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The Fake Nobleman Who Scammed Millions in the Wild West

Khalid Elhassan November 19, 2024 12 min

Conman - James Reavis behind bars — James Reavis behind bars. Pinterest

10. The Fake “Baron Peralta”

Spain’s King Ferdinand VI. Museu del Prado

Per the documents inserted by Reavis in the Mexican archives, Don Nemecio Silva de Peralta de la Cordoba was granted the title of Baron Peralta de los Colorados by Spain’s King Ferdinand VI in 1748. Along with the noble title came a huge grant of land in Arizona – the Peralta Grant, out of which Reavis intended to make a killing. He added more fictitious documents in the Mexican archives, to create a family tree of the “Baron Peralta” descendants. They eventually included an impoverished great grandson, the Miguel Peralta who sold the claim to George Willing, from whom James Reavis acquired the huge chunk of territory in central Arizona.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.