Arizona republican., 1899-10-28
THE BECR LAND GRANT
V gornuS Action OF Settlers In the
Santa Cruz Valley.

| The residents of the Santa Cruz val
| ley are very much exercised over the
attempts of a coterie of men to deprive
them of thir homes and adjacent lands
under a claim based on what is de-
scribed as 'fBaCa Float Grant No 81
Protests innumerable have gone
forth and at a public meeting held in
Nogales recently the following resoIu-
tons, which are self explanatory, We're
passed:
Whereas, After litigation extending
over more than twenty years We, the
settlers along the Santa Cruz. defeated
fraudulent claimants to more. than
ninety thousand acres of land, claimed
under an alleged grant known as the
Tun1acacori, Calabasas and Huebabf
grant, and
Whereas. During all that time of con-
test the claimants to the Baca Float
Grant No. 3. never directly or Indirect
~ came into court, or any other de-
partment of the government, and gave
notice of said claim; but now by sur
prise, upon all settlers, claim said land
under contest, in violation of the con-
gressional stipulation that they shall
not take non-vs Hant and mineral land.
And
Whereas, The plain intention of the
original claimants of the Baca Float
Grant No. 8 was to locate the said
grant upon other lands, and that their
petition for a correction of initial point
and survey is conceived in fraud and
iniquity and should not be allowed by
the surveyor general therefore. be it
Resolved, That we, settlers along the
Santa Cruz river, in the county of
Santa Cruz, territory of Arizona, more
than one hundred strong. pledge our
selves and 20 each other to give our
time and money to employ the best le
gal talent to represent US in proceed
ings of revision, etc, before the United
States surveyor general in Tucson, and
in any and all other courts to the su
preme court of the United States of
America.
In a communication to the Nogales
Oasis Lieutenant H. Q. Flipper points
out that the Baca grant claimants cam
not take away from settlers land upon
which they have filed, because such
lands are not vacant, and the grant
claimant can take vacant land only
Regarding this statement the editor OF
that paper says: But if the grant
claimants can get all the range land
surrounding the lands upon which
filings have been made they can very
soon make vacant the land the settlers
now occupy and secure possession OF
the entire valley; for really the valley
lands are of but little value save as
'home ranches for cattlemen. IF Jthe
range can be fenced UP by the grant
claimants the settlers upon the valley
lands will be compelled to move out
and their holdings will be practically
worthless. The Baca grant claimants
should be stopped by the surveyor
general on the ground that they failed I
to locate their claim upon the land
within the three years required by law.
Their plea that their man Wrightson
was kept from examining and locating
the lands is very tenuous. If there
was any foundation to that claim why
did they fail to join issues against the
CaIabasas grant and make such a
showing? To Il man up a tree it looks /
very much as if the reason why they
did not was that the same men who
were behind the Calabasas grant are /
now behind the Baca grant That 'eX- /
plains the milk in the cOcOanut.