All that portion of the territory of New Mexico embraced within the following boundaries, to wit: commencing at the corners of townships twenty and twenty-one south, range seven and eight west, which said corners are about four miles northeasterly from Fort Cummings, in Dona Ana county; thence running northerly in a direct line across the summit of the Sierra Mimbres to a point due west of Ojo del Muerto; thence west to the western boundary of the territory; thence south along said boundary to the southwest corner of the territory; thence following the southern boundary of the territory eastwardly to a point on said southern boundary due south of the place of beginning; thence north to the place of beginning, shall form and constitute a new county to be called Grant county.
History: Laws 1867-1868, ch. 20, § 1; C.L. 1884, § 291; C.L. 1897, § 546; Code 1915, § 1079; C.S. 1929, § 33-801; 1941 Comp., § 15-801; 1953 Comp., § 15-9-1.
ANNOTATIONSCompiler's notes. — Grant county, as created by the above section, was formed out of the western part of Dona Ana county. The counties of Luna and Hidalgo were later created out of parts of Grant county.
The present boundaries of Grant county may be described as follows: commencing at the southwest corner of township 19 south of range 7 west [described in 4-27-2 NMSA 1978]; thence west [description from 4-16-1 NMSA 1978] on the township line between townships 19 and 20 south to the northeast corner of township 20 south of range 11 west; thence south on the range line between ranges 10 and 11 west to the fourth standard parallel south; thence west on said standard parallel to the northeast corner of township 21 south of range 14 west; thence south on the range line between ranges 13 and 14 west to the fifth standard parallel south; thence east on said standard parallel to the northeast corner of township 26 south of range 14 west; thence south on the range line between ranges 13 and 14 west to the southeast corner of section 13 in township 28 south of range 14 west; thence following the description given in 4-12-1 NMSA 1978 to the New Mexico-Arizona boundary line. The western boundary is the state line. The north boundary is that described in 4-9-2 NMSA 1978. The northeast boundary is that described in 4-27-2 NMSA 1978.
This section was incorporated in article 6, chapter 24 of the 1915 Code. Its inclusion therein did not constitute a reenactment, for it was only compiled for convenience. See the 1915 Code, p. 1665.
Laws 1927, ch. 185, which attempted to abolish Catron county, and to divide its territory between Grant county and a new county to be called Rio Grande county, the latter including all of Socorro county, was held to violate N.M. Const., art. IV, § 24, since its purpose was to change county lines in a special or local act, and not to create new counties, by State ex rel. Dow v. Graham, 33 N.M. 504, 270 P. 897 (1928).
Section 1080, 1915 Code, derived from Laws 1880, ch. 43 (C.L. 1897, § 549), contained an amendment to the above section which read: "The above section 1079 [4-9-1 NMSA 1978] is hereby amended so as to read: commencing at the corners of townships 20 and 21 south, range 7 and 8 west, which said corners are about 4 miles northeasterly from Fort Cummings; thence running due north to a point on the south line of Socorro county, and due south to Mexico: provided, that the town of Hillsborough and the country within a radius of 5 miles of said town shall be in and form a part of Dona Ana county."
Cross references. — For boundaries of Dona Ana county, see 4-7-1 to 4-7-3 NMSA 1978.