Alianza Federal de Mercedes
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Alianza Federal de Mercedes, led by Reies Tijerina, was a group based in New Mexico in the 1960s that fought for the land rights of Hispanic New Mexicans, primarily in northern New Mexico.
Residents of this area had settled in the area centuries before. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States Congress ostensibly guaranteed that current residents would retain their land rights after the New Mexico territory was transferred to U.S. ownership. However, by the 1960s, many traditional shepherds had lost their land to cattle ranchers and the U.S. Forestry Service.