e>i9
.C33US
IEMY CF
he
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY.
GENERAL INFORMATION
REGARDING
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.1
GENERAL STATEMENT.
The ruin known by the Spanish name Casa Grande, " Great House,"
is situated near the left bank of the Gila River about 12 miles from
the site of the present town of Florence, Ariz. It can be conveniently
reached by carriage either from the town of Florence or from Casa
Grande station on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The route to the
ruin via Florence is slightly shorter than that from Casa Grande
station, enabling one to make the visit and return in a single day.
There are a hotel and livery stables in both towns, but the visitor
should provide for his own refreshment at the ruin, where there is
a good well with abundant water.2
This reservation was set aside by Executive order dated June 22,
1892, under the act approved March 2, 1889 (25 Stat., 961). By
presidential proclamation of December 10, 1909, the boundaries of
the reservation were changed by the elimination of 120 acres on
which there were no prehistoric ruins and the inclusion of a tract of
120 acres adjoining the reservation on the east, on which are located
important mounds of historic and scientific interest.
HISTORY.
The first known white man to visit Casa Grande was the intrepid
Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, or Kuehne, the pioneer mis-
sionary among the Opata, Pima, Papago, and Sobaipuri Indians
from 1687 until his death in 1711. In 1694 Lieut. Juan Mateo
Mange, nephew of Don Domingo Jironza Petriz de Cruzate, the
newly appointed governor of Sonora, was commissioned to escort
1 This circular is an abstract of a detailed report .by J. W. Fewkes, published in the
Twenty-eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. This report may
be consulted at the principal libraries or may be purchased from the Superintendent o'f
Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, I). ('., for $1.1T>.
3 The resident custodian, Mr. Prank Pincklcy, has built his house in Compound A, and
has likewise dug a well, no water having been available when he took up his residence at
the ruin. On account of the extreme heat in midsummer, the autumn, winter, or spring
months are best seasons of the year in which to visit the ruins at Casa Grande.
92960°— 13 1
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
the missionaries on their perilous journeys among the strange and
sometimes hostile tribes of the region. In June of that year, while
making a reconnoissance toward the northeast from Kino's mission
of Dolores on the western branch of the Rio Sonora, Mange heard
from the Indians of some casffs grandes, massive and very high, on
the margin of a river which flowed toward the west. The news was
communicated to Kino and shortly afterwards was confirmed by some
Reservation boun dary
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1
1
CASA GRANDE
Seo.
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1
RESERV
'ATI ON
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Caaa 'Ir.-mdo Ruin Reservation, Avi/.., embracing tho NW. }, the NK. ?,. the X. J of the
S\V. 1, sincl Hi.- X. i of the SE. i of sec. 16, T. 5 S., R. « K., Oiln and Salt River
meridian ; set aside by executive order of June 22, 1892, under act of March 2, 1889.
Indians who visited Dolores from San Xavier del Bac, on the Rio
Santa Cruz below the Indian village of Tucson. In November,
1WI-, Kino went from his mission on a tour of discovery, finding
Casa Grande to be as reported, and saying mass within its walls.1
The house was described as large and ancient and certainly four
stories high. In the immediate vicinity were to be seen the ruins
of other houses, and in the country toward the north, east, and west
1 Mange in Doc. His. Mex., 4th ser., I, 250, 259, Mexico, 1856.
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 3
were ruins of similar structures. Kino believed that Casa Grande
was the ruin (Chichilticalli) spoken of in 1539 by Fray Marcos de
Niza,1 whose journey was followed in the next year by Coronado's
famous expedition. Ortega, Kino's biographer, speaks of the ancient
traditions of the Mexicans (Aztec), favorably received by all the
historians of New Spain, that this Gila locality, as well as the Casas
Grandes of Chihuahua, was one of the stopping places on their
migration southward to the Valley of Mexico. This belief was preva-
lent during the period, and Casa Grande on the Gila is frequently
marked on early maps as an Aztec sojourning place. For this reason
it was also commonly designated Casa de Montezuma. There seems
no foundation for the association of the people of Casa Grande
with the Aztec, and Considerable doubt exists whether the ruin was
ever visited by Coronado or any of his companions.
Almost every writer on the Southwest who has dealt with the
ruins of Arizona has introduced short references to Casa Grande,
and many other writers have incidentally referred to it in discussing
the antiquities of Mexico and Central America. Among the former
are Browne,2 Ruxton,3 and Hinton,4 while among the latter may be
mentioned Prescott,5 Brantz Mayer,6 Brasseur de Bourbourg,7 Hum-
boldt,8 Miihlenpfordt,9 and Squier.10
The Pima Indians, who dwell in the neighborhood, claim Casa
Grande as the habitation of one of their ancient chiefs, and designate
it by several names, among which are Vaaki, Old House; Civana-
vaaki, Old House of the Chief; and Sialim Civanavaaki, Old House
of Chief Morning Green.
Casa Grande was a ruin when discovered and has not been perma-
nently inhabited since it was first seen by a white man. The identity
of its builders has furnished a constant theme for speculation from
the discovery of the ruin to the present time. Although it has been
ascribed to the Aztec, there is no evidence that the ancient people who
inhabited this building were closely related to any tribes of the
Mexican plateau, whose culture, as indicated by archeologic remains,
was different from that of the Pueblos, or sedentary tribes of New
Mexico and Arizona. The age of Casa Grande and contiguous
remains is unknown, but there is good reason to believe that settle-
ments on their site were older than most of the present pueblos or
cliff dwellings. The Pima claim, however, that it is not so old as
ruins of the same general character situated near Phoenix, on Salt
River, a short distance from its junction with the Gila.
1 (Ortega) Apostolicos afanes de la Compania de Jesus, escrito por un Padre de la
misma sagrada religion de su Provincia de Mexico, p. 25:5, I5arcelonn. 1754.
2 Browne (J. Ross), Adventures in the Apache Country, pp. 114—124, New York, 18(59.
M Ruxton (George Frederic), Sur la migration des Aneiens Mexicains ; in Nouvelles
Annnlcs des Voyages, 5me ser., t. XXII, pp. 40, 46, 52, Paris, 1850.
4 Hinton (Richard J.). The Great House of Montezuma; in Harper's Weekly, XXXIII
New York, May 18, 1889.
6 Prescott (Wm. H.). History of the Conquest of Mexico, III, p. 38.3, Philadelphia
[c. 1873].
6 Mayer (Brantz), (1) Mexico, Aztec, Spanish, and Repuhlican, II, p. ::'.»<;. Hartford,
1853. (2) Observations on Mexican History and Archaeology ; in Smithsonian Contribu-
tions to Knowledge, IX, p. 15, Washington, 1856.
1 Brasseur de Bourbourg (M. 1'Abbe), Histoire des nations civilisees du Mexique et de
I'Amenque-Centrale, t. 2, p. 197, Paris, 1858.
8 Humboldt (Friedrich II. Alex, de), Essai politique sur le royaume de la Nouvelle-
Espagne, t. I, p. 297, Paris, 1811.
"Miihlenpfordt (Eduardt, Versuch einer getreuen Schilderung der Republik Mejico, Bd.
II, p. 435, Hannover, 1844.
10 Squier (E. G.), New Mexico and California ; in American Review, Nov., 1848.
4 CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
MAIN BUILDING.
CONSTRUCTION.
The walls of Casa Grande are of a fawn color slightly tinged
with red. Externally they are rough and very much eroded, but
the interior walls are plastered, still showing places that formerly, in
the words of Father Kino, were as smooth as Puebla pottery."
The walls are constructed of a natural cement, commonly called
caliche by the Mexicans, composed of lime, earth, and pebbles; this
was made into blocks, which were laid in courses. These blocks are
supposed to have been made in position, the materials therefor being
rammed into bottomless baskets or wooden frames that were raised
as the work progressed until the wall reached the desired height.
The blocks are not of uniform size, consequently the horizontal
joints of the courses are not always the same distance apart.
Although clearly shown in the outside walls, these joints are not
visible in the interior walls on account of the plastering.
The exterior faces of the walls are not perfectly plumb, the thick-
ness of the walls at the top being much less than at the base. Impres-
sions of human hands appear in places in the plaster of the north
and the west rooms. Posts were used to support some of the narrow
walls, and stones employed for the same purpose are found in their
foundations.
