The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-19
a GIGANTIC LAND FRAUD.
Documents in Celebrated Case to
Be shown at Buffalo

Department of Justice, who has charge
Of the display which that department viii
make in connection with the Government
exhibit at Buffalo
This case involved an attempt to COM
NIT one of the most stupendOus frauds
on record, and the various documents, the
petitions. brisfs. forged Spanish grants to
The fictitious Baron of Arizona. forged
histories. also in Spanish of an invented
ancestry coat-of-aTTns seals, etc, Of the
supposed Baron, all inventions Of the
wonderful claimant, make a display in
terestias beyond measure
This case, involving an empire of terri
tory in Arizona. twelve and d half mil
lions Of acres Of land. was tried in the
Court of Private Land Claims. The
claimant was James Addison Reeves
Reaves served in the civil war. enIisting
as a boy of eighteen years, subsequently
securing a position as 4 car driver in
Southern city. Saving his earnings, he
invested them in real estate and finally
made this mis- entire business.
He finally came into contact with a man
| who had invented a claim in Arizona and
went into partnership with him on the
deal One of the first documents exam
ined by Reaves was a forged grant to
| AIigIeI Peralta- Baron Of Arizona etc,
for over a million acres OF land in Ari-
IONA. This was the origin Of the famous
fraud perpetrated by Reayes-
ReaYeS' partner died under suspicious
circumstances. and Reayes claimed title
to the grant by virtue of a blank deed
made by mis- partner, and subsequent
grants. also forged, were uneaTthed by
Rcaves, who entered his claim against
this Government. The report of the COM
mission that considered the case disposed
! of it as a fraudulent claim
! Subsequently ReayeS renewed his claim
under changed conditions He brought
! forward his wife as the only surviving
! heir of the original Baron If Arizona.
| This claim he supported by the false cvi-
dence Of witnesses whose testimony was
/ purchased at the sum of $50, 600.
+ In substantiation of the grants to the
| original Baron. he placed in evidence
| properly authenticated copies of doCU-
| nents in the archives OF Mexico and
! Spain He produced a seal supposed to
/ have been used by the original Baron, a
! copy of the grant etc. Even the church
! register exhibited an account of the birth
! OF his wife, as the supposed offspring Of
the invested family
| II was afterward ascertained that the
| claimant had not only forged the grants,
I ancient family accounts (aH written in
/ also altered the register of the church
! All Of the noble family which his wife
was supposed to represent was a creation
Of his own fertile ina gination- He had
/ been caught in Spain attempting to ship
| false records into the Indies archives.
| After the disposal of his case. Reaves
! was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to
| a long term of years in the United States
| penitentiary.
Judson Harmon, in his report as Attor-
J ney General during the year 1895. says
I the following in regard to the Peralta-
Reaves case:
In the magnitude of the claim made,
! and the fertility of criminal resource dis
/ played in its support, this case has rare
". if ever, been equaIed in judicial an
nails.
IN October, 1892, James Addison Peral-
| ta-Reaves and Sofia Loreto MicaeIa de
PeraIta-Reaves, nee Maso Y Silva de Per
/ alta de la CordaIea husband and wife,,
I sued in that court Court OF Private Land
CIaimsl for confirmation of q grant al
legged to have been made by Spain in 1853
to one Miguel Peralta, Baron Of Arizo-
( nae. knight Of the Colorados, Grandee Of
Spain. etc, covering L, 49, 600 acres of land
IN Arizona and New Mexico, including the
land upon which are situated Phoenix,
/ the capital of Arizona, the towns Of Flor
ence- Tempe. Cora Grand, Globe. Silver
King. PinaI, and Solomsville, and por-
ton Of the White Mountains of San Car
los. Indian Reservation
The title 70 this grant had been inves-
tieated and pronounced perfect by emf
ntut counsel employed by the petitioners,
and as 4 result many persons ana cor
pUTaJiOHs throughout the Cnlted states
had acquired interests therein rs puTchas-
/ erS from the plaintiffs,
I .'Ir support OF the claims il was aver
red that the original grant had been rec
I commended by Philip OF Spain, IN La,
and by his successor, Ferdinand VI, IN I44S;
/ that Ii had actually been made by the
Viceroy Of New Spain in HAS; and mat II
had been ratified and enlarged by NaFIoS
III II was aEeTTed that possession had
been given % the grantee in 1i5S, and that
the female petitioner had become vested
with the title to the property as the gran
tees ONLY descendant and heir a large
number Of certificates and authenticated
copies OF original title papers on hle IN
the various aaTchITeS OF SPAN ana -deSlco
we're presented in support OF the petition.
IN order properly TO prepare for the
! trial Mr. S MaIIet-PTUVost, Of New
! York, was retained as special counsel toL
the Government and sent TO Spain thd
/ Mexico TO make personal Investigations
! among the archives, for which duty ne
/ was peculiarly fitted. An investigation as
/ 10 the identity of Mrs ReaVeS WIS also
/ commenced under the direction of Mr.
! REYNOLDS Matthew q. Reynolds, United
States Attorney before the Court OF IN
/ yate Land Claims
a mass Of testimony was taken on
/ both these subjects in Spain, Mexico, and
California clearly disclosing the most
startling facts. Mrs. ReayeS was proved
TO be an imp0stOr, and the instruments
/ OF which the copies were correct and duly
/ authenticated, were shown to have been
! Cunningly forged on genuine ancient
parchment from which other writings had
been skiIlfully erased, which false docu-
/ nents Peaves had found means to place
! without detection among the archives IL
| both Spain and Mexico On visits which
he made TO those countries for that pur-
pose. 1t is Il curious fact that the sls-
/ picions OF counsel for the Government
to the forgeTs ignorance Of Spanish his
tory
THE court. by unanimous decision, helc
that every title paper out OF one hundred
or more presented had been manufacturer
and forged in whole or in part, and sur
reptitfoIsly deposited among the archives
in the countries named, and also that Mrs
Keaves was in no way related to the al
legged Baron OF Arizona.
'rThe case Is remarkable as probably
| a Government in its own courts, and It
decision removes d cloud from thousand
! Of titles held by actual settlers
A SHARP MATRIMONIAL DODGE
The Chief on an Alleged Gang to h
; Extradited to England.