The Florence tribune., 1898-03-19
"Pdnos Of Impoators. ,

Land of Sunshine tLos Angeies) for March, contains the concluding chaps ter of 1.-The Prince of Impostors" tPer- alta-Reavis), who, through forged docu-- ments tried to steal one-half of the en- tire Territory of Arizona and a good part of New Mexico. How near he came to so doing is clearly told in this montl' s number of tue Land and Sun shine. The account of this most mon- strous scheme is by Mir. Will M. Tipton, in the course of which that writer says:
 ''In May, 1893, few months after filing his petition, Reavis caused to be taken at Los Angeles and San Francis co the depositions of witnesses who proved every fact material to the ques- tioa of his wife's identity. Upon the conclusion of the taking of the dispositions at San Francisco, so strong was the case that Reavis' principal counsel, lawyer of national reputa- tion, said that it was already made, and that it could not be more nearly perfect. As evidence of his confidence in it's impregnable character he re- turned to the East without going to Los Angeles, and the testimony in the latter city was taken by Reavis himself. He produced the party who attended Mv-o ,k f.s <k he brought forward the man who had prepared the grave and helped to bury the mother and her boy baby he found Andres Ssudoval, Rt whose restaurant the survivors of the party had taken their meals in San Francisco; he had other witnesses, who had met and known them there, who knew when the grandmother had taken the girl baby and gone away to Sherwood Val ley with John A. Treadwen. Every detail of the residence of Maso and his father-in-law in San FranoIsco was proved by persons who had been their intimates while there. Their sailing for Spain, the departure of Treadway for Sherwood Valley. the death of Maso's mother, that of the nurse, the life of the little girl in the families of Sherwood aRd Snowfall, and her sub sequent movements from place to place upto the time she became the common law wife of Reayis, all was proved by the sworn testimony of witnesses. Every important fact in her career. from the moment of her birth for a period of over twenty years, wss es- tablished by the statements of persons who were submitted to the crucial test of czoss-examination at the hands of a most able lawyer. The situation was astounding. It appeared to layman that the United States must of neces- sity confoss judgment in favor of Reavis for g property covering the best part of Arizona and goodly portion of New Mexico. For Reavis had made his owa calculations. and in reducing the spau- ish measurements mentioned in 4he grant. to English acres, eetiun.ed the area st IS, ,A67 ,45e.
 The story Is illustrated with a num.
 6eF of finely eSeeuaod sngraviDeH, re- produOtioas os forged epsnisA doeu-
 neats, among which Is page fdos- torsd) from She ceduias of lF42, the lest page of the "Raroa,s' geaeaiogy and the isss page of the book of cedulas showing the forged autograph oi the royal notary Ballesteros. In the an- nuai report of the Department of Jus- tios for the year 1895, Attorney-General
 Harmon, referring to this case, said ,: "the case Is remarkable as probably the greatest fraud sver attempted against government in it's owa
 courts"