George M. Willing

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George Maurice "Doc" Willing junior (born 1829 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † March 12 or 13, 1874 in Prescott , Arizona Territory ) was an American doctor, prospector and political lobbyist . He is best known for serving as the unelected Jefferson Territory delegate in Congress . He continued to be the person who initiated James Reavis into the fraudulent acquisition of supposedly free land in Colorado.

biography

George M. Willing was born in Philadelphia to a wealthy family. He trained as a doctor and married the daughter of a successful businessman, Mary Ann. Willing was active as a doctor and got into legal trouble because he performed abortions . To escape the pressure, he moved to California in the early 1850s .

In the late 1850s, Willing lived in St. Louis , Missouri . He left town in April 1859 as part of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. After his arrival, he worked in the Goose Pasture Diggings for several months .

Described by the Rocky Mountain News as a "good geologist and a brilliant gentleman," Willing was a candidate for office as Delegate for the Jefferson Territory in October 1859. Although losing the election, he traveled on to Washington, DC to be Lobbyist for the interests of Pikes Peak.

While working as a delegate, Willing claimed to have invented the Idaho state name , inspired by a girl named Ida. There is no definitive evidence to confirm or refute this claim; The first use of this name is dated at a congressional session in 1860. The first written evidence for Willing's claim is in an article by Willing's friend William O. Stoddard (1835–1925) in the New York Daily Tribune dated December 11, 1875.

While the name " Colorado " was chosen for the Pikes Peak Territory , "Idaho" remained popular in the area and was used as the name for a steamboat, the city of Idaho Springs and a county in the Washington Territory before being used for the Idaho Territory was chosen.

Willing returned to Denver in August 1860 . His next confirmed appearance was at Prescott , Arizona Territory in 1867. He claimed to have acquired the rights to a large stretch of Spanish land from a man named Miguel Peralta on October 26, 1864.

The acquisition is said to have expired in a primitive camp in southeast Prescott, without the benefits of typical documentation. There was no ordinary document; the transaction was recorded on a smudged piece of paper, signed by numerous witnesses. Willing had come to Prescott to dispose of some of his property. He was in financial difficulties at the time and was ready to sell half of the land to shopkeeper James D. Monihon for $ 250, as well as the waiver of outstanding bills. After Monihon signed the contract, the two would sell the land back to the settlers who lived in the area. Monihon declined and informed Willing that he feared he would be lynched by local residents if they found out about the plans. Willing settled his affairs quickly and left town the next morning for Santa Fe .

Willing arranged for James Reavis , a St. Louis real estate agent who was prone to fraud, to help develop his claims. The two began dating William W. Gitt - a man known as the "Old Spanish Land Title Lawyer" after a series of questionable land auctions - who was supposed to review Willings' papers. Willing and Reavis may have formed an alliance, and Willing left the Arizona Territory in January 1874. He signed in the Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott and was found dead the next morning. There was never an official investigation to determine the cause of death. The suspicions included poisoning, “too little light and deprivation” or simply “crazy and not yet known circumstances”.

literature

  • EH Cookridge: The Baron of Arizona , Ballantine Books, New York City 1972
  • Donald M. Powell: The Peralta grant; James Addison Reavis and the Barony of Arizona , University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 1960

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Cockridge p. 48
  2. ↑ Donald M. Powell: The "Baron of Arizona" Self-Revealed: A letter to His Lawyer , Arizona and the West, No. 1, pp. 161-173, published in the summer of 1959
  3. ↑ Cockridge pp. 48-49
  4. ↑ a b c Ralph D. Beiber: Diary of a Journey to the Pikes Peak Gold Mines in 1859 , The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, No. 14, pp. 360–378, published December 1927
  5. ↑ a b c Erl H. Ellis: Idaho , Western Folklore, No. 10, pp. 317-319, published October 1951
  6. ↑ Powell p. 16
  7. ↑ Powell p. 17
  8. ↑ Powell, p. 18
  9. ↑ Powell p. 19
  10. ↑ Cockridge pp. 53-54
  11. ↑ Powell pp. 20-21
  12. ↑ a b Jay J. Wagoner: Arizona Territory 1863–1912: A Political history , University of Arizona Press, Tucson 1970, ISBN 0-8165-0176-9 , p. 272
  13. ↑ John Myers Myers: The Prince of Swindlers , American Heritage, No. 7, pp. 28–31, published in August 156 ( online ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.americanheritage.com
  14. ↑ Budge Ruffner: 'Baron Of Arizona' Had Quite A Scheme , The Couriern (Prescott), September 10, 1982, p. 8 ( online )
personal data
SURNAME Willing, George M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Willing, George Maurice; Doc Willing junior
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist, prospector, and lobbyist
DATE OF BIRTH 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH March 12, 1874 or March 13, 1874
Place of death Prescott , Arizona Territory