The boundaries of the county of Taos are as follows: on the south, from the first house of the town of Embudo, on the upper side, where the canyon of Picuris terminates, drawing a direct line toward the south over the mountain of Bajillo at the town of Rincones, until it reaches the front of the last house of Las Trampas, on the south side; from thence, drawing a direct line toward the east, dividing the mountain, until it reaches the junction of the rivers Mora and Sapello, and from thence to the boundary line of the territory; from the above-mentioned house of Embudo, drawing a line toward the north over the mountain, and dividing the Rio del Norte in the direction of the Tetilla de la Petaca; from thence taking a westward direction until it terminates with the boundary line of the territory; and on the north by the boundary line of the territory of New Mexico.
History: Laws 1851-1852, p. 291; C.L. 1865, ch. 42, § 4; C.L. 1884, § 245; C.L. 1897, § 511; Laws 1901, ch. 52, § 1; Code 1915, § 1112; C.S. 1929, § 33-2701; 1941 Comp., § 15-2701; 1953 Comp., § 15-29-1.
ANNOTATIONSCompiler's notes. — Taos county as originally created was the northernmost county of the territory reaching from the eastern to the western boundaries. Mora county was created from the eastern part of Taos county, and Colfax county was later created from the northern part of Mora county.
The boundary between Taos and Colfax counties may be described as follows: commencing on the township line between townships 23 and 24 north at a point where it intersects the summit of the divide between the Rio Grande and the Canadian rivers; thence northerly [description based on 4-18-2 NMSA 1978] along the summit of the divide to the southern base of Osha hill; thence northerly along the crest of Osha hill to the southwest corner of the Maxwell Land Grant; thence northerly along the western boundary of the Maxwell Land Grant (which generally follows the summit of the divide) to its junction with the eastern boundary of the Sangre de Cristo Grant; thence northerly along the eastern boundary of the Sangre de Cristo Grant to the Colorado-New Mexico state line.
The boundary with Mora county is described in 4-18-1 and 4-18-2 NMSA 1978 and compiler's notes thereunder.
The southern boundary with Rio Arriba county is described in this section and also the compiler's notes under 4-21-1 NMSA 1978.
The western boundary with Rio Arriba county was altered by Laws 1880, ch. 46, § 2, which read: "Hereafter all that portion of the county of Taos, on the west side of the public road leading from the Hot Springs in the county of Rio Arriba, to Conejos, in the state of Colorado, is hereby annexed to the county of Rio Arriba."
The boundary with Rio Arriba county west of the Rio Grande is described in 4-21-2 NMSA 1978 and the compiler's notes under 4-21-1 NMSA 1978.
The north boundary of Taos county is the state line.
This section was incorporated in article 22, chapter 24 of the 1915 Code. It was not reenacted by its inclusion therein, but was compiled merely for convenience. See the 1915 Code, p. 1665.
Cross references. — For boundaries of Colfax county, see 4-4-1 to 4-4-3 NMSA 1978.
For boundaries of Mora county, see 4-18-1 to 4-18-3 NMSA 1978.
For boundaries of Rio Arriba county, see 4-21-1 and 4-21-2 NMSA 1978.