WP_Query navigation issue with custom taxonomy

Spent the day combing forums for the solution to this. Have 3 different post navigation setups at the bottom. Each has their own problems. First and foremost, I get 404s when the navigation takes me to the 3rd+ page in the query. Page one and two function as intended. I tried to add notes explaining what is happening.

This is a child theme of twentytwelve.

The page pulls four ‘location’ taxonomies into one page and displays the featured image with the post name in two columns. Just a light navigation page for a mobile theme. I could pull all nav and show all of the posts, but that would get download heavy.

Any insight would be appreciated.

<?php
	//The Query - Pulls the 4 categories as planned.
	//Currently totals 42 individuals.
	//'posts_per_page' => -1, returns all 42, so the loop pulls everything properly.
	$paged = (get_query_var('page')) ? get_query_var('page') : 1;
	$args = new WP_Query();
	$args->query( array(
		'&paged='.$paged,
		'post_type' => 'individuals',
		'post_status' => 'publish',
		'tax_query' => array(
		'relation' => 'OR',
			array(
                      	'taxonomy' => 'home-location',
			'terms' => array('new-york','new-jersey','connecticut'),
                      	'field' => 'slug',
			),
			array(
                      	'taxonomy' => 'visiting-location',
			'terms' => array('new-york'),
                      	'field' => 'slug',
			),
		),));
?>		

<?php
// My loop - Puts the featured image and the post title (individuals names) into two columns. Works fine.
	$col = 0;
	$col_count = 2;
	$cols = array();
	//if($args->have_posts()) : - commented out.  doesn't seem to make difference
	while ( $args->have_posts() ) : $args->the_post();
	if($col >= $col_count) $col = 0;
	ob_start();
?>

<div class="post" id="post-'<?php the_ID(); ?>'">
	<h1><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h1>
	<div class="entry">
	<?php
		if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) {the_post_thumbnail( 'index-thumbnail' );
		// the current post has a thumbnail
		} else {
		// the current post lacks a thumbnail
		}
		?>
	</div>
</div>
<?php
	$output = ob_get_contents();
	ob_end_clean();
	$cols[$col++] .= $output;
	$count++; //one example had this. commenting out doesn't seem to make much difference
	endwhile; // end of loop
	//endif; - commented out.  doesn't seem to make difference
	wp_reset_query();
	is_home(); // end of loop - is_home() seems irrelevant, but was suggested somewhere
?>
	<div class="columns">
<?php
		foreach($cols as $key => $col)
		echo '<div class="column column' . $key . '">' . $col . '</div>';
?>
	</div>	

<?php
// Three different variations of suggested navs.
// One - This one adds page numbers to the nav.  1st page returns 10. 2nd page returns the next 10.  3rd and 4th pages error.
// the url in the link does site/home-location/new-york/ for 1st page.  .../new-york/page/2/ for page 2 and .../new-york/page/2/page/3 for the non-working page 3.
if($args->max_num_pages>1){?>
    <p class="pager">
    <?php
    for($i=1;$i<=$args->max_num_pages;$i++){?>
        <a href="<?php echo get_category_link($category_id).'page/'.$i;?>" <?php echo ($paged==$i)? 'class="active"':'';?>><?php echo $i;?></a>
        <?php
    }
    if($paged!=$args->max_num_pages){?>
        <a href="<?php echo get_category_link($category_id).'page/'.$i;?>">Siguiente</a>
    <?php } ?>
    </p>
<?php } ?>

<?php
// Two - This one adds the traditional older/newer nav. 1st page returns 10. 2nd page returns the next 10.  3rd page errors.
// the url in the link does site/home-location/new-york/ for 1st page.  .../new-york/page/2/ for page 2 and .../new-york/page/3/ for the non-working page 3.
?>

<div class="navigation">
	<div class="next-posts"><?php next_posts_link('? Older Entries', $args->max_num_pages) ?></div>
	<div class="prev-posts"><?php previous_posts_link('Newer Entries ?', $args->max_num_pages) ?></div>
</div> 

<?php
// Three - This one adds number navigation.  Page 1 functions the same. All other pages return the same posts.
// the url comes in .../new-york/?page=(page num) exmp: ?page=3
        if($args->max_num_pages>1){
          if ($paged > 1) { ?>
            <a href="<?php echo '?page=' . ($paged -1); //prev link ?>"><</a>
          <?php
          }
          for($i=1;$i<=$args->max_num_pages;$i++){?>
            <a href="<?php echo '?page=' . $i; ?>" <?php echo ($paged==$i)? 'class="selected"':'';?>><?php echo $i;?></a>
          <?php
          }
          if($paged < $args->max_num_pages){?>
            <a href="<?php echo '?page=' . ($paged + 1); //next link ?>">></a>
          <?php
          }
        }?>