Many conflicting statements regarding the former height of Casa
Grande are on record, most authors favoring three or four stories.
There were undoubtedly four stories counting from the level of the
plain to the top of the highest wall, as could be seen from the outside
as one approached the structure, but the lowest story was filled solid
with earth, so that inside the building there were really only three
tiers of rooms, one above the other in the central part of the ruin and
two on each of the four sides. The entrance into the lowest room
was on a level with the roofs of the surrounding buildings, forming
a terrace that surrounded the base of Casa Grande, Entrance to the
upper rooms was effected by means of ladders from the outside and
by hatchways. The positions of the outside doorways indicate that
there were entrances on all four sides, but the middle room had only
one doorway, which was situated on the east side.
BOOMS.
The ground plan of the main building shows that its walls form
five incTosures, which may be termed the north, west, south, east, and
central rooms. When the walls had reached the height of about 7
feet, these inclosures were filled solid with earth, the upper surface
forming the floors of the rooms of the first story. In the north, west,
eouth, and east inclosures there were two rooms above each ground
room ; the central room had three stories, being one story higher than
the rooms which surrounded it.
WALLS.
The interior walls of the north rooms in both stories are well pre-
served except in the southeast corner, where there was probably a
connection with six rooms which extended to the north wall of the
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 5
inclosure. As indicated by a series of holes in the eastern and west-
ern walls, the floor beams extended north and south. The position
of the floors is also indicated by ledges, or setbacks, one of the best
of which appears on the level of the roof in the north wall of the first
story; there is also a narrow ledge on the south Avail. The east and
west walls in both" stories are true to the perpendicular from base to
top. The tops of the north and west walls of the second story show
setbacks, and the apertures where the beams were inserted are clearly
marked. Small holes indicating that rushes were used in the con-
struction of the roof are well marked in the east and west walls of
the second story. The outer face of the north wall is much eroded
near the top, exhibiting no evidences of continuation into a third
story. There was a low parapet rising slightly above the roof on
the north, as well as on the east and west walls of the north room.
Both lower and upper stories of the west room have smooth walls,
but the exterior surface of the Avails of the central room, above the
line of the second floor, is rough, indicating that the western inclosure
never had more than two stories. The east wall of the Avest room is
slightly curved, while the west Avail of the same room is straight.
ROAVS of holes in the east Avail, which formerly received the floor
beams, are arranged somew^hat irregularly. The inner faces of the
walls of the south room are finely finished, particularly on the south
side, although the Avail itself is in places more broken than the north
or Avest walls. The holes for beams in the south wall are less regular
in arrangement than those in the north Avail.
A fragment of the east wall of the south room remained standing
up to within a feAV years, when the repairs were made by contractors.
At one time the south room was excavated far below its original
floor, as indicated by the line of erosion on the surface of the north
Avail and a corresponding line on the opposite side walls. There were
formerly two doors, one above the other, in the south Avail, but the
lintel betAA7een them has disappeared, the south wall remaining in the
form of tAvo \rery unsteady sections. The interior walls of the east
room are finely finished, while the exterior surface of the east wall of
the central room is very much eroded. The exterior surface of the
east wall of the central section shows the effects of exposure to the
weather, suggesting that there Avere but tAvo stories to the eastern
part. The north wall of the central rooms runs through the east
wall without bonding, suggesting later construction of the latter. A
Avide crack left in the east Avail AArhere the north AArall joins is smoothly
plastered over for part of its length, a condition which implies earlier
construction. The inner Avails of the central rooms are smooth; the
marks of reeds, grasses, and rafters indicate the former existence of
floors in this part of the building. The roughness of the plaster
above the line of the floor of the second story indicates that there was
once a low banquette about the room. The I-OAV of holes that accom-
modated the beams of the roof of the third story is not flush with the
top of the Avail but somewhat beloAv it, indicating that the walls there
were formerty continued into a low parapet.
FLOORS.
The floors of the second and third stories served as ceilings of the
first and second stories, respectively, and resemble those of the ordi-
nary adobe houses of the Southwest. The beams were small cedar
6 CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
logs, most of which were laid across the width of the room, their
extremities being inserted for support in the walls, or in some in-
stances laid on a ledge or in a recess. The rows of holes that accom-
modated the ends of the beams are to be seen in most of the rooms;
some of these holes are not strictly in line. Each roof was covered
with mud firmly packed down and hardened by exposure to the air
and to the constant pressure of human feet ; in places appear the
prints of reeds and grasses which were formerly laid on the rafters.
DOORWAYS AND WINDOWS.
The external entrances into most of the rooms of each story of Casa
Grande were lateral, and there is reason to suppose that the rooms
in which no openings appear in the side walls were entered by hatch-
wa}rs. As the floors have all disappeared, it is impossible, of course,
to know what or where the entrances to rooms from the roof were.
In the lowest story was a doorway about midway in each side. Open-
ings appear in about the corresponding positions in the stories above,
except the third, where the only entrance to be seen is on the east
side. As its threshold Avas on a level with the roof of the second
story, this doorway probably opened on the roof of the east rooms
in that story. In addition to these external openings there were
passageways between the north, south, east, and west rooms, in the
first and second stories.
All the doorways were constructed on the same pattern. They
averaged about 2 feet in width, and some were slightly narrower at
the top than below. This decrease in width may be a survival of the
times when the conical, or beehive, form of architecture prevailed.
The masonry over the doorways is now, as a rule, more or less
broken, but it still shows holes for the insertion of logs that formed
the lintels, which were arranged in series one above another. While
most of the lintels which supported the adobe have been wrenched
out, some remain, holding in place the heavy material of which this
part of the wall was built.
There are several round apertures in the walls that may have served
for lookouts. In the east wall of the central room to the left of the
upper doorway are two such openings, each about 4 inches in diameter,
and near the south end of this room in the east wall is another. Two
similar apertures are found in the west wall of the inner room, one in
the upper story of the north wall, and another in the south wall.
Cosmos Mindeleff makes the following statement : *
The frequency of openings in the upper or third story and their absence on
lower levels, except the specially arranged openings desi-ribed later, supports the
l.y|K.t)i< sis thai none of the rooms except the middle one were ever more than
two stories high and that the wnll remains above the second roof level represent
<•: low paiMpel.
CASA GRANDE MOUNDS.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
It is evident to anyone who visits Casa Grande that the historic
structure called by this name is only one of many blocks of buildings
which formerly existed in the immediate vicinity. While it is now
difficult to determine whether all these structures were contempora-
Thirteenth Ann. Kept., Bu. Ethnol., p. 314.
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 7
neotisly occupied, it is evident that the Casa Grande Group, in its
prime, was no mean settlement. Evidences of former habitations
cover much of the surface of the reservation and extend on all sides
far beyond its boundaries. The limits of this prehistoric settlement
are difficult to determine. The whole plain was dotted at intervals
with houses similar to those of Casa Grande, from the point where the
Gila leaves the mountains to its junction with its largest tributary,
the Salt, the valley of which is also marked by the remains of many
similar prehistoric buildings. Not all the mounds on the Casa
Grande Reservation, however, contains ruins of great buildings; many
walled structures, formerly homes of the inhabitants, have fallen,
leaving but slight traces of their existence — no vestiges of walls
above the surface of the ground, merely broken metates or frag-
ments of pottery scattered over a limited area. This destruction was
inevitable, owing to the fragile character of the wattled walls. Even
the foundations of heavier walls of many of the buildings are buried
in the debris from the upper courses.
Two types of mounds occur in the Casa Grande Group : ( 1 ) Those
containing walls of houses and (2) those consisting entirely of earth
and debris not including buried walls. The former are composed of
earth or clay, which has fallen from the Avails, burying the founda-
tions, augmented by sand blown by the winds. Mounds of the sec-
ond class are composed solely of debris; when opened, some of these
show stratification, as if formed of mud or soil deposited artificially
on them from time to time in clearing out reservoirs or making
other excavations, while others contain ashes and fragments of pottery
scattered through the soil from the surface to a considerable depth.
Certain of these mounds are devoid of features suggesting artificial
origin.
