Shirley Romero Otero

The Sangre de Cristo Land Grant, over 1 million acres of land in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, was awarded by the New Mexican government to the Beaubien family in 1843. Under Spanish and Mexican law, the original grant set aside common land for use by the entire community.[6] In 1848, the area was incorporated into the United States with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In 1864, Beaubien's wife sold the grant area to Colorado Territorial Governor William Gilpin. The sale document obligated Gilpin and his partners to respect the settlers' property and communal rights. In 1868, Gilpin divided the grant area into two ranches: the Trinchera Estate in the north and the Costilla Estate in the South. Gilpin and subsequent owners sold pieces of the grant area to private investors.[7][8]

For nearly 100 years, the descendants of the Hispanic settlers continued to have communal rights to the use of much of the land although the legal ownership of the land passed through various hands. The Hispanic descendants generally held title to the lands they used for irrigated agriculture, but exerted their rights to access larger properties, usually owned by Anglos, for grazing, timber, and other uses. In 1960, that situation changed when a North Carolina lumberman named John T. (Jack) Taylor purchased 77 thousand acres (310 km²) of the former Costilla Estate which became known as the Taylor Ranch. The deed provided that the local people had the right for pasture, wood, and lumber on Taylor's land. In 1963, however, Taylor began to fence the ranch, cutting off the access of the nearby residents. Protests followed with some violence.[9]

The conflict between Taylor and the residents was dubbed the 'Costilla County Range War' by the press.[6] Taylor filed suit on the "inferior Mexicans" who "trespassed" on "his" mountain, with the U.S. District Court in Denver, J.T. Taylor vs. Pablita Jacquez, et. al.[6]

In 1977, Romero Otero co-founded the Land Rights Council (LRC) in Chama, Colorado and was elected president.[10] The LRC formed to reestablish traditional "usufructory rights" and allow local people to access the land.[6]

In 1981, LRC filed a class-action lawsuit, Rael v. Taylor, for the 109 plaintiffs on behalf of over 1000 heirs. Litigation lasted for over 21 years before 2002, when the Colorado Supreme Court found the case in the LRC's favor. In November 2018, the Colorado Court of Appeals permanently reaffirmed the rights of Chicano and Mexican descendants to use the land in La Sierra.[6][11]

However, the LRC's work is not finished. They continue legal battles with the current owner, William Harrison, who purchased the Cielo Vista Ranch in 2018 for $105 million. Despite three Supreme Court affirmations, San Luis residents are still being restricted from using the land.[12]

Romero Otero is the mother of four children, and has two grandchildren.[2]