[4] Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase, the United States was required to recognize and honor existing land grants made by either the Spanish or Mexican governments.

Accompanying the copies was a letter dated 1853 and bearing the signature of Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna claiming a diligent search had been performed to locate all related documents and that the expediente established secure title of the grant.

[33] In California, Reavis visited Florin Massol, a Sacramento merchant with whom Willing had left papers assigning mining rights within the Peralta grant as collateral against a loan.

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, DC, pending its return to Bishop Salpointe.

[63] During the ceremony, a large rock located on top of a hill, which they name the "Inicial Monument", was spotted and chosen to mark the center of the property's western boundary.

[68] Additionally, Don Miguel went to the trouble in August 1787 of creating a cedula before a notary in Guadalajara documenting the Peralta grant, title, coat of arms, and the ancestry of his son.

[72][73] As a result of these talks, Charles Crocker signed an agreement providing Reavis with US$5000 upfront money and US$50,000 total to secure an easement across the Peralta grant.

[74] Reavis' first official action came in October 1882, when he filed papers with the Safford, Arizona Territory, probate court showing he had been assigned Willing's deeds.

[84] Reavis then printed and posted notices throughout the claim instructing residents to contact his lawyer "for registering tenancy and signing agreements, or regard themselves liable to litigation for trespassing and expulsion when the Peralta Grant is, as it must be, validated by the U.S.

Many residents reasoned that if the mine and railroad, with their associated financial and legal resources, found Reavis' claim too strong to fight, then they stood no chance against it.

[96] Johnson was unhappy with the report, noting that while it indicated the seals and signatures all appeared genuine, other parts of the original documents had been received on cursory inspection.

[100] The newspaper editor refused Reavis's offer and instead published an editorial calling for creation of a committee to raise funds to hire a lawyer to fight the Peralta grant in court.

There, Reavis obtained an affidavit from Alfred Sherwood certifying he had known Sophia and her parents since her birth, she had been born in San Diego County, California, and that she had been left in the custody of Don Jose R. C. Maso following the death of her mother and twin brother when her father had need to travel to Spain.

He went to Tucson to file a new claim on behalf of his wife, Doña Sophia Micaela Maso Reavis y Peralta de la Córdoba, third Baroness of Arizona.

[148] The company planned to develop the land of the grant by building roads, railways, dams, irrigation canals, telegraph lines, and other improvements, while simultaneously engaging in leasing water rights, selling livestock, and performing other activities.

[152][Note 6] By the time of the second filing, Reavis was dressing in the finest linen and broadcloth, while his wife wore the products of New York and San Francisco's best dressmakers.

In September 1889, he sent Johnson a letter directing the surveyor general to "please report to me the exact condition of said grant as shown by papers and records in your office, and all the information you can obtain in regard to it.

[164] The letter ended with instructions for Johnson "to strike the case from your docket and notify Mr. Reavis of the action, allowing the usual time for an appeal to the Hon.

Southern Pacific Railroad attorney Harvey S. Brown served as Reavis' lead counsel, while Robert G. Ingersoll and James Broadhead assisted in preparing the case.

Information discovered about this cousin showed that he had traveled through Arizona during the time in which Willing had purchased the rights to the Peralta grant and could potentially have posed as the second baron during the transaction.

This delay worked for Reavis, as on March 8, 1893, his wife gave birth to twin boys, named Carlos Jesús and Miguel in honor of the first and second barons.

Land office draftsman William Strover recalled "an express wagon drove up and unloaded an array of boxes and packages, all addressed to the court and marked 'Peralta Grant'.

[186] Mathew Given Reynolds, a special attorney for the United States Court of Private Land Claims, was assigned to represent the government in Reavis' suit.

[187] Sevaro Mallet-Prevost, a Mexican-born New York lawyer familiar with Spanish and Mexican law, and William M. Tipton, an expert on document analysis, were assigned to assist.

Stockman, rector of the church of San Bernardino, testified the records of the baptismal of Mrs. Reavis and her twin brother and deaths of the boy and his mother were forged.

[242] Upon taking the stand, she told of her childhood memories and then confirmed her husband's claim that an archivist in Seville had demanded a bribe before allowing documents related to the Peralta grant to be copied.

"[251] Despite this support, Reavis was arrested and charged, in a 42-count indictment, with forgery, presenting false documents to the Court of Private Land Claims, and conspiracy to defraud the United States government.

[155] Following his release, Reavis visited San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, DC, in an effort to find new investors to finance his development plans for Arizona.

[267] The long-running TV series Death Valley Days, which recounted famous incidents from the history of the Old West, aired two separate dramatizations of the Arizona land-grant scheme.

In the 1968 episode "The Pieces of the Puzzle", Reavis was portrayed by veteran film actor Robert Taylor, who at the time was also the host of "Death Valley Days".