tribe: Residence: Santa Ana; Tubac Title: Hijo de José de Otero; Marido de María Ignacia Salazar; Adulto vecino de Tubac-1831 Household 1
Place of Service: Burial Place: Translation: (Spanish)
Notes: As a resident of Tubac, Toribio received the first known grant of presidial lands under Title 33 of the 1772 "Reglamento de Presidios. Following is the translation of that Land Grant, the original of which is housed at the Arizona State Library & Archives: Don Nicolás de la Herran, Lieutenant Commander of the Company of Pimas of Tubac:

Whereas, citizen Toribio de Otero having presented himself before me, soliciting a home site and farmland by which he might become an inhabitant of the presidio and work in his occupation of laborer, in attention to the usefulness that results from the establishment of resident laborers, like the petitioner, who cultivate their lands and provide grain on different farms of generous size that have necessarily been solicited:

Therefore, exercising the authority vested in me by the King, I grant to the said Toribio Otero and bestow upon him as the first settler, perpetually and forever, with all rights of continuous possession as an inheritance for himself, his children, and his descendants, a site for building his house(1) below the presidio on the south side with its front two and a half miles(2) north of the Tumacácori Mission,(3) and farmland one third mile(4) distant from the presidio, for it is only at that point that that a little dependable water flows in the river, which he can take for himself; I further equally grant in the name of His Majesty (whom God keep) four pieces(5) of farmland that measure 400 yards(6) from south to north and east to west with a circumference of 3400 yards,(7) with the understanding that the said Toribio de Otero will maintain arms and horses and be swift to defend the land against the enemies who hostilize it, and always ride out against them when ordered to do so. Furthermore, beginning on this date, for the space of four years, he cannot sell, trade, mortgage, or impose any encumbrance on the said home site or farmland. However, after two years it would be a reasonable requirement that he maintain his home and family at this presidio until the completion of the four years, so that he might obtain true title and possession of the farmland, the home site, and the structures that he has built there. After that amount of time, he will have authority to be able to sell them, trade them, and do with them freely according to his will, as something of his own, but with the stipulation that he never be allowed to sell them to a minister, religious community, or charitable organization, under the same penalty as mentioned above.

Having thoroughly informed him of everything, and about planting fruit trees or other trees that would be beneficial, I personally conveyed to the said Toribio de Otero the expressed home site and farmland wherein he (is required to) burn the weeds, remove the rocks, and plow up the meadow, or grass; And for its constancy I execute this present document, a copy of which shall remain as a judicial record in the archive of this presidio, and sign it with witnesses from my staff this 10th day of the month of January, 1789.

Nicolás de la Herran (rubric)

Ignacio Vasquez (rubric)

Ramón García Erieros (rubric)(8)

(Sealed with the two-real arbitrator's stamp of Charles IV for the years 1788 and 1789)

(Sealed with the two-real arbitrator's stamp of Charles IV for the years 1802 and 1803)

(Sealed with the two-real arbitrator's stamp of Charles IV for the years 1806 and 1807)

________________________________

(1) Solar - 1000 by 1000 varas, or 172.65 acres

(2) 20 estadios

(3) Cabezera

(4) Half of a quarter, or one eighth, league

(5) Suerte - 160,000 square varas, or roughly 27 acres each (108 acres total)

(6) Vara - three feet, or one yard

(7) He is a little off in his math here - four pieces of land 400 yards square would have a circumference of 3200 yards

(8) Likely "Ramón Ríos" as recorded in Tumacácori Mission records

 
Event Relationship [5 Records]

Event ID: 4295 Relationship: Husband Event Date: 02/16/1779 View Document A  
 
Event ID: 4301 Relationship: Witness Event Date: 12/27/1781 View Document A B
 
Event ID: 4302 Relationship: Witness Event Date: 02/15/1787 View Document A  
 
Event ID: 9620 Relationship: Witness Event Date: 12/27/1781 View Document A B
 
Event ID: 9758 Relationship: Adult Event Date: 08/06/1831    
 
 
Back to the Search Page
 

Home | Planning Your Visit | Park Tour | Special Events | Anza Trail | Priests | Father Kino | Kino Missions | Natives | Natural Resources | Educational Resources | Preservation Efforts | Volunteering | Area Map