Mounds of the first class admit of still further classification into
two kinds: (a) Those arranged in clusters, each resting on a plat-
form, bounded by a surrounding wall — these are remains of com-
pounds; (b) compact blocks of rooms, each without a surrounding
wall, known as clan houses. While the name Casa Grande is here
applied to the main building of one compound (A), the designation
Casa Grande Group of mounds includes all the clusters of adjacent
mounds situated on the reservation. For niany }^ears the main build-
ing and a few outlying walls were the only structures projecting
above the surface, but now it is known that the historic Casa Grande
is but one of many aboriginal buildings in this neighborhood. Exca-
vations have established the fact that many mounds of the Casa
Grande Group are remains of former houses, and that there are as
many others composed of the debris of former habitations.
For convenience of study and reference the1 large walled inclosures
constituting the first class of mounds, called compounds, are desig-
nated A, B, C, D, and E. These will be considered in order.
COMPOUND A.
Compound A is not only the largest of the Casa Grande compounds,
but is also the most important, containing as it does the historic ruin
and a few other walls of rooms standing above ground when excava-
tions began.
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
M O M T H
CASA GRANDE BUIN, ARIZONA. 9
The dimensions of Compound A are as follows : The length of the
west wall is 419 feet; of the east wall, 420 feet; of the north wall,
223.3 feet ; and of the south wall, 215 feet. The west wall bears north
3° 00' east; the south wall, south 81° 35' east. The west wall of the
main building bears north 4° 30' east, or south 4° 30' west, i. e.,
1° 30' out of parallel with the compound.
The following buildings, plazas, and courts have been excavated in
Compound A :
(1) Southwest building; (2) northeast building; (3) rooms on
west wall; (4) six ceremonial rooms ; (5) central building; (6) Font's
room; (7) rooms between Casa Grande and Font's room; (8) rooms
adjoining ceremonial rooms on north wall; (9) northwest room;
(W) room near east wall; (11) northeast plaza; (12) central plaza;
(13) east plaza; (14) southwest plaza; (15) south court.
The most important block of rooms is of course (16) Casa Grande.
SOUTHWEST BUILDING.
Father Font wrote of Casa Grande as follows :
The house Casa Grande forms an oblong square facing to the four cardinal
points, east, west, north, and south, and round about it there are ruins indi-
cating a fence or wall, which surrounded the house and other buildings, par-
ticularly in the corners, where it appears there has been some edifice like an
interior castle or watchtower, for in the angle which faces toward the south-
west there stands a ruin with its divisions and an upper story.
This southwest building is undoubtedly one of the " other build-
ings " referred to.
In Font's plan of Compound A, a single chambered room is repre-
sented in the southwest corner. Bart-let t gave a plan of the cluster
of rooms in this angle, but neither Bartlett's nor Font's plans are
complete, for there are in reality six rooms in this corner of the
compound, not counting an adjacent rectangular room separated from
this cluster by a court. Several later authors have mentioned and
figured these two fragments of walls standing above a mound south-
west of the main building, and one or two have suggested that they
were formerly connected with Casa Grande by walls.
NORTHEAST BUILDING.
The first historic building, Casa Grande, was not the largest in
Compound A. The combined length of the six ceremonial rooms is
double that of the main building, although their width is much less.
A building standing northeast of Font's room is the largest yet
excavated and contains many more rooms, some of which are larger
than any in the historic building.
The arrangement of the rooms in the northeast building is differ-
ent from that of Casa Grande, but is typical of others, especially the
extra-mural clan houses. This similarity would lead one to suspect
that this building was not, like the main building, a ceremonial, but
rather a residential house. The typical form, to which reference is
made, is that of a carpenter's try-square, or that of two sides of a rec-
tangle— a form that reappears in the most southerly situated of the
two clan houses on the east and the cluster of rooms in the southwest
corner of Compound B. The six ceremonial rooms, together with
92960°— 13 2
10 CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
those extending eastward from the most northerly of these along the
inner surface of the north wall, make also a group of the same try-
square shape. Since one arm of the northeast cluster is formed by
the east wall of the compound, it follows that this arm extends ap-
proximately east and west, and necessarily the other arm of the try-
square lies at right angles, or north and south.
ROOMS ON THE WEST WALL.
Between the cluster of rooms occupying the southwest angle of
the compound and the single ik bastion " or u castle " at the north-
west corner, there are several rooms, the Avails of which appeared
when the soil was removed from the inner or east side of the west
wall.
The most characteristic of these dependent rooms, G, is separated
by a narrow court from the northern wall of the southwest cluster.
Unfortunately, one corner of this room was cut down before its ex-
istence was detected, but wherever its four walls were revealed they
indicated a room of large size. In one corner there stood a large vase,
too fragile to remove, which was consequently left in the place where
found. The Casa Grande-Florence stage route formerly crossed the
compound over the corner of this room directly above this vase.
On the west side of Casa Grande, or directly between the main
building and the west Avail of the compound, there Avere excavated
several rooms, H, I, and J, the Avails of Avhich are low and single-
storied. One of these rooms, J, is situated on the nortliAvest corner
of the ruin, and has its west wall continuous with that Avhich forms
the retaining wall of the north terrace. There are also two rooms
on the southwestern corner which bear the same relation to the ter-
race wall of the south side. These two are separated by a court and
have low walls. There does not seem to haA^e been a building directly
west of the main ruin and no sign of a terrace now remains on that
side. The exact connections of the rooms along the west Avail, south-
west of the main ruin, with those on the southwest corner can be
made clear only by continuation of the work in the unexcavated part
of the compound. As shown in the ground plan, there are walls
standing in that part of the compound ; there is also a level space
called the southwest plaza, situated between the Avail of the most
southerly room at the southwest angle of the main ruin and the
northern wall of the room on the west wall adjacent to the building
in the southAvest angle.
SIX CEREMONIAL ROOMS.
Linear arrangement of rooms is exceptional in this compound.
This row extends from the northeast corner of the main building
to the north wall of the compound, Avith which the most northern
room is united. The line of these rooms is not parallel Avith either
the east or west walls of the compound, and their longest measure-
ments vary, although the Avidths of the rooms are about uniform.
Although the connection which formerly bound these rooms to the
main building lias been destroyed, there is no doubt that such a union
once existed and that they were probably united to a solid terrace,
which Ave must suppose existed on the north, east, and south sides of
the main building.
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 11
Before excavations were begun, the row of ceremonial rooms was
indicated only by a ridge of earth extending from the northeast cor-
ner of the main building northward. It is evident that the roof of
these rooms was on a level with the floor of the lowest rooms of Casa
Grande, which communicated with the roofs of these ceremonial
rooms on the north, east, and south by means of the basal terrace, of
which mention has been made. In this way one could pass directly
into these rooms through the doorways in the middle of the sides of
the main building.
CENTER BUILDING.
When work was begun on Compound A the center building was a
low. regular mound situated near the southeast angle of the main
building, occupying a somewhat similar relation to that corner that
the first of the six ceremonial rooms does to the northeast angle.
This mound was opened to the base, revealing several intersecting
walls and rooms. When one stands at the north wall of the com-
pound and runs his eye along the east side of the six ceremonial
rooms, it is found that the middle wall of the center building is in
the line of the eye, which also follows the supposititious retaining
wall of the east terrace of the main building and the east boundary
wall of the southwest plaza. The southeast corner of the main build-
ing, Casa Grande, is broken in much the same way as the northeast
angle near the six ceremonial rooms, possibly from the same cause.
Mange states that Father Kino said mass in the Casas Grandes,
and it is generally believed that this ceremony was performed in one.
of the rooms of Casa Grande. As there were at the time of Kino's
visit several other rooms in the group, some of which were more
commodious, it is interesting to speculate on the possibility of one of
these being that referred to.
Just east of Casa Grande was a large building, formerly two stories
high, which was apparently in a fair state of preservation when
Father Font visited it, in 1775. So accurately has this zealous priest
described and mapped this room, that it is called after him and is
referred to as " Font's room " in this article.
Mange states in his diary that —
a crossbow shot farther on 12 other houses are seen half tumbled clown, a No
with thick walls and all with roofs burnt except one room beneath one house,
with round beams, smooth and not thick, which appear to be cedar or savin.
and over them rush reeds very similar to them and n layer of mortar and hard
clay, making a ceiling or story of very peculiar character.
Font, 70 years after, wrote:
In front of the east door, separated from the casa, there is another building
with dimensions from north to south 26 feet and from east to west 18. exclusive
of the thickness of the walls.
Directly west of Font's room is a passageway communicating with
the central plaza. The floor of this passageway is hard and very com-
pact, and on one side there were excavated an eagle skeleton and
bones of several rabbits.
12 CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
ROOMS BETWEEN CASA GRANDE AND FONT'S ROOM.
East of Casa Grande there were several large rooms with low,
massive walls, evidently of one story. It would appear that in
ancient times these rooms joined the terrace at the base of Casa
Grande, and we may suppose that their roofs were on the level with
the floor of the lowest room of the historic building. Apparently
these rooms were not all constructed at the same time, the two at the
north showing evidences of being older than the southern pair.
One of these rooms, C, was found to contain much debris, consist-
ing of pottery fragments, charred basketry, cloth, maize, mesquite
beans, marine shells, and other objects. It appears to have been a
dumping place, and as it has every appearance of having once been a
room, we may suppose that it was deserted while some of the other
rooms of Compound A were still inhabited.
ROOMS ADJOINING THE MOST NORTHERLY OF THE SIX CEREMONIAL ROOMS.
Adjoining the most northerly of the six ceremonial rooms on its
east side there lies a room or court, G, surrounded by walls, which
appears to have been without a roof. Its floor is hard, as if made so
by the tramp of many feet; its walls are massive, with smooth sur-
faces. A walled-up doorway, recalling a similar feature in the west
room of the main building, occurs in the wall separating this room
from the most northerly of the six ceremonial rooms.
NORTHWEST ROOM.
This room is single-storied, with free walls on two sides, the other
sides being the walls of the compound. An entrance 'into the com-
pound on the north side is situated near this corner room.
The excavations revealed many ceremonial objects on the floor,
which would appear to indicate that the room was used for other
than secular purposes. Household utensils, as grinding stones, which
would be expected in a living chamber, were absent. No soot or
other evidences of a fire were observed on the walls, and there were
no charred logs or rafters.
ROOMS NEAR EAST WALL.
South of the plaza which lies to the east of the two-storied build-
ing known as Font's room are situated the remains of some massive
walls which formed a large square inclosure separated from the east
wall only by a narrow passage.
This building was evidently formerly one story high. Its size is
so great that it is doubtful whether or not it was roofed, but if it had
a roof it would be one of the largest rooms of Compound A.
NORTHEAST PLAZA.
The situation of this plaza and the fact that no doorways opened
into it or terraced roof's looked down upon it imply that it was not a
favorite one for ceremonial dances or spectacular performances. As
the walls about it are, as a rule, massive, the plaza may have served
CA.SA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 13
as a safe place to which to flee for protection, and it is probable that
cabins, not unlike the Pima huts or the last generation, were tempo-
rarily erected in this and other plazas.
CENTRAL PLAZA.
The centrally placed, and on that account probably the most sacred,
plaza of Compound A is surrounded by buildings, the roofs of which
no doubt served as elevations from which spectators could witness the
sacred dances and games. The floor of this plaza was solid, appar-
ently hardened by constant tramping of feet. The labor involved
in cutting down the earth in this plaza to the former floor was con-
siderable, it being necessary to remove many cubic yards of grout
that had fallen from the thick walls of the northeast building and the
six ceremonial rooms. The southwest corner of the plaza was not ex-
cavated, because of a large stake to which is attached the iron rod
that serves as a guy for the northeast corner of the roof built over the
ruin.
The plaza appears to have been used as a burial place, for a human
skeleton was dug out of the floor near its southeast corner, but the
body might have been buried after the compound had been deserted.
There were excavated from this plaza, near the passageway west of
the tall wall of Font's room, the skeleton of an eagle and several
rabbit bones. It was probably customary at Casa Grande to domes-
ticate eagles for their feathers and to keep them in confinement.
EAST PLAZA.
This plaza was almost wholly surrounded by rooms, and from its
position was evidently one of the most popular of all the inclosures of
this kind. From the roof of the main building one could probably
Jook over Font's room into this plaza. Although the plaza is a small
one, its eastern position would give it considerable ceremonial im-
portance. The accumulated earth was cut down to the original level
and removed outside the compound. There does not seem to be suffi-
cient evidence that there was an eastern entrance way to this plaza,
although it was looked for when excavations were made.
SOUTHWEST PLAZA.
This plaza adjoins the west wall of the compound, extending from
the rooms southwest of the main ruin to the first of the cluster of
rooms in the southwest angle. Although large quantities of earth
were removed from this inclosure, it has not been wholly leveled to
the floor, especially on the east side, near a wall which is a continua-
tion of the rooms at the southwest corner of the main ruin. This
wall was exposed along its whole length, but showed no rooms on the
west side, although probably there are several on the east, or unex-
cavated, side.
SOUTH COURT.
A long court extends across the whole south end of the compound
from the southwest cluster of rooms to the east wall. Its form sug-
gests a ball court or course for foot races. In connection with the
14 CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
former suggestion it is interesting to note that several stone balls,
such as were used, according to Pima legends, in a game of kicking
ball, were found in this court; this game is still practiced by the
Pimas. Near one end there was excavated a square perforated stone,
recalling that through which balls were thrown in the Nahuatl game
of pelote.
As will be seen from the accompanying plan of Compound A, the
whole inclosure has not been completely excavated, but enough debris
has been removed to show its general character. There are no large
unexcavated mounds remaining in this compound, and the level
space in the southeastern part was either a plaza or, more probably,
the site of many habitations, whose fragile walls have fallen, raising
the surface to a uniform height. On this supposition we should look
here for the remains of houses in which the majority of the people
lived.
From the study of Compound A we can get an idea of the structural
character of one of these Gila Valley prehistoric settlements. The
people lived in clusters of houses surrounded by a common wall, which
inclosed also massive houses that served as temples or as citadels for
protection. Regarding the sociologic condition, whether each com-
pound housed and protected many families unrelated by blood, or
clans related to one another, can not be determined from the infor-
mation available. That the compounds may have been built at
different times appears probable, but it can hardly be supposed that
one compound was completely deserted at one time and that the inhab-
itants might have moved to another site a few hundred feet away. If
these compounds were inhabited at the same time, it may be readily
supposed that there was considerable intermarriage of clans and
therefore intermingling of blood. As no known legends speak of
more than one chief of Casa Grande, the supposition is that the
inhabitants recognized only one head. There is ground for the belief
that the age of Compound A is not so great as that of Compound B,
although it is of considerable antiquity. Casa Grande itself seems to
have been constructed at different times, as it shows evidences of
growth by a series of additions. There are no known data by which
its age can be computed and none to determine which compound was
the last to be deserted. It is known that Compound A was a ruin in
1694, but from the earliest accounts nothing can be ascertained which
would show how long before that date the ancients occupied the
buildings. The indications afforded by the rate of wear of the walls
since the beginning of the eighteenth century lead to the belief that
a few generations before that time Casa Grande was a populous
settlement. f
The orientation of the surrounding walls of the compounds and of
the buildings within them is well marked, this feature appearing very
significantly in Compound A. The greatest length of all the com-
pounds is north and south. The doorways of the buildings, when
practicable, open toward the east.
In certain walls is found evidence contradicting the theory that
they were built by stamping caliche into bottomless baskets or boxes,
as generally taught, and as indicated by the joints on the west side
of the main ruin. At various places in the walls may still be seen
masses of clay patted into shape by human hands, the imprints of
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 15
which are clear. Some of these masses, which are just large enough
to have been handled by one workman, were evidently dumped on
the wall and subsequently were not so stamped that, they lost their
original shape.
COMPOUND B.
When work on it began Compound B consisted of two mounds
resting on a platform, the bases around both mounds being so filled
in with earth that the surrounding wall formed the edge of a plat-
form or terrace. The most extensive of these inclosed mounds
(Pyramid B) occupied the southwest corner of the platform. The
largest and most massive (Pyramid A) has a flat top, from which
the visitor can see, in clear weather, the cupola of the courthouse in
Florence, 12 miles away.
