James Addison Reavis and the Peralta Claim

Collection

Identifier: MS-635

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This is a thesis entitled "James Addison Reavis and the Peralta Claim" by Newton A. Johnson. It was presented to the Department of History, University of Southern California in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Arts in May 1942. The appendix to the thesis includes copies of legal documents from 1883-1895, photographs, and a map.

Reavis was a swindler and forger, famous for attempting to fraudulently obtain 7,500 sq. miles of Arizona Territory by falsifying documents in Mexico and Spain to show a Spanish land grant to Don Miguel Peralta in 1748.

Dates

Creation: 1942 May

Creator

Johnson, Newton A. (Author, Person)

Access

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Use

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Biographical note

James Addison Reavis (1843-1914) arrived in Arizona in 1882 and filed claim on more than twelve million acres of land in Arizona and New Mexico based on altered Spanish land grant documents; he gained fame as the "Baron of Arizona." He served a short term in a New Mexico prison, then returned to Arizona under the alias J.A. Ashley-Reavis.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet (1 folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Acquisition

Donated by Newton A. Johnson, 1942 June.

Processing history

Processed by Glenna Schroeder, circa 1977-1981. Finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist, 2012 October 25, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC).