Congressional legislation was passed to define such title after the United States acquired this territory following war with Mexico (1846–1848).
[10] The Senate and House reports described the purpose of the act as "to provide for the final adjudication and settlement of a very complicated and difficult series of conflicting titles affecting lands claimed by the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico".
[8] The Act created a Public Lands Board composed of: the Attorney General, Interior Secretary, and a third member to be appointed by the president.
[12] In addition to statute of limitations/adverse possession, the Act preserved any "equitable defenses which [the claimants] may have or have had under the laws of the Territory and State of New Mexico".
[18] The Pueblo had more mixed success litigating quiet title claims under the act, especially where the federal government sued in its trust capacity.
[22] In United States v. Trujillo (1988), the Tenth Circuit upheld an ejectment action by the Pueblo, accompanied by trespass damages, where the non-Indian defendant (and his predecessors interest) had not filed with the Lands Board.
[27] Moreover, the amendments authorized the Interior Secretary to offer the Pueblos monetary compensation in exchange for relinquishing legal claims.
[28] During the late 20th century, Pueblo litigants have prevailed in cases concerning land titles that they have been deemed to have adversely possessed during the Spanish era.
[29] In 1991, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit found a claim by the Pueblo of Santo Domingo to 24,000 acres under a Spanish grant to be barred by the 1924 and 1933 acts.