Compound B is 840 feet northeast of Compound A. Its excavated
surrounding wall on the east and north sides, respectively, meas-
ures 299 feet and 180 feet; the west side is 297 feet long and the
south side 167 feet. The compound is oriented approximately north
and south.
When the excavation of Compound B began no part of the sur-
rounding wall was visible, its existence being indicated only by a
slight rise above the level of the surrounding plain. The first work
attempted was the determination of the angles or corners of this
compound. This work brought to light a massive wall surrounding
the whole inclosure. It is evident from the amount of debris that
had accumulated on the outside of this wall that it must have been
formerly at least 7 feet high. The accumulated earth was removed
to a depth of 4 feet, the present average height of the wall. This
wall was found to be much higher on the west side than on the east,
south, or north, and in order to obtain a level for the drain con-
structed around the compound to carry away the surplus water, it
was necessary to remove debris on the west wall to a depth of at
least 9 feet. Below that depth many circular depressions, similar to
those used by Pima in mixing mortar for the walls, were found, and
it is believed that the former level of the foundation of the compound
was reached on that side.
None of the outside walls of Compound B laid bare by excavation
were found to be straight and none were exactly perpendicular.
The thickness of the surrounding wall varies; in some places it is
as much as 5 feet and is, on the average, about 3J feet. Outside the
wall, about 7 feet from the former foundation, was dug a shallow
ditch surrounding the whole compound. This ditch was continued
into deeper ones extending from the north west and southwest corners
in order to carry all superfluous water from the foundations of the
walls into a natural depression some 50 feet from the compound.
A subterranean room provided with a cemented floor, walls, and
fireplace was discovered near the northeast corner, under the foun-
dation of the exterior wall.1 This was evidently a pit-house inhabited
before the massive wall had been constructed and antedating the
structures built above it. Traces of similar subterranean rooms are
found within the compound near the same corner.
irrhe diagonals of none of the rooms at Casa Grande are exactly equal in length.
200 FT.
CLAN HOUSE
CLAN HOUSE:
-3
92960°— 13. (Pages 16-17.)
GENERAL PLAN OF CAJ
CLAN HOUSE
i
rBANDE GROUP OF RUINS.
18
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
"I
I
6 s r
d
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 19
The outside wall of Compound B was constructed, like that of
Casa Grande proper, of huge blocks of natural cement, which were
made where they now rest, the marks of successive blocks being
visible at several points where the union is not perfect. Evidences
that this wall had been repaired by ancient builders are seen in
many places, and it appears that the form and direction of the
original wall have been modified by its enlargement at the southeast
corner. Within the inclosure surrounded by the massive exterior
wall were found evidences of two kinds of buildings: First, those
made of cement blocks, characteristically massive; second, those
having fragile walls supported by upright posts. Some of the walls
of buildings of the former class still remain upright, but those of
the latter have fallen, their positions being indicated only by decayed
stumps. To the first type belong also well-plastered floors, in which
are present circular depressions that served as fireplaces. If we
interpret buildings of the first type as temples used for ceremonial
purposes, the fragile-walled buildings may be regarded as habitations
of the people comparable with those in which the Pima have lived
since known to history.
PYRAMID A.
The two large pyramidal elevations occupying much of the in-
closure of Compound B were found on excavation to be remarkable
structures, suggesting a style of architecture common in Mexico. It
appears that the larger and most northerly of these structures, desig-
nated on the map as A, was a pyramid, formerly marked by the
presence of two or three terraces, the massive walls of which still
rise at one point to a height of more than 10 feet. The top of this
pyramid is square and level. A deep excavation made in its north
end revealed a long chamber, suggesting the north room of Casa
Grande. On the southwest side of this pyramid shallow excavations
revealed several cemented floors one below another, and vertical
walls indicated by decayed posts which formerly supported them;
each of these floors contains a well-made fire pit. The shape of the
rooms, as shown by the positions of the stumps, was rectangular; the
length was double the width. A doorway, indicated by the absence
of upright logs from one side, was just in front of the fireplace,
which itself was situated, not in the center of the room, but slightly
nearer one side. The existence of these floors or evidences of rooms
situated one above the other would seem to indicate that a consider-
able portion of this pyramid was formed by accumulations of earth
resulting from the decay of habitations. The supposition is that this
accumulation continued through a long period and that new habi-
tations were built on the debris of those below. Excavations ex-
tended in the southwest angle of the pyramid to a level with the out-
side plazas showed that there were in this mound seven layers of
floors, indicating by the above theory seven successive constructions
or times of habitation.
PYRAMID B.
Pyramid B, which is situated in the southwest section of Com-
pound B, is separated in part from the west wall of the compound
by a plaza 100 feet long by 50 feet wide. The pyramidal form so
20
well seen in Pyramid A does not appear in Pyramid B, the shape
of which is try-square, a mound extending north and south with a
western extension. On the top of this mound, as on Pyramid A,
were found floors of houses whose upright walls were indicated by
decayed posts; below were other floors, resembling those found on
top of Pyramid A. There were remains of a shrine at the southwest
corner of the top of Pyramid B ; in it were found fragments of copper
and many strangely formed stones. The north end of Pyramid B,
extending toward the west wall of the compound and forming the
north wall of the southwest plaza, was occupied by two rooms, the
massive walls of which are 8 feet high and average 4 feet thick.
The ground plan of these rooms resembles in shape a try-square.
Their common west wall is separated from the west wall of the com-
pound by a passageway, through which one formerly could enter the
southwest plaza from the central plaza.1 The walls show no indi-
cation of a side entrance, and no proof was obtained that the rooms
were roofed. The most logical supposition is that they were entered
from the top of the adjacent mound by means of ladders or notched
logs. Each of these rooms had a fireplace near the middle of the
room, well-plastered floors, and vertical walls; they have no lateral
openings for communication with each other.
In one of these rooms was found a mass of caliche about the size
of a small keg, which had a cavity in one end, while the opposite
extremity was rounded. This object resembled a rude stove or oven,8
the cavity being used formerly for storage of fuel. A somewhat
similar object was found buried under or near the west wall of Com-
pound C. The other objects found in these rooms are evidently cere-
monial and perhaps served somewhat the same purpose as those found
in the large rooms of Casa Grande.
In the floor of what appears to have been either a room or a small
plaza, on top of Pyramid B at its southwest corner, was found a
shallow pit or depression about a foot in diameter, which had a hemi-
spherical cover made of caliche ; this cover, which was perforated by
two holes, fitted accurately into the depression. The purpose of this
pit and cover was not ascertained, nothing being found that afforded
any clue to their use.
ROOMS EAST OF PYRAMID B.
The inclosure east of Pyramid B and south of Pyramid A forms
a large plaza, in the southern part of which are several buildings
of massive proportions. These have been excavated to their floors,
which are well preserved. Two of these rooms are especially note-
worthy. These were formerly a single story in height and show no
evidence of ever having been higher. Although separated by a
narrow court, or passageway, both rooms open into the same court
through well-made doorways, the jambs and thresholds of which are
smooth and well preserved. When these rooms were uncovered, it
was found that their floors were made of hardened adobe upon which,
when first brought to light,, could be seen impressions of matting laid
upon them when the room was inhabited. This would seem to show
1 These narrow passageways exist also In Compound A, as between Font's room and the
massive-walled structures east of the main building.
'Like the pits the Hopi use in baking their ceremonial pudding (pigume).
ARIZONA. 21
that the ancient people of Casa Grande used a kind of sleeping mat
similar to that employed by the Pima Indians. The preservation of
these impressions for so long a time is certainly remarkable.
The walls of these rooms are covered with several layers of smooth
plaster, each very carefully applied. The size and shape of the rooms
lead to the belief that they were connected with ceremonal rather than
with domestic life. In the open places adjoining these chambers the
former existence of rectangular rooms is indicated by rows of holes in
which were found decayed fragments of wooden posts that had for-
merly supported the fragile walls, long since fallen. Where possible,
these were carefully replaced by new logs. The number of these
habitations could not be determined. Their floors may be traced by
the remaining cement, hardened by the tramping of many feet, but
no fireplaces were found in these floors or in the walled buildings east
of Pyramid B.
