Lobato v. Taylor

The history of this property rights controversy began before Colorado’s statehood, at a time when southern Colorado was part of Mexico; at a time when all of the parties’ lands were part of the one million acre Sangre de Cristo grant, an 1844 Mexican land grant. Here, we determine access rights of the owners of farmlands in Costilla County to a mountainous parcel of land now known as the Taylor Ranch. As successors in title to the original settlers in the region, the landowners exercised rights to enter and use the Taylor Ranch property for over one hundred years until Jack Taylor fenced the…