Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-04-08
THE PER ALTA LAND CLAIM

the clam embraces all the land in th
 Glls and Salt river valleys east of th
 Maricops mountains, covering all of th
 valuable mines of Arizona except in tn
 southern district: The party who sen
 the above dispatch wrote it very hastily
 and sent it without considering it
 meaning, or he did not know what h
 was writing about. All of the mos
 valuable mines in Arizona are not in tn
 so called Peralta grant, by any means
 and how any one who pretends to b
 posted on Arizona, who has any regar,
 for the truth, should formulate such
 dispatch, We are at a loss to understand
 Where is the Central Arizona-the OlS
 Nulture, Blackberry. Tip Top, Peck
 Castle Dome, Howel, and a score O
 other mines We could name in Yavapa
 and Mohsve counties? Certainly the,
 are not ID the limits of this so called
 grant.
 More importance and more notoriety
 has already been attached to this Reavis
 claim than 1t deserves. It sets fortI
 that 1t embraces all of the best lands II
 Salt river and Gils valleys. It also em
 braces the Silver King mine, which ii said to be worthy many millions of dol lars.
 For the sake of admitting base oi operation, lets us allow that Mr. Reavis claim does embrace 5,S5O square miles,
 and takes in all that be claims, how Is i; going to benefit him? The best lands referred to in the valleys of Salt river and Gila river, are already taken up by actual settlers, many of whom hold patents for the land. The owners of the Silver King mine nave a patent for the ground. The water companies have vested rights which Mir. Reavis can not reach, even If he should ever gain title to the land. The government must stand between MT Resvls and the set tier, and at best, his chances for realiz- ius from his claim are in the dim future.
 Neither the settlers or owners O1 mines within the limits Of this so-called grant should borrow any trouble as to the future. There is nothing in the law against mans filing a claim for B Spanish land grant, but it is quite an- other and more difficult procedure to secure title to the land. Mir. Reavis has now fird his claim; before the government will grant a preliminary survey he must mak- some showing of title. ilr must furnish the money with which to make the preliminary survey which will be a small fortune o. itself. When all this Is done, and when the Sur veyor General of Arizona shall have re- ported upon the claim to the Land at Washington, Mr Reavis will only have a claim, winch he will have to be confirmed by Congress before his clam Is good for anything. But Congress will not confirm such a claim where there are so many settlers upon the land, and where the Govern ment itself IS SO largely interested un less the claimant can show that he has a valid grant, and that his right Is in IL requires but few mo- ments to outline what Mir. Reavis will have to do, before he can obtain title; it will require years of time and the of large amount of money t. do 1t, and as the claimant is already q middle aged man, it Is not at all proba- ble he will live to see the final settle ment of his land clam, unless the Land should reject 1t for want of sufficient proof to establish even fight ing claim.
 In the meantime the richest mines" to, will have yielded up their treasures; the settlement of the Gila and Salt River valleys will go on; towns will be built and the people will prosper; and. let the case be decided either the one way or the other, it will not material ly affect the status of land titles in that section of the Territory, unless the own CTS themselves allow it to. The notorious land suit of Marin Clark Gaines, for large tract of land in Louisiana, which embraced much of the most valuable in the city of New Orleans and which was decided in her favor after three generations of litigation, by the Su- preme Court of the United States, has proven to be of little value to her, as she found it impossible to gain pos session of her property after the court decided it to belong to her. It IS an easy matter to eject one or two parties from an estate, but 1t IS impossible to eject large communities who band to- gether and stand np for each others rights. Even if MT. Resvis should ever sc- auire title to the vast amount of land he has made clam to. he would be glad to with the occupants though they possessed no title from the Govern ment. But we have no idea that Mir. Reavis will succeed in in perfecting title. Similar claims have been pend ing in California for from twenty to thirty years, with no prospect of definite or favorable action to claimants. The day for putting through fraudulent land grants has passed. and whatever may come, the settlers upon the land sought to be swallowed up by the so-called Peralta land grant, may expect fair and impartial settlement of the rnestinn