Arizona weekly citizen., 1894-09-15
HERBERT BROWN =. Manage,
JOHNSON ON LAND GRANTS.

APPRoPos of General Johnson's can didacy for the office of county treasurer the CITIZEN is in a position to know that the hardest struggle that occurred in the land grant cases was the effort to float the Baca grant over the Great erville plscers. The five Baca grants were given the claimants of the Las Vegas grant, in lieu of the latter grant which included the city of Las Vegas, New Mexlco, by act of congress. The act provided that the Baca grants could be placed on unoccupied lands, min- eral in character, and the grantees must take the responsibility of any mistake regarding the class of land covered. The locators of this Bacs grant tioated 1t over one of the best known mineral sec- tion of Arizona, actually employing miners from their work as chainmen. General Johnson sscertained the fatal defect in this grant, it being foated over we'll known mineral lands. The claim ants realizing the fatality of thelr act applied to the government for permls- sion to relocate the land. The secretary of the interior decided they must stand or fall by their location. Then as last resort an effort was made to have Gen. eral Johnson proceed to an investiga- tion as to whether the land WAS known by the locators to be mineral at the time of its location, hoping on account of the long lapse of time and the death of the witnesses to prevent the govern ment proving their case. General John son took the ground that the law pro- vided the grant must be located on non- mineral ground, whether the claimants knew the ground to be mineral or not, and that it was competent to prove the ground mineral at the present day. The department at Washington took this view, the result being that the great Greaterville, the old Salero and other camps escaped being suspended by the government from location by prospec- tors, and today the status of this Bac8 grant insures to the miners the owner ship of their mines.
 The Presidie grant was the pet of George Hill Howard, one of the most determined grant claim ants in the country. Though the papers called for Sowing fields Howard tried to float this grant over Tucson, and General Johnson spent months investi- gsting this case and examining witness es until it was demonstrated as utterly impossible to float the Presidio grant over our city.
 The PerRlta report made by General Johnson is too we'll known to need com- ment. This 5,000,000 acre fraud was shown to be forgery, and fabrlcation so oonclusively that the unprecedented order came from Washington to strike the entire case from the docket. The able lawyers now employed by the gov ernment in this case, who have visited Mexico and Spain, find the Peralta re- port of General Johnson to bs supported in every detail.
 Hsrshaw, Washington camp, the old Mowry and other great mineral sections owe it to Gen. Johnson that their land is not suspended from entry today on account of the land grant in their neighborhood. As surveyor general MT. Johnson's policy has been to leave the suspension of lard to be determined by the final action on the title of the grant and not cause the suspension of vast quantities of land outside of reas- onable boundaries, to lie dormant and l out of reach of settlers, possibly for years. l