SOUTHEAST PLAZA.
In the southeast plaza of Compound B evidences of several rooms
were brought to light, although for the greater part their once mas-
sive walls were very much broken down. Here were found indi-
cations of fragile-walled rooms, their floors situated one above another,
separated by a few inches of soil. There had evidently been a
change of plan in this quarter which had led to secondary con-
struction, thus modifying more or less the original architecture.
The exterior walls of the compound at this point and for about 50
feet north along the east wall are double. Within the inclosure
near the southeast angle 1 appeared rows of decayed posts, remains
of walls, arranged in quadrangular form, indicating the former
existence of several fragile-walled dwellings.
East of Pyramid A, between it and the east wall of the compound,
were traced portions of the massive walls of a large building, very
much mutilated. To the north of this building are remains of three
fine rectangular buildings having well-formed floors, fireplaces, and
walls.
NORTH PLAZA.
Due north of Pyramid A, between it and the north wall, from
which it is separated by a narrow passage, was found a large build-
ing fully 40 feet long; the floor is partially subterranean and the
doorway opens to the south. Between this building and the north-
east corner of the compound were other massive rooms, the walls
of which are destroyed to so great an extent that their ground plan
can not satisfactorily be traced. In this region reoccurs evidence
of successive strata of floors, suggesting repeated occupancy of the
same site by the rebuilding of new houses on the debris formed by
the destruction of older ones. Almost all the north side of this
compound is occupied by a room 15 feet wide and extending in
length about 80 feet eastward from the northwest angle. The use
of a room of this shape and size is conjectural. There is no evidence
of the former existence in this area of rooms of fragile construction.
1 It was not possible to trace the rooms by means of the remaining walls in the south-
east angle of this inclosure, owing in part to the dilapidated condition of these walls.
22 CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
WEST AREA.
The west area of the inclosure, or the section north of Pyramid B,
was wholly covered with fragile-walled buildings, the remnants of
which show that they were built along streets and around courts,
which can still readily be traced. Here occur also remnants of
thick walls, indicating dwellings of moderate height but without
large rooms. It would seem from the arrangement of the rows of
holes in which the upright supports of the former walls stood that
a street, extending north and south, bisected this section of the
compound and that rooms were arranged along both sides. These
rooms were rectangular, with a firepot or fireplace in the floor of
each at or near the center; the doorways are in the longer side,
about midway.
Attention should be called to a room of this row, on the north
side of the street about west of the middle pyramid. West of the
great Pyramid A was an inclosure in the walls of a house, containing
three small stone idols and a number of oddly formed stones, all
suggestive of shrine deposits.
When the workmen who had excavated this shrine and removed
its contents ceased work, one of the Pima made a symbol called
tcuhuki (" house of Tcuhu,") on the pile of excavated sand. Although
disclaiming any knowledge of connection between this figure and
the contents of the shrine, he gave reason to believe there was some
meaning not yet discovered. The same symbol was found by
Mindeleff on a wall of Casa Grande.
The collection of stones from this shrine is a remarkable one, being
equaled only by the contents of certain shrines of the Hopi. Most
of these stones had been brought from a distance; they consist of
bowlders and pebbles from the Gila, twisted and contorted frag-
ments of lava, petrified wood, and objects of sandstone and other
rocks, botryoidal in form. There are also pigments of various
colors — green copper ore, white kaolin, and black shale, with frag-
ments of red iron oxide.
The general appearance of Compound B after excavation leads
to the belief that it contained fewer massive-walled buildings than
Compound A, and that the number of more perishable habitations
was much larger.
The character of the mounds of Compound B and the evidence of
great erosion (greater than in Compound A) they exhibit suggest
considerable age, an idea confirmed by the superposed strata of floors
and the subterranean walls and " pit rooms " under the boundary
walls. Compound B is believed to be much older than Compound A,
but whether it was abandoned before the latter was erected is a ques-
tion which can not be answered. The age of Compound B as com-
pared with that of the other compounds is also hypothetic ; few data
remain that can be used in such comparisons.
SUBTERRANEAN ROOMS.
Subterranean rooms were found near the northeast corner of Com-
pound B, apparently filling the whole of that section. The best-
preserved of these lies directly under the east wall, which passes over
it at an angle. It seemed important to protect this room by erecting
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 23
a roof over it. The position of the wall, of the floor beneath, and of
the fireplace several feet below it and the level of the plain, indicates
that these subterranean structures were made before the wall of the
compound was constructed.
The presence of subterranean rooms under the walls of Compound
B proves that the people of this region lived in pit-dwellings on that
site before they constructed the wall. This fact points to a belief
that the pit dwelling is the oldest form, and if so search for the kin
of the original inhabitants of the Gila-Salt Valleys may be made
among those dwelling in similar habitations. Taken in connection
with the existence of cremation, this clue serves to direct attention
to California tribes, thus adding weight to a legend that the pre-
historic peopling of southern Arizona was by migration by way of
the mouth of the Gila.
COMPOUND C.
Compound C, situated due west of B, is, on account of its moder-
ate height, the least conspicuous of all the compounds. As there are
no mounds within the inclosure it seems never to have had extensive
buildings, but to have been merely a rectangular area surrounded by
a wall, in which was clustered a large number of fragile-walled
rooms that once served for dwellings but are now destroyed. The
outside dimensions of the compound are not far from 300 feet long
by 40 feet wide, and the surrounding wall in places was 4 feet in
thickness and probably breast high. There appears to have been
a gateway about midway in the west side, and at the northwest corner
was once an opening of considerable size. The shape of the com-
pound is not perfectly rectangular, the whole northern portion hav-
ing been much more eroded by the elements than the southern end.
In the southern section still remain fragments of walls, some of
which were a part of buildings of considerable size, possibly of com-
munal nature. Most of the Avails of buildings in Compound C were
supported by upright posts, the stumps of some of which still remain,
notwithstanding the walls themselves have fallen. In the southeast
corner rose a small square tower, or lookout, the foundations of which
are well preserved, although the portion of the walls above ground is
entirely destroyed.
The greater part of Compound C was covered with rows of houses,
the floors and fragments of the walls of which, although present in
several places, are now very much dilapidated. All the evidence in-
dicates that this compound was of much later construction than Com-
pounds A and B and that it was not inhabitated long enough to have
temples or specialized rooms for ceremonial purposes.
Not far from the west side of this compound can be traced for a
considerable distance the remains of an irrigating ditch, which ex-
tends from the Gila to a point west of the Casa Grande Group of
ruins. This ditch entered the Gila at a point higher up, about 3
miles from the ruin.
Near this compound, averaging about 20 feet distance from the
surrounding walls, is a succession of low mounds resembling the
refuse-heaps found in the vicinity of the other compounds. From
the numerous fragments of pottery that are found on them, it may
be inferred that some of these mounds were perhaps places where
pottery was fired; others of circular shape show on their surface
24 CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
charcoal and wood ashes. These elevations may possibly have been
used in some instances for the cremation of human bodies. Excava-
tions in mounds of this kind revealed alternate layers of charcoal
and ashes, with drifted sand deposited upon each. From the rela-
tively large number of pottery fragments and stone implements in
this mound it appears that the place was formerly inhabited by a
large number of persons. The inclosing wall served as a protection
for the buildings within it that have long since fallen.
COMPOUND D.
Compound D, which is situated about the same distance east of
Compound B as is Compound C in the opposite direction, is rectangu-
lar and oriented about north and south, as are other Casa Grande
compounds. It was of apparently the same general character as the
others, containing a massive building centrally placed, the walls of
which have been greatly eroded by the elements.
Within the surrounding wall were also numerous rooms whose
fragile walls have fallen, burying their floors two or three feet below
the surface. At the periphery of one of the floors a row of holes in
which upright posts formerly stood could readily be traced, showing
that the room was rectangular in form and had a doorway on one
side. The fireplace, a round depression in the floor just in front of
the doorway, still contained ashes. The conditions here are similar
to those in Compound B. The massive-walled buildings doubtless
served as granaries or possibly were devoted to religious purposes;
the fragile- walled structures were the dwellings of the people. The
eroded appearance of this compound suggests great age, stamping
it as one of the oldest of the Casa Grande Group.
