The county of Valencia shall be bounded as follows: on the south, drawing a line from a point between the town of Jose Pino and the house of Jose Antonio Chavez toward the east in the direction of the Bocas de Abo, and continuing said line along the Gabilan mountain until it terminates with the boundaries of the territory; drawing a direct line from the starting point of the eastern line, crossing the Rio del Norte, touching the dividing line between Belen and Sabinal, continuing the line in the direction of the canada of the Alamito del Rio Puerco, and following in the direction of Puerto de la Bolita de Oro, until it terminates with the boundary of the territory; on the north to be bounded by the county of Bernalillo.

History: Laws 1852-1853, p. 292; C.L. 1865, ch. 42, § 10; C.L. 1884, § 251; C.L. 1897, § 517; Code 1915, § 1117; C.S. 1929, § 33-3001; 1941 Comp., § 15-3001; 1953 Comp., § 15-32-1.

Compiler's notes. — Valencia county, which originally touched the east and west boundaries of the territory, has been greatly reduced in size since it was created by the above section.

The present boundaries of the county may be described as follows: commencing at the junction of the Arizona-New Mexico state line with the second standard parallel north; thence south on the state line to the north line of Catron county; thence east and southeasterly on the north line of Catron and Socorro counties [description from this section; see also compiler's notes under 4-28-1 NMSA 1978] to the eastern boundary with Torrance county; thence north [description from 4-30-1 NMSA 1978] following the boundary line with Torrance county to the southeast corner of section 33 in township 8 north of range 5 east; thence northerly and westerly [description from 4-1-2 NMSA 1978; see also compiler's notes under 4-1-1 NMSA 1978] to the south base of Isleta hill on the east bank of the Rio Grande; thence down the Rio Grande to its intersection with the original north boundary line of the county; thence west and northwesterly (description from this section) on the present boundary with Bernalillo and Sandoval counties to the third standard parallel north; thence west on the south boundary of Sandoval and McKinley counties [see 4-17-1 and 4-23-1 NMSA 1978] to the state line and point of beginning.

Valencia county has been reduced in size by the formation of Cibola county out of that part of Valencia county lying westerly of the following described line: begin on the southerly boundary line of Valencia county at its intersection with the line common to Ranges 3 and 4 west, N.M.P.M.; then northerly along the line between Ranges 3 and 4 west to the intersection with the line common to Townships 8 and 9 north; then easterly along the line between Townships 8 and 9 north and along the easterly prolongation of this line to its intersection with the westerly boundary line of Bernalillo county, the point of termination.

This section was incorporated in Article 25, Chapter 24 of the 1915 Code. It was not reenacted by its inclusion therein, but was compiled merely for convenience. See the 1915 Code, p. 1665.

Cross references. — For change of northern boundary with Bernalillo county, see 4-1-2 NMSA 1978.

For boundaries of Catron county, see 4-2-1 NMSA 1978.

For boundaries of Cibola county, see 4-3A-1 NMSA 1978.

For boundaries of McKinley county, see 4-17-1 NMSA 1978.

For boundaries of Sandoval county, see 4-23-1 NMSA 1978.

For original boundaries of Socorro county, see 4-28-1 NMSA 1978.

For boundaries of Torrance county, see 4-30-1 NMSA 1978.