James Reavis - Establishing The Grant

Establishing The Grant

Willing arrived in Prescott in March 1874 and filed his claim in the Yavapai County Courthouse. The next morning he was found dead. No official investigation as to the cause of Willing's death was ever performed. Suggested causes include poison, "exposure and privation", or simply "strange and unwitnessed circumstances". Reavis learned of his partner's death upon his arrival in San Francisco. He had expected a bundle of correspondence awaiting his arrival, but instead found only two letters. The first, from Willing, announcing the doctor's safe arrival in Prescott. The second, informing Reavis of Willing's death, was from the Yavapai County sheriff who sent a letter to the only address in the doctor's papers.

Reavis needed Willing's papers to continue the scheme. He did not however immediately proceed to Arizona Territory. In poor health from the journey and low on funds, Reavis worked as a schoolteacher in Downey, California during 1875 and 1876. He then worked as a journalist in Northern California, serving as a correspondent for The San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Call with occasional work for a New York City paper. As a result of his journalism jobs, Reavis became acquainted with railroad tycoons Collis Huntington and Charles Crocker. He was also able to observe the operation of the Public Land Commission. At the time the commission had approved over 500 of the 800 claims presented to it, even frivolous claims were considered as long as examination expenses were paid by the filer, and bribery was a commonly accepted practice. Assuming practices in Arizona Territory were similar to those in California gave Reavis great hope for confirmation of the Peralta grant.

Reavis' first visit to Arizona Territory came with a May 1880 trip to Phoenix. Posing as a subscription agent for the San Francisco Examiner, he toured the area and even made a trip out to the confluence of Salt and Gila rivers. From Phoenix, Reavis took a stagecoach to Prescott. Upon his arrival in the territorial capital, he inquired into Dr. Willing's death. After locating the probate judge who had overseen the case, Reavis presented a letter from Willing's widow authorizing him to take custody of any papers that had been in Willing's possession. A search by the probate judge located Willing's possessions and gave Reavis control of the Peralta grant paperwork. After completing this business, Reavis returned to California.

Under Willing, the grant had been a "floater", a grant for a certain amount of territory but lacking a fixed location. Such grants, while common, were useful as legal nuisances capable of scaring an unsophisticated land owner but of little real value. Reavis decided to change this and fixed the location of the grant. To deal with ambiguities regarding various historical measurements, he chose the definitions most advantageous to his goals. As a result, the grant for a 10 league by 30 league area turned into a territory running 49.5 miles (79.7 km) miles north to south and 149.5 miles (240.6 km) miles east to west. The size later grew to 78.8307 by 236.4921 miles (127 km × 381 km) With the center of its western boundary set near the confluence of the Salt and Gila rivers, the grant contained the towns of Phoenix, Globe, Casa Grande, Florence, and Tempe and stretched to the outskirts of Silver City, New Mexico. Other points of interest within the grant boundaries were the Silver King Mine and a section of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

To achieve his vision, Reavis had to first clear some outstanding business issues and obtain additional documentation. His first step was a July 1881 visit to the family of Florin Massol where he obtained a release of the mining rights that Willing had signed over, in exchange for a contract to pay US$3000 plus interest to Massol on the condition that the Peralta grant be confirmed. Additionally Massol, utilizing a power of attorney, signed over Willing's interest in the grant over to Reavis. Reavis then traveled to the East Coast. The record book for Mission San Xavier del Bac, which had been sent to Philadelphia for the Centennial Exposition, was at the time in Washington, D.C. pending its return to Bishop Salpointe. While in Washington, Reavis obtained permission to examine the book in detail.

After examining the San Xavier record book, Reavis traveled to Mexico where between September to November 1881 he searched the archives in Guadalajara and Mexico City for information related to the Peralta grant. In Mexico, he resumed the role of a newspaper correspondent looking for items of interest to Los Angeles and San Francisco readers. He also cultivated friendships with the archivists in both cities, relationships that enabled him to gain easy access to the materials he was interested in inspecting. By the time he left Mexico, Reavis had a collection of photographs and certified copies of papers related to Peralta grant. Reavis then traveled to see Mary Ann Willing who was then living in Kentucky. During his visit, on May 1, 1882, the widow signed over her interest in the grant for US$30,000 paid over time.