10
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
yet discovered in America; and an anthra•
cite deposit near the Gila Buttes which
promises to surpass anything yet developed.
"Within the boundaries of the grant,
many important mining camps have sprung
up, notably, Silver King, Florence, Globe,
Salomenville and Silver City. The Southern
Pacific Railroad cuts across the southwest
corners. Numerous branch lines which are
to traverse the very heart of this great
property have already been surveyed and
their projection is the question of only a
short time."
The Baron established his headquarters
at Arizola. There, in state, he maintained
his family and carried on his vast opera•
tions. In a condescending manner Don
James sold clearances of title to ranchers
and landowners and, for a consideration, a
man might continue to live on the land he
had developed.
How much Reavis really collected will
never be known. It is certain that he was
paid many thousands by the frightened
landholders. When a property owner re•
fused to "come through" he executed deeds
to their property to covetous third parties.
In the end they usually paid. The amount
depended largely upon their ability to pay.
If a man's wealth would allow only $10 he
stayed for $10. More often the fees ran into
hundreds and even thousands.
According to reports, Reavis collected
$50,000 from the Southern Pacific Railroad
for a right of way across his lands. A sim•
ilar fee was supposedly paid by the Silver
King Mining Company, and other miners
paid large sums for the privilege of working
the Baron's soil.
That Reavis planned carefully and well
was shown by the respect he commanded
wherever he went. The admitted authentic•
ity of his ownership amazes legal minds to•
day. Such famous lawyers as Robert G.
Ingersoll inspected his claims and an•
nounced them valid. The United States
government spent a great deal of time and
money searching records in an effort to dis•
prove the Baron's rights. Each time they
seemed to fail and government officials were
forced to put their official approval on all
documents produced.
The Baron and his wife were the most
illustrious citizens of the Southwest. They
spent thousands of dollars each year in
maintaining their various households. With•
in the course of a few years Don James
either leased or purchased homes in New
York, London, Paris, St. Louis, Washing•
ton, D. C., and Madrid. Later he admitted
that his expenditure for travel alone often
exceeded $60,000 a year.
Picturing himself a gallant caballero, the
Baron lived the part. He rode in state with
gaudy carriage and coachmen. Although he
was light skinned, he looked Spanish and
with his sombrero, a tight purple jacket,
black pants with red lacings, and two pis•
tols stuck in his belt he expelled all doubt
that he was anything but a rich Spaniard
with every right to be called the Baron of
Arizona.
How long the Baron might have con•
tinued his inglorious reign is difficult to
guess had not an inquisitive newspaper
editor in Florence, Arizona, discovered the
inevitable flaw in the Peralta documents.
Tom Weedin was a printer and he knew
type and paper, and he was always inter•
ested in examining documents of historical
value. In time he managed to see and study
the Peralta.Reavis land grant papers.
What trained experts had failed to note,
this frontier printer soon discovered as he
gazed, somewhat in awe, at the documents
which had made one of the greatest frauds
in history possible.
He saw with the practiced eye of a
printer the date on one of the important
documents. It was 1748. The type he knew
had not been invented until 1875. Another
of the papers, supposedly dated in Madrid
in 1787, had the water mark of a Wiscon•
sin pa per mill that had not been started
until after the American Civil war.
Weedin rushed with his discovery to a
government official stationed in Arizona.
The expose that followed was one of the
most startling in 'the annuls of, American
history. No plan was ever more ingeniously
devised, none ever carried out with greater
patience, indus try and skill. Step by step
the government unearthed and proved false
the claims of the Baron.
But Don James did not abdicate without
protest. He fought back with all the power
at his command. He produced more docu•
ments, which he claimed were proof of his
5tatements. The court sessions went on for
weeks at San Francisco and Santa Fe, and
the Baron might again have proved his
claims had not the beautiful Sofia broken
under questioning and admitted that all
claims to the Barony of Arizona were lies,
that she was only an Indian girl from Cali•
fornia and not Dona Sofia Silva de Peralta•
Reavis.