In the character of the masonry the massive-walled buildings of
Compound D closely resemble those elsewhere described. They are
not as high as the corresponding structures of Compounds A and B,
having been greatly weathered. The surrounding wall was low, in
no place above the surface of the ground, and its course could not be
traced by excavation. The central building was apparently connected
by a wall with one side of the wall of the compound.
On the plastering of one of these buildings are black impressions
of human hands. The rooms were excavated to their floors, but no
objects of importance were found.
COMPOUNDS E AND F.
Remnants of large walls identified as boundaries of several other
compounds were traced at various places in the reservation, the most
conspicuous being those of Compounds E and F, which could be fol-
lowed for a considerable distance west of Compound A. These in-
close low white mounds, sparsely covered with mesquite and other
growth, which seem to contain the remains of massive buildings, the
walls of which have fallen or have been worn down by rains to a
level with the plain. In this vicinity there are numerous other low
mounds without walls which bear outward resemblance to refuse
piles.
No excavations were made in these mounds, although there is evi-
dence that some of them would repay examination. The presence of
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 25
fragments of pottery and broken stone objects, apparently worked by
hand, suggests sites of many former habitations.
CLAN-HOUSE 1.
-
In addition to the compounds, or structures inclosed by a common
wall, there is a type of thick-walled buildings at Casa tirande from
which this wall is absent or at least has not yet been discovered. The
best example of this type is the so-called Clan-House 1.
Clan-house 1 is 740 feet due east of Compound A. The group of
rooms brought to light by excavation possibly belonged to a large
compound the boundary walls of which had been practically buried
or totally destroyed. When work on Clan-house 1 began, two ash-
colored, treeless mounds, rising a few feet above the level of the plain,
were all that was visible, the space between the mounds being covered
with scattered trees, bushes, and cacti.
Clan-house 1 has 11 rooms inclosing a plaza, its outside measure-
ments, exclusive of the annex, being 113 feet long and 49 feet wide.
The longer walls extend east and west, instead of north and south
as in the compounds. In addition to the 11 rooms which form the
main portion of the structures excavated, there are three low-walled
rooms on the east side, which we may call the annex ; one of the main
purposes of this structure was to contain the grave of the former
chief, possibly the owner of the whole building. From various cir-
cumstances it is believed that the walls of this annex were built later
than the remainder. The walls of clan house 1 are massive, averag-
ing 4 feet in thickness; the altitude of the highest is 10 feet. As
shown in broken sections, these walls were supported in part by up-
right logs, but were constructed of huge cubes of rammed natural
cement, in the same way as the walls of Casa Grande. The arrange-
ment of the 11 rooms composing Clan-house 1 is as follows : On both
the north and south sides there is a row of rooms the breadth of which
is about uniform, while the length varies ; the room at the east end of
each series is the largest. There are five rooms in the series on the
north and four in the series on the south. To the west of the plaza,
between these rooms and connecting them on this end, are two rooms,
which have the highest walls and were apparently the most important
rooms in Clan-house 1. These rooms occupy about half of the space
between the north and south series of rooms, the remaining area con-
sisting of a plaza, or open space, having an entrance from the room
on the west side. The several rooms in the series on the north side
do not communicate, nor have they external passageways except in
two instances; also, room in the southwest corner communicates with
a large room at the west end of the plaza. In the middle of the cen-
trally placed of the 11 rooms above mentioned was found a seat fac-
ing the south, made of a great block of natural cement.
It is suggested that Clan-house 1 was a structure similar to Casa
Grande proper and pertained to the worship of the six primary
points — north, west, south, east, above, and below. It is an interest-
ing fact that the number of rooms in Clan-house 1, excepting the
annex, is exactly the same as in Casa Grande. In the former, how-
ever, the 11 rooms are one story in height, whereas in Casa Grande
there were five rooms in each of two lower stories and one room in
a third.
26 CASA GKANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
Perhaps the most remarkable of the several rooms in Clan-house
1 are the two massive-walled inclosures on the north side, which have
been designated " the annex." One of these seems to have been
merely an open space surrounded by thick walls formerly higher
than at present. In this inclosure were found the remains of a
walled-up cyst of natural cement, one side of which was built con-
tinuous with the south wall ; the other sides of this cyst, visible from
the room, were decorated with figures of birds and other animals,
painted red.
In the interior of this cyst, or rude sarcophagus was found a human
skeleton extended at full length with the head directed to the east;
near the head was a receptacle for mortuary offerings. From the
nature of the objects associated with this skeleton and the special
receptacle apparently made for them, it is supposed that the remains
wTere those of an old priest, possibly of a chief, who once occupied
these rooms. The mortuary objects appear to be priestly parapher-
nalia, similar to those now used in ceremonies by priests of the
Pueblo Indians. All the facts gathered show that this burial cham-
ber was built after the main building was constructed, but its age,
as compared with that of the other compounds, is unknown. In the
sand outside the walls were found one or two clay vessels containing
burnt human bones, covered with clay disks, which are supposed to
be the partially cremated remains of inhabitants of this building.
The two methods of disposal of the dead — inhumation and crema-
tion— were practised in all the compounds of Casa Grande.1
It is sometimes stated that the priests of the Gila compounds were
always buried in houses while the^less-favored classes were cremated,
their calcined bones being deposited in cinerary urns or vases that
later were buried on the borders of the mounds where they had been
committed to the flames. While not able to prove or disprove this
theory, it is believed that the grave of the chief of Clan-house 1 has
an important bearing on this question. Here, as stated, a man was
found buried with care in a rude sarcophagus evidently constructed
for the purpose. A human skelton was also excavated from the
plaza west of the northeast building of the same compound, at the
point marked " skeleton " in the ground plan of that compound.
REFUSE HEAPS.
The large structures, especially compounds A, B, and C, are sur-
rounded by refuse heaps, the surfaces of which are strewn in some
cases sparingly, in others plentifully, with fragments of pottery and
^with ashes and other evidences of human occupancy. No remains of
house walls were found in these mounds, and their structure shows
that they may be regarded as dumping places for the habitations in
the vicinity. Some of these heaps were thrown up from neighboring
depressions, or reservoirs, and their stratification indicates that layers
of earth were deposited on them at different times. A vertical sec-
tion exhibits beds of ashes and other refuse alternating with sand
and soil, showing how the mounds increased in size.2
*At the present day the Plma bury their dead, and the graves of the shamans are differ-
ent from those of other people. The custom of burning the dead docs not now exist
among these people.
3 One of the largest of these refuse heaps lies between Compound A and Clan-house 1,
nearer the former. This mound, wliidi extends about parallel with the east wall of
Compound A, contains many fragments of pottery.
ARIZONA. 27
Distinct from these are the small mounds or elevations, rising a
foot or two above the plain, that likewise mark man's presence.
These mounds indicate the former existence of dwellings in the open,
and it is reasonable to suppose that outside the compounds, espe-
cially along the irrigation ditches, there were isolated dwellings
somewhat resembling the modern Pima houses. While these may
have been shelters used by farmers only while planting or watching
their crops, they show that the country around the compounds had
its quota of inhabitants. Within and near the compounds these
houses may have been very numerous, so closely arranged as to give
the appearance of a village, in the middle of which rose the great
communal structure that served as a place of refuge in great emer-
gencies or for ceremonies when desired.
A mound situated a short distance east of Compound B was exca-
vated to the depth of 9 feet. Trenches were dug across it at right
angles, bisecting the mound east and west, north and south. This
mound was found to contain fragments of pottery, sticks, charcoal,
and other refuse; also the remains of several skeletons, extended at
length, the skulls of one or two being in fairly good condition. It
thus appears that the inhabitants of Casa Grande buried some of
their dead in mounds and others in the floors of houses and plazas.
RESERVOIRS.
It has been already mentioned that, scattered over the area occu-
pied by the Casa Grande Group of ruins, there are several depres-
sions into which drains from the compounds have been run. The
largest and deepest of these is found northeast of Compound B.
