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Las Trampas Grant
The Town of Las Trampas grant is also known as Santo Tomas Apostol del Rio de las Trampas. The grant was petitioned by Juan de Arguello and eleven other individuals in 1751. The grant was approved by Governor Tomas Velez Cachupin for 46,461 acres. Proceedings before the office of the Surveyor General reduced the acreage to 28,131 acres on confirmation. In 1781, a smallpox epidemic took a heavy toll on the families living in Las Trampas. Thirty-one adults and twenty-three children died in the epidemic.
Despite disease, Indian attack, and survival on the frontier the descendants of the original grantees have survived into the 21st century. The land grant is located in Taos and Rio Arriba counties.