Tierra Amarilla is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Tierra Amarilla had a population of 297.

Tierra Amarilla is Spanish for "Yellow Earth". The name refers to clay deposits found in the Chama River Valley and used by Native American peoples.

Tierra Amarilla Grant

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The Tierra Amarilla Land Grant was created in 1832 by the Mexican government for Manuel Martinez and settlers from Abiquiu. The land grant encompassed a more general area than the contemporary community known as Tierra Amarilla.

Rio Arriba's county seat

In 1866 the United States Army established Camp Plummer just south of Los Ojos (established in 1860) to rein in already decreased Native American activity on the grant. The military encampment was deserted in 1869. about ten miles to the north, had profound effects on the development of the region by bringing the area out of economic and cultural isolation. The neoclassical design by Isaac Rapp is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Courthouse raid

The Alianza Federal de Mercedes, led by Reies Tijerina, raided the Rio Arriba County Courthouse in 1967. Attempting to make a citizen's arrest of the district attorney "to bring attention to the unscrupulous means by which government and Anglo settlers had usurped Hispanic land grant properties," an armed struggle in the courthouse ensued resulting in Tijerina and his group fleeing to the south with two prisoners as hostages. Eulogio Salazar, a prison guard, was shot and Daniel Rivera, a sheriff's deputy, was badly injured. The National Guard, FBI and New Mexico State Police successfully pursued Tijerina, who was sentenced to less than three years.

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Demographics

Tierra Amarilla has the ZIP code of 87575. The ZIP Code Tabulation Area for ZIP Code 87575 had a population of 750 at the 2000 census.

Education

It is within the Chama Valley Independent Schools school district. The two schools in the community are: Tierra Amarilla Elementary School (PreK-6) and Escalante Middle/High School (7–12).

Notable people

  • Walter K. Martinez, New Mexico lawyer and state legislator, was born in Tierra Amarilla.
  • Sabine Ulibarrí, American poet, born in Tierra Amarilla.

See also

  • List of census-designated places in New Mexico
  • Spanish land grants in New Mexico

References

  • Tierra Amarilla
  • Brazos Cliffs