Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-07-12
A GIGANTIC FRAUD.
James Addison Peralta RcaVis
Apparently Had Title to Prop
crty Worth $40, 100000.

Driver, but lie Mastered the spanish
Language, Forged titles Perfectly,
and Had an Immense Fortune Almost
within His Grasp.
Of all fraudulent claims to real estate
which are recorded in history the most col
ossal, the most overwhelming in its audac-
| ity and in its approximation to success,
was that which met its quietus in the Unit
ed States courtroom in Santa FG, June II,
when a former street car conductor who
had come within an ace of proving a title
! TO the largest fortune in the world left the
room hopelessly beaten, and under a charge
of forgery which renders him liable to
many years of imprisonment. The case of
the Tichborne claimant was equally auda-
cious and more famous because it was pros
ecuted in Europe and involved a title, but
the property represented was an insignif-
cant trife compared with the enormous
Arizona tract claimed by this eX-street car
conductor, a strip of land 22j miles long
and - miles wide, populated by 10000
people, traversed by railways, full of gold,
silver and copper mines, and including in
its area the whole of the capital city of the
territory. The productive value of the
area is ncalculable and the most moderate
estimate of its present cash value is So,
100000 Even the famous Anneke JAMS
claims, which have sprung up with undi-
minshed hOpefulness from generation to
generation, are insignificant in comparison
with this prodigious and well-nigh success
full imposition.
Writers Of fiction have exhausted their
imaginations in inventing incredible tales of
recovered titles to enormous estates, but it
is doubtful whether the most inventive Of
them has dared to use such story as that
of James Addison Reavis, claimant of the
lands alleged to have been granted in l74S
by King Ferdinand VI. OF Spain to one
Don Miguel de Peralta de la COrdOva, bar
on of Arizona and the Colorados, knight
of the Fleece and baron of the order Of
Charles ILL.,, knight of Montesa. 1t was
in 1883 that this supplemented from
tiersman came before the courts with his
claim to this little empire in the West.
He showed transcripts or photographs Of
all the documents in the case, including
King Ferdinand grant, the location of the
tract by the viceroy of Mexico in l7js, the
will of Don Miguel leaving the estate to
his SON. Miguel de Peralta. the deed of the
land bv the latter TO DR.. George NJ. Will
ing in 1S64, and transfer of the deed to
himself by the widow of Dr. Willing in
1857. The surveyor-general searched the
claim thoroughly and pointed out certain
defects in it. Reavis was not in the least
discouraged however, and four years later
he filed an amended petition declaring
that he had 10y marriage become the repre-
sentative of Donna soma Loreto Micaela
4. . II l,.-ia Noe leo
de Peralta de la CordDva, great-grand-
daughter of Don Miguel Nemecia Silva de
Perata de las Places, and he made his po-
siton more imposing by signing himself
James Addison Peralta-Reavis. And so
far from diminishing his claims he demand
ed an even larger tract.
At this period the case began to look Sc
rious. Such eminent lawyers as Col. In
gersOl and Roscoe COnkling declared it a
clear title and on the strength of their
opinion money poured in from capitalists
glad to invest in so profitable a claim. The
Commercial telegraph company supported
Reavis, and Croker of the Southern Pa
cihc railroad gave him 10000, while 9TH
ers were equally liberal. He lived sumpt-
uously at the Hoffman House, where in
the course of four years he ran up bill OF
$4,000. He retained the most eminent
counsel, and one OF the attorneys, Col. j.
Q. Broadhead of 81. Louis, was to receive
a fee of 100000. 1t is likely that at least
million was spent 10y Reavis in preparing
his case, and it had every appearance OF
being overwhelming. There were no miss
ing links in the testimony this time.
The government was startled, but not
discouraged. Attorney Matthew f. Rey
nolds, into whose hands the case had been
ant l,,v hA1 Il
OF one ;. Mallet-Provost, a clever young
attorney of New York, who was regarded
as an expert in Spanish and Mexican liti-
CATION, and set him to work on the evil
dence, He quietly slipped down to the
city of Mexico and began digging around
in the national archives. What he saw
there interested him very much indeed st
much that without delay he crossed the
Atlantic and made a similar examination
of the records at Madrid. If the first rev
Citations were astonishing, the last were
paralyzing, and the result was such thai
no one had the slightest notion, when the
day for the trial came, that the claimant
would dare to show his face in the court
room. They moderated his audacity, and
on the appointed day a telegram was re
ceved saying that he would arrive the day
following His lawyers has received al
inkling of what was up, and abruptly de
serted him, but Reavis, calm and conf
dent to the last, presented his own case a.
coOlly as though unaware that the traI
that had been tightening so long was read,
to snap. Then came the crash, and tn,
man who had to all appearances come in
the expectation of being made the richest
man on earth, left hopeless bankrupt in
, the hands of the officers of the law, con
victed of felony.
And what a revelation it was Not onl,
was there no heir, no deed, no will, bu
there never was any land grant, and-tina
stroke, there never was any Don Migue
de Peralta de la Cordova, baron of ArizO
, ma and the COlOradOs, knight of the Fleece
and baron of the order of Charles III.
knight of the kings bedchamber, with en-
trance at will. All was mOnstrOus myth
a tissue of forgery and fabrication, evoked
from the brain of an uneducated man
seemingly the most simple and guieess o
his race. For 20 years he had been steadi
ly at work forging DEGREES, records, wills
deeds, cedulas, confirmation grants, seal
and other documents, whole volumes o
them, plying his trade in New Mexico, Ar
iona, California, Mexico and Spain. n,
obstacle turned him from his purpose. Ii
was ignorant of Spanish, so he studio,
that till he mastered perfectly not only tn
language of today, but the classical Span
ish OF the 18th century, the language o
the court of Ferdinand VI. Not a lin
guistic flaw was found in any of the docu
frhap ba bauon tho et,,I,r ,F r,l,