"Colfax County War (1870-1877)" Topic

"Spencer reported his action to the Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, Joseph H. Wilson. When Wilson reviewed the documentation he noticed that part of the grant extended into Colorado, and questioned whether Spencer had jurisdiction over the entire grant. Questions regarding the size of the grant and the jurisdiction nagged at him and he ordered Spencer to cancel the survey until more information could be obtained. He then referred the entire issue to his boss, Secretary of the Interior Jacob D. Cox.

Cox ruled that the New Mexico Congress had not intended to approve more than 22 square leagues to the two original grantees. Further, he stated that if Maxwell agreed to this limit, he could choose the location for that amount of land, and the survey could be completed. Otherwise, Maxwell's money would be returned and his claim would be ignored.

Maxwell ignored the ruling and was ready to move on, proceeding to sell his interest in the grant and in 1870 he bonded the property to Senator Chafee of Colorado and two others for $650,000. USD He sold all of his other assets on the property for an additional $100,000 USD and moved to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, which had been de-militarized. Purchasing the buildings and other improvements, he remodeled the officer's quarters into a luxurious home with twenty rooms. Eventually, he slipped into semi-retirement and turned over most of his business affairs to his son, Peter. Just five years after he sold the land grant, Maxwell had spent the money and died in poverty from what was diagnosed as uremic poisoning…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Armand,

This provides more detail on the same subject of a posting you made last year.

TMP link

It is beautiful land with an interesting history.

Rick

Land grabn scum th whole lot of them, :) I guess Ih'd better git mah gun an go do what a mans gotta do.
Be seein yah pardners.

Thanks my friend.

Amicalement
Armand