The study of the small place can illuminate larger issues in colonial Latin American history. Studies of colonial and modern communities reveal the variety of social and economic structures found in Spanish America Atrisco was founded on a grant of land to Don Fernando Duran y Chavez. After Don Fernando's death, the grant was divided into communal and privately held lands. Water was reserved as common and the community controlled access to irrigation and pond water. Common lands were for pasturage and foraging. Privately held lands were defined by access to irrigation Residents of Atrisco participated in New Mexico's sheep trade and engaged in subsistence agriculture. Eventually, they expanded communal land holdings to the banks of the Rio Puerco. Geographic expansion represented economic expansion. Patterns of land holding, marriage, and economy indicate a society defined by economic class and caste identity. Land-owning 'Spaniards' dominated. Mixed-castes and Indians served as day laborers and artisans
