Daily Los Angeles herald., 1882-05-24

Claimant.
The aerial and graceful form of james
Addison Reavis is pretty well known tt
Angelefios. He is to-day the happy pos
SCISSOR of roll of parchment mile long
more or less, to use the accommodating
phraseology OF the law, which estab
fishes his claim 80 being the most gigan.
tic land holder, in expectancy, on the
surface oi this broad earth. A late
number of tile San Francisco Chroaicl,
tells this wondrous story thus:
Sauntering into the Baldwin Hotel
last evening a reporter of the Chronicle
was greeted by an acquaintance whom
he had known as correspondent at the
State capital, and whom he had lost
sight OF for year or so past. After the
first exchange of civilities the reporter
naturally inquired of his friend where
he had been for the preceding twelve
months. In answer he received state
ment, supported by documentary evil
dence, which caused him first to open
wide his eyes in astonishment and then
to take out his pencil and paper.
TRACT OF 3,400, 900 ACRES.
The first document submitted for in
spection by Mr.. Reavis was quitclaim
deed given by Mary Ann Willing, widow
of George M. Willing, to James Addi-
son Reavis, for consideration of $50, :
600, and covering grant of l9, 200, 900, 600
Castilian varas or 3, 400, 600 acres of land
situated in Arizona, beginning at the
base of the Maricopa mountains, run
ming thence east, so as to include the
ella river and the lower valley of the
Salt river. The grant includes and en-
braces not only the land but also the
water, water courses, mines and all min
eral rights. Mr.. Reavis then went on
to explain the history of the grant, its
value, which he placed at S25, 90, 900,
and the mining district which the claim
severed.
ORIGIN OF THE CLAIM.
He stated that in l74S King Ferdinand
vi of Spain made concession, to en-
brace certain quantity of land in Mex
leo, to one Manuel Peralta, who was re-
ferred to the Holy Inquisition of that
province for location. The latter was
effected in 1853 under the order of the
Viceroy of Mexico, the location being
approved by Charles iii in l772. The
grant was placed ON record in 1888
in the city of Guadalajara, in the De-
partment of the West, Province of
Mexico, a transcript of the deeds and
documents being made at the same
time and filed in the church archives of
the old Mission of San Francisco Xavier,
situated nine miles south of Tucson.
These records have been preserved by
the Indian Bureau of the Catholic
Church. Up to about twenty years ago
the Peralta family, into whose hands
the tract had originally been bestowed,
and which represented the descendants
and were the sole heirs of the member of
the Royal Inquisition of Spain of the
same name, remained in undisturbed
possession. Then Miguel Peralta of
San Diego sold the birthright of his
fathers to George M. Willing and j. A.
Reavis, the latter of whom was in st.
Louis, the consideration being $1,000 in
gold dust and valuable pack train.
The venture was bad one for Peralta,
for soon after the train was captured by
the Indians, and all the fine Kentucky
mules were killed. The above transfer
remained in allegiance until the Goth of
October, 1864, when George M. Willing
recorded the deed given to him by Pc
ralta in Jefferson county, Kentucky.
The deed stipulated that Willing held
one-half of the grant in trust for Reavis.
Willing died intestate some years ago,
and Reavis, who had not forgotten
what he undoubtedly considered fool
ish investment, set himself to work to
resurrect the claim from oblivion. Under
the law of Arizona the wife of a man
dying intestate has power to give deed
in fee simple. He found the widow of
Willing quite ready to sell her rights in
the premises, and the quitclaim deed
mentioned at the beginning of the arti-
Gle was thereupon executed, it having
just been recorded in Jefferson county,
KY, the date being May l, 1882.
MILLIONS IN JEOPARDY.
According to the above showing,
therefore, and in absence of any prior or
lapsed right, Reavis is the owner of a
vast piece of the most valuable land in
Arizona. The property includes the
best portion of the valleys of the Gila
and the Salt river, embracing Maricopa,
Casa Grande, Phoenix, Florence, Pinal,
Globe, Riverside, and other important
mining districts. The title to property
valued at least at S25, 900, 900 is placed
in jeopardy by the resurrectson Of this
grant, of the existence of which many
may have been aware, though few prob
ably thought that any living person
would ever attempt to prove its owner
ship. The importance of Reavis's claim
can hardly be overestimated, and if,
upon further investigation, his rights
shall be found even to have even the
semblance of leg upon which to make q
standing before the Courts of the Terri
tory, there will result endless litigation
and annoyance to the present claimants,
settlers and miners upon the ground.
The history of Spanish land grants in
this State is certainly not one to give
encouragement to the Arizona people
who may be affected by the claims of
Reavis. The latter has certainly shown
great tact and perseverance in his en-
deavors to put his claims upon legal
footing. He came to the Pacific Coast
without means. In order to prosecute
his researches unmolested and unsus-
pected he adopted the newspaper pro-
fession, being thereby enabled to gain
access to many old records and archives
without exciting remark. He has
worked for the Chronicle and other pa
pers, and has also published one on his
own account in Sacramento.
SECRET OF THE PURCHASE.
He began life as dry goods clerk in
st. Louis, and afterwards became inter
ested in Spanish grants in that vicinity
Willing was his partner in these under
takings, doing all the travelling and con-
ducting the negotiations. After Willing
had died, Reavis bethought himself o.
this grant, he having become very pool
L Al l.. E. Il