The Baron of Arizona

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Gentlemen, to the state of Arizona.

To Arizona.

That's good, Governor.

The state of Arizona.

I kind of like the sound of it.

I'm glad I lived to see this day.

- Mr. Griff?

- No, thank you, Governor.

- Mmm. Choice Havanas.

- I'll smoke this one.

Well, you must have

something very special there.

- Very special.

- Are you writing any more books, John?

No. That was just a sideline with me.

I've been working with the Department

of Interior all these years.

A friend of mine gave me this cigar.

A celebration for him too.

His 30th wedding anniversary.

Gentlemen, I'd like to propose a toast...

to a real lover of Arizona -

to my friend...

James Addison Reavis.

The man who called himself

the Baron of Arizona?

Yes. He will always be a

part of the Arizona legend.

Were it not for him, perhaps you gentlemen...

would not have formed your

senatorial committee on statehood...

as fervidly as you did.

Oh, yes. I remember that cheap swindler.

Swindler? Yes.

But cheap?

Oh, there was nothing

cheap aboutJames Reavis.

You only remember what you read

in the papers, Mr. Reynolds.

But I don't understand, Mr.

Griff. Uh, he's your friend?

Yes.

I always thought you were bitter enemies.

On the contrary, Governor...

it was a challenge to have

such a man as an adversary.

He put up a most magnificent

fight against the government.

What on earth made him dream

up such a fantastic swindle?

Ambition.

Wasn't he a clerk in the Santa

Fe land office at one time?

Yes, he was...

and it infuriated him that

ignorant people inherited land...

because the United States

recognized Spanish grants.

So he decided to steal

Arizona with forged documents.

Didn't he spend many

years perfecting his plan?

Yes. Many years.

He studied ancient records

and learned to forge them.

He studied languages.

He adopted the manners of

a gentleman of culture...

knowing all these things

were necessary to his scheme.

He created a man called Miguel de Peralta...

the first Baron of Arizona.

He was now ready to put his plan in motion.

One rainy night in 1872...

just outside Phoenix-

- Pepito Alvarez?

- Yes.

There is a girl living

here by the name of Sofia?

Yes!

She was left with you

when she was one year old.

I am James Reavis from the

land office in Santa Fe.

Come in, Mr. Reavis.

Ooh.

Arizona.

For months it did not rain here.

Oh, thank you.

You mind? Mmm.

Mmm.

Uh, would you like a good Havana?

- I do not smoke.

- Oh.

Mr. Alvarez, uh...

the government of the United

States is a very fair government.

You know that.

It recognizes Spanish titles to land grants.

- Do you know what a land grant is?

- Yes.

Well, it seems that back in 1748...

the King of Spain gave

to Miguel de Peralta...

a grant of land in America.

- Did you ever hear of Peralta?

- No.

He was the first Baron of Arizona.

Baron? In America?

Yes. And according to the

laws of this country...

his direct descendant is the

rightful heir to the Peralta grant.

The heir?

Oh, yes. That means that the person...

related to him today...

owns all that land.

What has this to do with Sofia?

Her real name is Sofia de Peralta.

Here are the papers to prove it.

You, uh -

You make family for Sofia with these papers?

Read it.

I do not read.

Well, according to these papers,

she is the last of the Peraltas.

- Sofia?

- She's singing Dolores to sleep.

Who is Dolores?

This is, uh, Estrelita, Dolores's sister.

- Ah.

- I make family for Sofia too.

But not so good for her like these papers.

Ah. Call the lucky little mother.

Sofia!

Sofia!

To Reavis, this undernourished child...

was the basis of his claim

to establish an empire.

He knew it would not be

difficult to convince her...

that she had noble blood.

I suppose it stunned

this, uh, Pepito Alvarez.

Yes. But he was happy for the child.

Reavis took them from their adobe

shack to his home in Santa Fe...

where he lost no time in

molding her into a baroness.

- Good morning.

- Good morning.

You are Miss Loma Morales, unmarried...

a teacher from Las Vegas College.

Eh, Pepito, this is Miss Loma Morales.

- Mr. Alvarez.

- Loma?

What kind of name is that?

Loma means a hill.

I was born in Yucca Loma.

Were the terms in my letter satisfactory?

This is the child, Sofia de Peralta.

She is a baroness.

Do you wish the position as her governess?

The child showed promise.

Loma taught her how to walk...

sit, curtsy...

eat and listen.

And while Sofia learned how to write...

Reavis was writing in his own fashion-

writing on a stone the

foundation of a false claim...

that would stun a nation.

You all remember that

inscription on the rock.

"I have marked this stone

the heart of my grant...

"awarded to me by Ferdinand

VI, King of Spain...

"on December 20, 1748.

"I, Miguel de Peralta, Baron of Arizona...

take possession on this

day, August 12, 1750. "

Read to me again. Again?

Read to me?

- Where did you get this book, Sofia?

- In your room.

You must never take what is not yours.

Yes, sir.

Sit down here beside me.

Once upon a time...

there was a little princess...

who had royal blood in her veins.

But no one knew it except a prince...

who spent many years in many lands...

looking for her.

It is very pretty.

Sofia.

Sofia?

Happy birthday, Baroness.

The Colorado will be your private Riviera.

Every day will be a holiday.

New Year's in the Painted Desert.

Christmas in the Gila Valley.

And Thanksgiving in the Pine Timber.

And the Grand Canyon -

the Grand Canyon will be your play yard.

That's a real birthday present,

Sofia, from the United States.

Over 113,000 square

miles - as large as Italy-

and it's all yours -

every mile, every foot, every inch.

I promise you this birthright, Sofia.

Are you going away for a long time?

There are many important documents to

gather so that you can inherit all this.

Can't you do it here?

I'm afraid it's not that simple.

Then I do not want it!

What did Aristotle say of dignity?

He said, "Dignity consists...

not in possessing honors,

but in deserving them. "

- And?

- And I shall try to deserve them.

Good. You and I must never

lose our bearings, Sofia...

not even for an instant.

You must have dignity. Only peasants cry.

I know, but I want to go with

you! I want to go with you!

I want to go with you!

- I want to go with you!

- You are Sofia de Peralta, Baroness of Arizona.

Say it!

I:

- I am Sofia de Peralta...

Baroness of Arizona.

He then established

evidence of Sofia's birth...

and falsified records...

creating for her an entire

family of noble blood-

the family of one Miguel de Peralta.

And before the ink certifying them was dry...

he falsified the existence ofher parents...

and carefully arranged to have

them properly laid to rest.

Having provided Sofia with

the necessary ancestry...

he sailed for Spain to

complete his worldwide forgery.

He had only one more act to perform-

falsification of the

original land grant book...

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