Spanish land grants in New Mexico
The Spanish, and later the Mexican, government encouraged settlement of the Territorio de Nuevo Mexico ([http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Territorio_de_Nuevo_Mexico.PNG context map]) by the establishment of large land grants, many of which were turned into ranchos, devoted to the raising of cattle and sheep.
St. Augustine: the oldest permanent European settlement in the US was founded (1565)
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