Chapter 15

"All right, gentleman," Atwood nodded at Gail and smiled, "and lady. Let's get a little curious. We are going to play a game of 'What If and If, Then What' and the more participants we have in the discussion, the better.

Atwood put his right hand on the large paper on the right side. "For the remainder of our discussion, we will deal with only this land. The other side is Blaze and I have no information or knowledge of any disputes there.

"I believe our main contention is that about four generations ago, a younger son, who was perhaps a bastard, was disappointed he didn't inherit from his father's estate. With the river at his back, he went around to all the homes near his own and ran everyone off, diligently working farther inland. If you recall the Pleas family was not very careful about creating a paper to evidence what land a certain individual should be using. There was so much land, that with primitive farming and open grazing their 'gentlemen's agreements' or patronage assignments of specific portions of the land, seemed to work well for them.

"How violent those confrontations were, we don't know. Okay, so if that method worked, let's do it again. He went a little further inland and ran off some more residents. He continued to do this until he controlled most of the land along the river that had been the original porciones or about one third the size of the original Pleas grant, somewhere in the range of eight thousand acres. Basically, that is the story Martin Pleas told his sons, Howard and Frank. In conversations with Frank, he can only recall a few snippets of what his father told him, he was so young it seemed more like a nursery rhyme than family history.

"Martin Pleas was an only child, as was his father before him and, as far as we know, the father before him. Three generations of only one child, or only one surviving child, all of whom were sons. All of whom died without writing a Last Will. These men were solemn, often silent men, who did not discuss weighty issues, nor did they share much of their family's oral history. With the life expectancy of those days, and the continued reduction in number of family members, the property was being consolidated into one man's ownership, the father of Howard and Frank Pleas, Martin. Howard's recollection of his father's few comments were the basis of our contention. I believe they were something to the effect that, 'He took land which did not belong to him.' Moreover, the documents provided bear out this scenario."

Atwood paused for a moment then answered a few questions posed by Alex who indicated his knowledge of the few documents available which allowed the land to pass from one generation to the next.

After a general discussion, Atwood continued, "In essence the original Pleas grants were increased by the purchase of some porciones. Then they were reduced by a few sales and a gift to a favorite son who married a Blaze woman. That man died and his son received a small portion of the Pleas land. A short while later that land was claimed by Aguirre, the son of his novia, which can be interpreted as bride, fiancée, lover or girlfriend. That undocumented heir proceeded to enlarge his property by taking other land simply because he could—or because no one stopped him from doing so."

Atwood looked around the room, waiting for anyone who cared to make a comment. "At no time has Senor Santos Aguirre, or any of his representatives, provided a legal document to prove that ancestor's legal ownership of the land in question, the large boot heel on the Pleas side of the center strip. It is true, however, that the county taxing authority assesses taxes in his name. It remains unclear if an Aguirre, or any ancestor, informed the Catholic Church that he owned the property. The church was sometimes used as the official tax collector, and at other times soldiers collected taxes which could account for the taxes being collected from an Aguirre or an Aguirre ancestor, information which in turn was passed along to the county taxing authority. Yet, the fact remains that there is no document to establish that legal ownership."

Alex and Jimmy began to shake their heads. Atwood held up his hand for a moment. "There is, however, a document. I call your attention to it now and am providing additional copies for you to review, in the event you did not realize the significance of the document. The writer of the document is not known. It was probably a clerk paid by the man who signed the document, and it is signed with a name, not with an 'X' to which his names would have been added. It is a signature. The date of that document is about the same date as the church record of collecting taxes from the son of the man's novia. His name was Heriberto Pleas, the then current patron. He wrote that he wanted his entire estate to pass to his oldest son, Jaime Pleas, specifically stating Aguirre Pleas, was not permitted to have ownership of any land. The term used is non-permisso and restated using the words sin consentimento."

Atwood paused a moment, "Heriberto Pleas did not specifically name Aguirre Pleas as his son, nor did he deny he had fathered Aguirre. He simply excluded him from any ownership. It could be conjectured that Aguirre was angry he was treated in such a manner. To demonstrate his animosity he proceeded to take any additional land he could get by chasing people from their homes and driving them from the land."

Atwood took a drink of water and cleared his throat. "Now, gentlemen, Martin Pleas and then Howard and Frank Pleas are direct decedents of Jaime Pleas who, upon his father's death, became the new patron. I will now entertain any alternate views or discussions in which you would care to participate."

What followed was a heated discussion, not argumentative but intense. Squatter's Rights, also known as Adverse Possession, was repeated over and over. Atwood continued to shake his head, reminding the other side that a violent taking could not be called Adverse Possession, it was outright theft.

The eight hundred pound gorilla in the room was the possibility that two men wrote their wills on the same date and proceeded to have a duel over a woman. No one mentioned that Heriberto Pleas excluded Aguirre Pleas from his estate because he feared his novia had been unfaithful to him and gave birth to Aguirre, fathered by another man.

Neither Jimmy nor Alex offered an alternate scenario to the one described by Atwood. As the conversation was winding down, Jimmy asked, "Tell us what you want so we have a beginning point for negotiation."

"Restoration of ownership of the property to Howard and Frank Pleas, including all land and any improvements and livestock thereon, plus reasonable reimbursement of income lost for a reasonable number of years because of the denial of use and ownership." Atwood spoke calmly and didn't blink when he said it. He paused a moment, then said, "Plus written admission of knowledge of the fraud, binding Senor Santos, his heirs, transferees, and/or assigns to any court ordered restitution."

"Will Mr. Pleas agree to a reimbursement of expenses for improvements and livestock?"

"It's negotiable."

Alejandro Vargas and Santiago Tovar calmly stood and shook hands with Atwood, Gail, and Howard. They offered their polite thanks for the documentation that had been provided and also accepted the additional copies. Jimmy said he looked forward to receiving copies of the additional documents Atwood would receive from the state. They left the office and drove out of the parking lot before any of the remaining occupants of the room dared to draw a deep breath.

"I'm not coming in tomorrow. I'm going fishing." Atwood announced and rested his forehead against the top of the table.