Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-05-28
J, A. RFAVIS.

J. A. REAvIS.
 The Largest Landlord in the CIyiiizes World Eif os 1isiory and Pc hap
 Eit of Romance Dr. Willing and hi
 tniiInely End-shr CsneeSsion. etc. ese
 Los Angeles Tlme-.J
 Mr.J. A. keayls, who h 8 become quit, 1 prominent Of late by reason Of claim
 ing tItle Co an immense tract of land III
 ATIzOua through Mexican grant, arrived
 in thIs city on Monday evening again
 and leSttId.iy was interviewed for q snort time b. d reporter Of the Times
 NIT. keavls Is we'll known in Los Angeles, having lived here some year slnce, and was at that time engaged a. a reporter on the Los Angeles Star. Ht then went tO Sacramento as a Legislative correspondent for papers of thls cIty and uIterWard started an educational Journal at that place, which had but 6 short existence. He was then employee on the San Francisco papers as report CT, travehng c rrespUndent, telegrIphlc reporter aud III OtLer capacities. Hay Ing served nearly all the leadIng papers Of the cOass, aud being a trenchant, ] ready writer, he Was never at q Loss fra situation. MT. Reavis Was, years ago, wnep a resident OI St. LOuIs. ana m tue dry goods trade, engaged III speech 1 latiOn In spanish titles, Oul lug them up. proving and agaIn dIspOsins of them ln lo6i, m partnership with Dr. GeU. ! NJ. MIdInE, he became possessed ot | the title Co the lands ih ArIzuna, wLlch Is now creatlu-, sO much interest.
 DELEGArE TO CONGRESS-.
 Dr. Wlliing was the first delegate tC | COugrrss from Colorado, ald had the honor Oi naming Idaho. lie was con- | hdentlal frleud aud adviser of President Lincoln, and from hIm enjoyed peculiar privileges, among winch was Carte olal.che authorizing him to call when- ever he pleasel upon the United States Army ar Navy for protection or assist snce. Willing Nas a scientific man and cUrresponded with the press almost everywhere. He passed through South ern California with Colonel Thomas ScOtt's expedition in 1863. His last vist to Arizona WAS ID 1874. where the deed
 THE PERALTA GRANT
 was placed upon rec'rd m Prescott. Within eight hours aft T the deed was nled he was corpse n the lodging house where he was roOmlng. His death was by poison. The matter points t' fOuI individuals. The papers were for some caus k, pt back, and did not come into Reavis' possession until about a year ago, since winch time he has been work ing up the case with the proper author- Ities to obtain possession of the drear- lest, most GCd-fOTsaken sand wastes and rocky heaps that ever a mortal cOv- eted. For seven years ReayIs had been trying to establish the documentary evl- dence of his purchased title tO the great Peralta grant, and for this purpose mad made three trips to Arizona, and had demanded sight of the records, but could receive DO information whatever. Having assum, d the guIse of a news paper correspondent m order to asulo notOriety, and with the aid of intimat, friends III Arizona, he was at last placed m the possession of the original papers which had been m hIs possession once before, while Tn St. Louis. This deed. which Is published Ill full, Is attende, ny all the certain marks aud slgn~, uu- intelhgibie to us, but required for ideIt- IticdtlOn by the law of SpaIn. Now fol
 CONDENSED HISTORY
 of this whole Reayis business that is appearing like anghtmare ,r dark horse 70 the CauCarIan settlers along the Val ieys of the Gila and tue Salt rIvers, VII, at present are busy chasing [ horned toads and Indians off the hot sands oi the rlyer bottoms. In the early hi~tor, of the church, when chIyalrous cava leIs planted the banners Ut the Cross ca. heathen soil and brought convert G. adore the elevated emblems of the mas there Was a Spanish grande. named Per alta, who for hls valOr was chrIst. npG ! Fl Caballero de los CulOradOs. Ills | operations were in that portion of New | Spain at was also afterwards Mexican l territory, now known as the
 PIMA COUNIRG of Arizona. Tor the great deeds he bad | performed he obtained recUmmeHda ! tIous tU the Spanish home Government | for the donation of large tract of lanc [ The petitions or pal CTS of recommends ! tion were carried up by the IuguisitluI ! through the different eyulutioIs of re, | tape to the NIceruy of Spain m th,. yea ! HAS The NIceruy issued orders f.s | the location uf the grant tO be made b | she InquiSition, winch was done | mapped and recorded ID Guadalujar. | within the four succet dung years. Ii, grant 5eing located, the papers wers now returned up through the oihcia channels for royal cOnfiI mati D, and n l758 application vas accordingly made JO the King of Spain, Don Carlos III. In TYP the King made his final sigma ture, and eturned the manuscript to the royal inquislfiOn of Mexico. Afterwards General Santa Ana sent copies of thes- papers to Don Peralta. Ills son, who received this grant and the accompany ing copies of the manuscript by will al t'e death of Don Peralta, when the son was about fifteen years old, sold them tO Dr. Willing, who sold them in turn [, Reavis, and 1t was m this manner that Reavis came to claim the title to and pos session of nearly five thousand miles Oi 1 Arizona Territory. In
 LOCATING THE GRANT the inquisition cOrrcsponded througl their missionaries and different agents out on the frontier, and as land was nc object with them they unhesitatingly donated as much as the grantee would ask for. This grant they located ana surveyed in the latter part of the eigh- teenth century in the Gila and Salt Riv- CT valleys, including the counties m which are located the towns of Msricopa, PhenIx, Tempe, McDowell, TOnto, Flor ence Pinal, Globe Casa Grande and the various villages of the Pima districts Oi Pinal, Gila and Pima counties, embrac ing the
 FAMOUS SILVER KING, the richest silver mIne in the world, ana other large and valuable mines of gUlo silver, copper and coal Beginning 60 the eastern base of the Maricupa Noun tains, the grant runs eastward one hun dred and twenty miles, and IS fort ! miles wide, being four thousand ei-li. ! hundred square miles. or three mllllut | four hundred thousand acres, the most ! of II capable Of being-pre-empted as de~- . ert land at twenty-tiv cents per acT, . MT. Reavis has, with photographic copie. ! of these different recommendations ! deeds, surveys and different manuscripts l aud papers now on file in the differ nt . cities of Mexico, and attestiug Co the . validity of Mir. ReavIs' claims with con !. i nation strong as proof of Holy Writ. !.
 T @ following l5 n correct trsu>latl n !. of the concession or deed tO Peralta, as translat. q by Mr. E. F. de Celis, of thi- 1 city, from photographic copy of the ! original document Tn the possession of ! MT. Reavis.
 THE KING.