LAND BOUNDARY DISPUTES. LAND SURVEY AND DEMARCATION PROCEDURES IN THE STATE OF MEXICO DURING THE PORFIRIATO

Abstract

The surveying and demarcation of land was a fundamental procedure of agrarian justice during the Porfiriato. Although they consisted of a set of voluntary jurisdiction proceedings, that is, diligences initiated at the request of an interested party and aimed at measuring, identifying, and delimiting the boundaries of a property in relation to neighboring lands, and which apparently did not involve litigation, once carried out, they often revealed disputes between towns or between towns and haciendas and ranches over ownership and possession of the land and, of course, the use of its resources, such as firewood, forests, and water.

Although these procedures were carried out throughout the country, this study examines two examples from the State of Mexico, whose analysis allows insight into the legal culture of the period through the petitions and arguments submitted by the parties and through the decisions issued by the District Judge and members of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, as well as through the actions of authorities such as the “Jefe Politico” and the governor.