Hide Article Text (OCR)
The Missing HeiressA TRUE STORY OF A REMARK AISLE CO-N8P1RACY.( Pearson s WqjBfcJy.'')Hie kidnapping .if little Maria ’‘or-alU iroiu her uncle s ranch in Arizona LuS.A., iu the spring of the year ‘til auuuis out os the central incident »:• one oi the most tangled, tortuouf. .id ri markable criminal conspiracies ol modern times.The atory really begins with the m-si».u of Arizona to thu United Stales i.. .Mexico a.*ter the wur of HU7-8. ih.o territory was lt;«xled subject to the right* of pnv*te individual* to oncisii.p of certain large tract* of land ^niuted Ule.n iu viermer limes by 'ar-u»L» Kin^f, of Spain, vaiaouis xing^ of Spain.ituiuujpi tho largest and ntost valuably ox those was one known th*? 1'eraiUi eoiuw, a huge property, uea ly halt tho size ut Lngluud. inis had oceii giuunlt;l by Philip V*. oi wpaiu t*u certain Don I craito of (Jordova, auJ the original devd ol gat was said to be in exMtUinc'c in Mound. Aim 10 Peralta, who at the tiiiiv oi her disup-pcmaiMe was a brignt and pretty child 01 ten, nos the only legitimate deecdu-• nut in the direct lum oi o.d Don Pt roi to..The former nominal holders of II* w estate, llari# Peralta » father . nd grand par ouw had made uo attempt a ; \ settlamout. Arizona was thou a no mans land, given otc to wid beasts and savage Indian tribes. li it after it was taken possession c‘ by ihe United Status it began to bo colonised, and ranchos and mining claims were tuken up all over the territory, niaiy of thcfce being situated on the Pera.ta “claim. and town* were built up in it.Notice to Quit(Ladunlly it iorctd itself upon the minds .u the child's relatives a.:J 1 rivuds that the probability was tlmfc slu* had been the victim or a diabolical outrage, pawned and earned out. not by Indians, but by men oi her own nc: and color. .Efforts wore still made to find her. But these were now can* ed on a.oiig dmeicnt lines. They .iuo how- .01, came to nothing. (Pino* y. the CSvil War broke out, turning iuu'i .thoughts in otlK'r directions.1 ho lawsuit languished, and was j»r.* •cully aoaudom-ci altogether. It Was pointed out that unles* the piumtilf. Alarm Peralta, could U* produced, there was 110 possible hoie 01 success. She was tin- last ui the direct Ferula line. On her death the Peralta property therefore, reverted to the UnitedStates Govemnfiriit.FAteen yeai-h passed by; the affair had well-night fad^f fium memory ,wii ’u suddenly public interest in it wus rc-awaileuvd with tenfold intensity bythe startling announcement that .Mar a Peralta had been found.Hot alleged discoverer was ri J:ma+lt; Addislt;«i Rea via, aji Ainfcricari land agent and speculator in real estate. iiis story was that he had iomul Maria, now a beautiful young woman of t«only-fi.ee, living on n ranch in Mexico with -m\ old farmer who had adopted her ufter ransoming her from a roving barul of Apaches some twoR* girls to be carried off in this way .j rears prerkrjsly.Aftr Fifteen Year*.Most of the property-ow nerw in the** now towns,a* w ell as the ranchmen and mino-owocj-p, had heard vaguely of ti e Peralta deed of gift, but they '00S little notice of it, regarding it m.»:« or lens os a fairy tale, and consoling themselves with the reflection that in any case potsesaion as nine points ..of the law.Imagine,, therefore, their coaster 1a-; turn, when one day they were served ■tli ejectment notices by a lawyer acting on behalf of Man a Peralta. About three thousand, of these weoo-soot 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 asno joking maw*!, The j»elinnaxr.v 1 hearings of several selected cases 11-•ultod in a aeries of victor it* for tl e plaintiff. Thoroughly alarmed, .thr^s thousand di-icndautn thereupon bauJ-od themselves together in a defoooe ' league, while the lawyer* rubbed their hands gleefully, and made ready fcr what looked like being the bigg«ut legal fight America h*d ever known.7ey were Jsowever, doomed to t'a-■pjKnntmont. For. just as thing* were Ibeginning to get lively, there conic the new, that the youthful plaintiff. -Maria Peralta, had disappeared. She had. *t transpired, been out walking near l*or vndfea ranch. WC?ji a band of four or five nounted Indians, or white men il.V quised as Indians, had swooped down upon her and earned her away.Reavis brought the girl with him to San Francisco together with evidence --certificates, affidavits, end so on -that was MippoM-d to identify hor with tl*- mi'cdng hc-iruw. Her arrival in the capital of the Pacific Slope created an imim-nso sensation. Sho was tall, gvamdul and sirintocratic-Ioohing qik! although .•■‘io to oko - no language but SponL-h. and tliat but isiperfc’i-ly. thi deficiency a*, easily explaiiuVbb* by tlie drcuawtances.During the fi.te«-n years that had lt;*laj*Ked sine** Maria Peralta Had been spirited atvay. the Peralto hxul••normoualy increased in value. Indeed, they aero now computed to heworth Jirt lw*s than 'F2.000.000. It was a stake worth trying for.Roavis first tnude his pooit-iim wcure by marrying the ingress. Then he ,*.?t to work to prcvofcute r« claims. Funds in abundance were found him ‘ • wealthy people who believed his stor . Amongst others. Air Mackny. the we 1 known Silver King, advanced him large sums.The Case Fall* Through.tlIHtlhrjAjnong the Apache Indian. •Now in Arizona at that time,indeed.-j for long afterwards, it waa •* •n thing for white women ajid tiio savage Apache .Indian*. Ustin.ly those captiv** v»ew held in ransom;In due coarse the action came 011 before the I nited States Court of Claims, and for a time It looked likely . tc succeed. TTien suddenjyj a bomb-ahell wo*, sprung upon the plaintiff, and her case lell to picerj». An ugeiit of the other aide had been sent to Madrid, and had brought Hack incontrovertible proof that the supposed original deed pi gilt 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 east one hundred yenrs od. But the confluences to him were exrcedingly un pleasant.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 th« alleged heirevs broke down under crnsfr-exaimrmtion, and admitted that, so far fnmi being the lost Maria Peralta, she had .never even heard of that young person untilmUi\Vothe\NfatuJITorvichq.lburviceand, when Maria dj^nK-ared, hr -R^avis mentioned the name to her. Sh-friend* a-id they were jprepared to , ay almost.aay sum in twmsoa if the ch.M ere returned to than*..They also sent tame Apache* amongst Their wild kindred t* Afy to discover * hat had become of tb«* girl, but the*lt;* a1 returMxl un»ucce«l*h. They could they dcclai*lt;d, find no tra*x of nv auch captive, nor, indeed, could Aey ■discover any evidence lt;4 the dosenbed ia*d.had. he add«*d, spent the greater part of her girlhood day* with a oarty of xtrolliag gipsy musicians.Of course, the action was dismissed with cost*, and Rearia was afterward* wrewtwl, and put upon his trial for fraud and forgery. He received a long wen tone of imprisonment, which he served., and when last heard of was !iv«ng quietly on a ranch in Odifomia with his wife, who stood by him thrv»ughout.ALedth(kicth.th«1thiSi*ap-Pemainpyoitrith(heiIresHoflioi
Newspaper Details
Boulder Evening Star
Boulder, Western Australia, AU
Mon, Apr 08, 1912
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 07 Feb 2020
Other Publications Near Boulder, Western Australia
Boulder Evening Star
