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tHun ^(auu.lt;l by I’muji V . oi Mptiiu to U ceruun Don icraito oi (Jordova, and the ongiual deed oi girt «a» said to Ur in ex.*Umcc m Mound. Aiurut Peralta, who at the tun*- ol her disup-pt-uaiMe Was a bri^nt mid pretty cuud01 t*»B, ita the only legitimate dvaciii* -iint in liic direct iuu) oi o.d DonPc rai to.Tlio former nominal holders of Ult;e estate, liana Peralta’** father . nd gra-iulpojonu, had made uo attempts i X bOlllemuul. Arizona tv a* then a no man* land, given otc to aid beast* and aavage Indian tribe*. B it after it was taken po**e»*ion c* by lt;he United Statue it began to bo colonised, and ranches and mining claims were tuken up all over the territory, niaiy of thcee being situated on the Peru-ta “claim. and to»us acre built upm it.Notice to QuitMost of the property-ow nor* in these DOIT towns,#* well as the ranchmen a*»d min*-ow uers, had heard vaguely of ti e Peralta deed of gift, but they '00*4 little notice of it, recording it m.»:« or lees os a fairy tale, and consoling themselves with the reflection that in auy case potseaaion ae nine points ..of the law.Imagine,, therefore, their conster la-tion, when one day they were served ith ejectment notices by a lawyer .ast-lug on behalf of Maria Peralta. About three thousand, of these weee.eoot out and at hrat many oi the recipients were inclined to treat -the matter os a huge joke. But they soon found that it v is no joking mutter. The preUnuaxry I louring* of several selected cases limited in a aeries of victories for tl e ulnintiff. Thoroughly alarmed, .tiaras ih'iusand defendants thereupon ba’iJ-id thein*eJv«s together in a defoaeo '•ague, while the lawyer* rubbed tbeir lands gleefully, and made ready fur rhat looked like being the bigg.ut legal fight America h*d ever known.Tihey were however, doomed to t’a-appoiutment. For. just us things »ii« beginning to get lively, there conic the jew* that the youthful plaintiff. Mnua Peralta, had disappeared. She had. -t nanspired, been out walking near her and*a ranch. WC?ji a band of four or five noun ted Indians, or white men ll.V luiaed as Indians, had swooped down upon her and earned her away.;Among tbs Apache Indian.Now in Among at that time, ndeedj tor long afterwards, it »ai u*a lDcoDuain thing far white women and iie savage Apache .Indian*. Usiiajy ihesc captives wow held in ransom;I ml, when Maria -disappeared, krrionda and they were jpreparcd to , ay ilmost.ary sum in musou if the ch-M •re returnelt;l to than*..They also sent tame Apache* amongst heir wild kindred to \fy to discover . hat had become of the girl, but the***P returmsl un*ucoe«W». They could .hey docIar»-d, find no trace of nv inch captive, nor, indeed, could hey Uncover any evidence lt;4 the doeenbed Aid,Jana*i Addiscm iUuvi*, an Aufcncu land agent and speculator in real tale, iiis story was that he had iouia Maria, now a beautiful young tvoXDai of t»onty-ftve, living on n ranch u Mexico with -mi old farmer who ua. adopted her after ransoming her frou a roving baud of Apaches some two!v. girls to be carried off in this way rears prerkrady.Aftr Fifloen Year*.Ken via brongjbt the girl with Kim *c San Francisco together with evident* —certifies: tea, uifidaviis, end so on that was supposed to identify hor nitl the mining hiirws. Her arrival in the capit-il «f the Pacific Slope created an immense sensation. Sho v.u* tall. graceful and avihtocratic-Ioohin^ and although she s* .ok© • no language but Spanish, and that but isiperfvi-ly. thi deficiency a* easily explaiiuvb!.-by tlie circuanrtnnew.During the Jt.teon years that had elapsed sine** Maria Peralta Hud been spirited away, the Peralto hadenormously increased in value. In-di*e*l. they were now computed to he worth not lw*s than T2.000.000. It was a stake worth trying for.Roavis first made his position sscure by marrying the heiress. Then he act to work to prosecute re claims. Funds in abundance were found him * • wealthy people who believed bis stor . Amongst other*. Air Mackay. the we 1 known Silver King, advanced him large sums.The Case Pall* Through.iIn due course the action came on before the United State* Court of Claims, and for a time Lt looked likely to succeed. Then suddenly, a bomb-ahell was sprung upon the plaintiff, and her case lell to pieere. An ugeiit oi the other side had been sent to Madrid, and had brought Hack incontrovertible proof that the supposed original deed pi gift U Don Perata was a forgery. IIt does not appear that Reavis knew of this, and he certainly was not the author of the forgery, which was at oast one hundred years od. But the confluences to him were exceedingly unpleasant.For all the other document* in the case were now order*d to he impounded and examined, with the result that many of these also were found to be forgeries. Next the alleged heiress broke down under crosfr-exaimnation, and admitted that, so far from being the lost Maria Peralta, she had .never even heard of that young person until ’Reavis mentioned the name to her. She had. she added, spent the greater part of her girlhood days with n oariy of strolliag gipsy musicians.Of course, the action wa* dismissed with cost*, and Reav-is was afterward* arrested, and pot upon his trial for fraud and forgery. He received a long wen tone of imprisonment, which he served., and when last heard of was !iw«ng quietly on a ranch in Gilifomia with his wife, who stood by him thrv*ugbout.
Newspaper Details
Boulder Evening Star
Boulder, Western Australia, AU
Mon, Apr 08, 1912
Page 1
Full Page
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Los A.
CA, USA 07 Feb 2020
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Boulder Evening Star
