5. Implementing the Scheme to Claim Arizona
Reavis put his scheme into action one fine morning in June, 1883, when the inhabitants of central Arizona woke up to discover that their land had been stolen from under their feet. Notices plastered over public places and printed in newspapers warned everybody: “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“.
Reavis claimed about twelve million acres, extending from near Sun City, Arizona, to Silver City, New Mexico, and including Phoenix. People were bewildered and incredulous at first. Incredulity turned to panic when they read that the wealthy owners of the Silver King Mine, Arizona’s most powerful mining corporation, had paid Reavis $25,000 – quite the princely sum back then – to avoid litigation. If such big shots had believed Reavis enough to pay him that much, it stood to reason that his claim really was solid. Suddenly, the threat that their land might get taken from them by this James Reavis seemed a distinct possibility.