The Barony had fallen. The Baron must
abdicate. During his six year prison term
for fraud, James Reavis wrote the following
confession. It is the picture of a sad man
whose dream has suddenly vanished and
who has nothing left but memories-some a
little hard to believe.
"I am of Scotch.Welch antecedents with
a traditional Spanish extraction. Three of
my great grand•parents fought in the Revo•
lution. I was reared in Henry County, Mis•
souri. In May, 1861, at the age of 18, I en•
listed in the Confederate army and during
my life as a Confederate soldier committed
my first crime. I forged an order, and being
successful in this I raised a furlough, and
before this expired I surrendered to the
Union forces. After the war I worked as a
streetcar conductor, but subsequently
opened a real estate office in St. Louis. I
was successful in forging a title to sustain
a tax title to some valuable land I had
bought. But these are incidents in which
there is little interest.
"However success in these early evils
sowed the seed that later sprang forth into
the most gigantic fraud of this country.
The plan to secure the Peralta Grant and
defraud the Government out of land valued
at $100,000,000 was not conceived in a day.
It was the result of a series of crimes ex•
tending over nearly a score of years. At firRt
the stake was small, but it grew in magni•
tude until even I sometimes was appalled
at the thought of the possibilities.
"I was playing a game which to win
meant greater wealth than that of a Gould
or a Vanderbilt. My hand constantly gained
strength, noted men pleaded my cause, and
unlimited capital was at my command. My
opponent was the Government, and I haf.
fled its agents at every turn. Gradually I
became absolutely confident of success. As
I neared the verge of the triumph I was
exultant and sure. Until the very moment
of my downfall I gave no thought to failure.
But my sins found me out and as in the
twinkle of an eye I saw the millions which
had seemed already in my grasp fade away
and heard the courts doom me to a prison
cell.
"Now I am growing old and the thing
hangs upon me like a nightmare until I am
driven to make a clean breast of it all, that
I may end my days in peace."
Upon his release from prison in Santa Fe,
New Mexico, Jim Reavis drifted back into
the obscurity from whence he came. Age
and ill health were upon him. His dreams
of vast wealth and power were now only
escapades of the past. Beautiful Dona Sofia
and his sons had deserted him. What be-
came of Jim Reavis-the Ex.Baron of Ari•
zona-no one seems to know.
♦
♦
•
•
♦
♦
♦
♦
•
•
•
•
+
•
♦
•
•
•
\
'
D,E LUXE DICE
Perfect cubes, One•half inch square. Red, green
or white.
$2 .00 per ltundred
c:aslt wlflt order
M. T. DANIELS
Wichita, Kansas
1025 University Ave.
♦
♦
♦
♦
+
♦
•
♦
♦
♦
• •
•
• •
• •
IMING DEVICES
Elec:tric:al or Mec:hanic:al
For every coin machine need.
We supply leading manufacturers.
ELLMAN & ZUCKERMAN
119 S. Jefferson St.
Chicago, Ill,
HECKS
LOW PIIICE-Autoc:rat Battery Portable
Radio - 250 hour battery, Built•in Loop
Aerial.
SAMPLE $9.85 less battery
Complete $11.75, any quantity.
1,500 "Win•a·Radio" board, $1.60 net.
25% deposit on all orders. Send for 1939
Catalog .
le
Sc
I0c
25c
5000 ................ $4.50 M
$5.00 M
• $4.50 M
$6.00 M
1000... ............. 4.75
5.50
4.75
7.00
500 .................. 3.00
3.50
3.00
4.50
Nickle plated checks add $ 1.00 per M to above prices.
Terms-One-third Cash-Balance C.O.D.
SUPREME PRODUCTS CO., 333
AUTOCRAT RADIO CO.
3855 No. Hamilton Ave. C.M.R.
Chic:ago
https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com