4. The Man Who Stole Arizona
By the time James Reavis found Sophia, he had honed his forgery skills to the point of being a master forger. As such, it was child’s play for him to alter church records and insert documents that made Sophia the “last surviving” member of the fictional but illustrious Peralta family. Then, after he made her the “Baroness of Arizona”, Reavis married her, and through that marriage became the “Baron of Arizona”. After he had carefully laid the groundwork, Reavis finally made his move in 1883. One fine morning that June, the inhabitants of central Arizona woke up to discover that their land had been stolen from under their feet.
Notices plastered all over public places and printed in newspapers warned all and sundry: “to communicate immediately with Mr. Cyril Barratt, attorney-at-law and agent general, representing Mr. James Addison Reavis, 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. government“. The land Reavis claimed was about twelve million acres, extended from the vicinity of Sun City, Arizona, to Silver City, New Mexico, and included Phoenix.
