Las Placitas

The grant on the panel was far larger than the villages it named. Governor Mendinueta's award of December 31, 1767, went to twenty-one families at San Antonio de las Huertas, and the heirs reckon it at about 46,000 acres. By their count, American adjudication cut it in 1901 to 4,765, the rest passing in time to the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and private owners. The heirs still run the grant as a community merced, keep the fenced ruins of the 1760s village of San José de las Huertas, and have sought to reclaim federal land.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Las Placitas The Sandia Mountains have been occupied by human beings for thousands of years. This area was settled by 1767, when Governor Pedro Fermin de Mendinueta made the land grant known as La Merced de San Antonio de las Huertas. The area is called "las placitas" because it contains several villages, also known as "plazas." Descendants of the stockmen and farmers who first settled the grant still live in the vicinity. Official Scenic Historic Marker Las Placitas Por milenos, seres humanos han ocupado la Sierra Sandia. En 1767 el Gobernador Pedro Fermin de Mendinueta concedio La Merced de San Antonio de las Huertas, en la cual estaban ubicadas varias aldeas o "placitas" -- origen del nombre actual. Los primeros pobladores eran rancheros y labradores, cuyos descendientes todavia habitan la vecindad.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Petroglyph National Monument — 19 mi
  Some 24,000 images pecked into the dark basalt of Albuquerque's West Mesa, protected in 1990 and then crossed by a city boulevard.

More markers nearby

• Women Veterans of New Mexico — 3.4 mi
• Bernalillo — 4.6 mi
• La Angostura — 5.2 mi
• Spanish Entrada Site — 6.5 mi