Graham guardian., 1899-04-07

VI NhS iiiia AboSA otAths INV Va
the alleged witnesses, M. Bernatto
Gueness was a Frenchman, who
afterward located In business in
Los Angeles, CAL, but died before
he explained his part in the mat
ter, as did also Don Antonio Pablo
Peralta. The only other Mexican,
Don Rafael Machado of Rosario,
Lower California, affirmed that
a Spaniard named Miguel Per
alta made the deed. The writing.
was more like that of Don Pablo,
and he suited the hero of Willing's
tale better that Miguel Peralta.
willing represented that he
had given pack train of sixteen
mules, valued at S22, ,00e, for the
land. This recltes in nutshell
all | could determine about the
grant.
Becoming certain that Pinalto,
the name given as the maker OF
the deed, was myth, | forged the
documents necessary to shift the
title into the Peralta family. I'm
mediately the Peraltas became so
numerous that | realized that a
title IN their names would never
do. After considering the matter
several months, | decided to again
shift the title into some noble fami.
| ly of Spain that had been extinct,
SIN the meantime | travelled
much in the towns where | could
gain information concerning the
men who might be interested in
this utle. | talked with old resi-.
dents, and stored my mind with
many incidents that proved OF
great value in later years. But
will pass quickly over this period
and come down to the time when
the great fraud as it was present.
ed to the government began to take
shape in my mind.
During these travels / met a
young Spanish girl. Her features
rather inclined to the Jewish type;
her eyes were large and of darkest
hazel; a profusion of black and
silken hair hung in a great mass
below her waist; the delicate lines
of her body and her exquisite
grace and fascination told of noble
Spanish ancestry. She was OF
splendid physique, elastic step and
superb dancer. She was at home
in the water or on a horse, and
and adept with a rod, gun or larlat
81 inquired into the history OF
this child of nature, and found that
she had been reared from her earl,
lest recollection in the Businesses OF
the mountains, remote from civil,
ization. No one knew the history
OF her birth. Investigation only
threw deeper mystery about her
parentage. From baby she had
only Indian children for playmates,
having been raised by ranchero's
family, who sold her into bonoage
to John W. SNOWFALL and wife
Those who might of known her
history had died, and the ranchero
claimed that the child was an In.
dian waif whose parentage was un'
known. ] became infatuated with
her, and also saw in her a possible
heir to the Peralta grant. | in.
duced her to accompany me, and
returned to San Francisco. | made
a satisfactory showing of a partial
title (Which | had forged with the
aid of the Willing title,) and John
w. Mackay stood sponsor for me
to go to Spain for the purpose o.
completing the title and determin'
ing of what lands the grant actual
ly constituted. l had a guarantee
of $500 per month, and earned ad
ditional money as a correspondent
for San Francisco and New York
newspapers.
''In Spain | gained admittancc
to the archives under the pretext
that | was hunting up newspaper
stories. During many months
searched these archives and pom
dered over the thing. / found that
the Peralta family was extinct, and
that the Peraltas in Arizona and
Mexico were descendants of the
servants of the family who had
taken the name of the house.
"One day as | was making the
rounds of the curio shops | came
across two IVORY portraits of great
excellence, evidently husband
and wife of Spanish nobility be
longing to the period closing the
eighteenth century. l purchased
these pictures, and they were the
foundation upon which / built the
mythical SUI erstructure that all
but stood against the efforts of the
government and the great expendi
ture Of money to tear it down
Il told my wife-tor after com
ing to Spain l had legally married
this Spanish beauty, having lived
until then under Il secret marriage
agreement--that these portraits
were of her great grandparents.
"Nvw the reader must under
stand that my Investigations had
proven that no grant existed, and
that there had been a noble family
in Spain named Peralta that was
i nvIin..t NhnrnGnnn ,uith ,hnnn t,u,