These depressions, which have no masonry walls, appear to be the
places from which was obtained the caliche of which the buildings
are made. One or two of the depressions are so situated with respect
to the largest buildings that the adobe of which the houses were built
may have been carried at times a considerable distance.
Similar areas inclosed by artificial circular ridges of earth are
found in several of the clusters of mounds in the Gila and Salt River
Valleys, among which may be mentioned the one in the group near
Adamsville and the reservoir at Casa Blanca. The Escalante Group,
situated near the Phoenix-Florence Railroad, also contains a similar
reservoir. In the country south of the Southern Pacific Railroad,
inhabited by a group of Indians of Piman stock called the Qua-
hatika (Kwahadt), similarly shaped depressions are recorded, some
of which are still used as reservoirs at certain seasons. This is like-
wise true of so-called Indian tanks (Pima, vashki), to the east of
Casa Grande, near the Santa Catalina Mountains, and elsewhere.
Certain areas marked by no mounds or depressions m&y have served
as race courses or dance places, the existence of which is mentioned
in legendary accounts of Casa Grande.
On the southwest side of the large reservoir is a depression from
which were obtained the sand and earth out of which walls were
made, and a similar depression on the east side may have been due
to a similar cause. There are depressions in the surface near Clan-
house 1 and Compound D, and those near the western clan-houses *
served the same purpose.
1 There are mounds west of Compound A, which are here referred to as " western clan-
houses/' but those were not excavated, although traces of caliche walls were found in
them. Potsherds were abundant.
28 CASA GEANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
0
From remains of ancient irrigating ditches in the neighborhood of
the several compounds it is evident that water from the Gila River
was conducted over the plain west of Casa Grande. Here and there,
especially near the large mounds, occur numerous depressions in the
earth's surface, some of which are possibly reservoirs, or places
where the water was stored for irrigation, drinking, and other pur-
poses. Most of these depressions are surrounded by a ridge of earth,
by which their capacity was increased and the chance of overflow
diminished. Their prevailing shape is oval. The indications are
that they have been filled to a considerable extent with drifting sand
since Casa Grande was deserted.1 The largest is situated about mid-
way of a line extending from the northwest corner of Compound
A to the southeast corner of Compound C. It was supposed that this
reservoir was lined with a cement wall, but a section exposed through
the rim on the south side, which was solid sand throughout, revealed
no such condition. It is interesting to note that the floor of this
reservoir is now thickly overgrown with trees and bushes, although
without water.
At one end of this reservoir may still be seen a trail along which
the women toiled with water jars from their dwellings near by. The
shapes of the water jars and certain headrests that have been found
indicate that the vessels were carried on the head, as at Zuni, rather
than on the back as at the Hopi pueblos. There is strong evidence
that the people of Casa Grande were well supplied with water by
means of reservoirs and irrigation ditches. This need was not so
pressing as in northern Arizona. It does not appear from symbolism
on the pottery or from other evidences, which it must be confessed
are scanty, that rain ceremonies occupied the prominent place in the
worship of the inhabitants that they do among the present Pueblos.
The people depended for water less on rain than on the Gila; the
river was typified by the plumed serpent, which was worshipped.
There are indications of small mounds in the neighborhood of
these reservoirs, a fact from which it would seem that every reservoir
had a cluster of habitations around it and that houses were built
along the courses of the irrigation ditches. Nothing now remains
to mark these houses except the mounds upon which are found frag-
ments of pottery and broken stone implements, including now and
then a well-worn metate. Excavation of one of these mounds re-
vealed a hardened floor surrounded by holes in which are found de-
cayed stumps of the posts that formerly supported the walls. The
resemblance of these houses to those now built by the Pi ma and
Papago Indians is striking. They resemble also the remains of
rooms of the ancient people in the various compounds of Casa
Grande.
IRRIGATION DITCHES.
The evidences of prehistoric irrigation in the neighborhood of
Casa Grande are many, but it is difficult to trace any ditch very far.
The main canal which supplied the fields with water extended along
the left bank of the river, from a point 3 miles higher up ; this was
probably provided with lateral ditches along its entire length. It
1 Many of the casas grandes in the Oila-Salt region have similar reservoirs, or circular
depressions with raised rims. Cushing's excavation of one of these depressions con-
vinced him that it was not a reservoir, but a ceremonial chamber.
CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA. 29
approached Casa Grande about midway between Compound B and
the river, on the north side of the compound, and, extending west-
ward, turned to the south, sending off smaller branches toward the
east and west. Although the main ditch can not be traced through-
out its entire course, traces of it appear at intervals; in some places
it is clearly marked by walls of earth containing small stones similar
to those found in stretches of its bed nearer the river. In places the
canal is 20 feet wide, adequate for carrying a great amount of water.
The construction of the Casa Grande ditch was not difficult, as the
earth is not hard to dig and no considerable elevation was encoun-
tered throughout its entire course. The canal divided probably
shortly after it left the river, sending a branch that runs east of
clan house 1 to supply the fields on the east side. of the compounds.
From the point of bifurcation the remains of a smaller canal can be
traced for some distance.
As above stated, there is evidence that buildings once stood on the
banks of these ditches, where their former presence is now indicated
by low mounds on which are scattered fragments of pottery and a few
broken stone implements (metates, or grinders). Irrigation ditches
are more apparent elsewhere in the Gila and Salt Biver Valleys than
at Casa Grande. The settlement near Post on Butte was supplied
with water by one of the best-preserved of these ancient ditches in
the Gila-Salt Valley. This follows the right bank of the Gila from a
point several miles higher up the river and extends to the neighbor-
hood of the Escalante ruin, where it is lost in laterals or minor
branches. Near Poston Butte, the southern side of which it skirts,
the banks of this prehistoric ditch are head high and can be traced
for many hundred feet without difficulty. An old Mexican who lives
in Florence stated that when a boy he saw stumps of old logs in this
ditch at the point where the banks are highest ; he believes these were
remains of a prehistoric head gate.
In the following quotation H. C. Hodge refers to a prehistoric
irrigation ditch on the north side of the Gila near Poston Butte i1
About 2 miles west of Florence, on the north side of the river, between the
homes of Mr. Stiles and Mr. Long, is a stretch of hard, stony land, through
which another of the large irrigating canals was cut, and where, for several
hundred yards, one can ride on horseback in the canal, which is yet so deep
one can not look over its banks on either side when sitting on his horse.
Some of the best irrigating ditches in the Gila-Salt Valley were
found near Phoenix and Mesa when the country was first entered by
Americans. That near Mesa was utilized by the Mormon farmers
who settled this region; others have been filled or destroyed by
modern agriculture. The lines of many of the new ditches follow
substantially the lines of the prehistoric canals, showing the skill of
the primitive farmers. The irrigation ditches in the neighborhood
of Phoenix have been traced and mapped by Mr. H. R. Patrick.2
These can now be traced only at intervals, and in many instances
nothing remains but ridges of earth or rows of stones.
It appears from Mr. F. H. Cushing's studies of the irrigation
ditches 3 near the ruins of Los Muertos, in the Salt River Valley, that
1 Arizona As It Is; or. The Coming Country, p. 182, Boston, 1877.
2 The Ancient Canal Systems and Pueblos of the Salt River Valley, Arizona, Phoenix,
"ZS'ee F.' W. Hodge, in American Anthropologist, VI, 323, Washington, 1893.
30 CASA GRANDE RUIN, ARIZONA.
some parts of these were well preserved. The main ditches were
large enough for irrigation when full of water and doubtless were
used for that purpose. Not far from Blackwater is a hill, surrounded
by a prehistoric ditch above the level of the plain, around which the
ditch was dug to avoid a too rapid descent.
The testimony of the old men consulted supports the theory that
the ancient irrigation ditches were dug by means of wooden shovels
similar to those mentioned and figured later in this report, the earth
probably being carried to a distance by the women and children.
The present Pima say that they now organize to construct irrigation
ditches in a way somewhat similar to that of the ancients. As all
clans enjoy the advantage of the water thus obtained, every clan has
its representatives ^in constructing the canals, and failure to work
involves loss of water right, although a clan may be represented by
members of other clans. The amount of labor necessary in the con-
struction of new ditches is settled in council, in which all clans inter-
ested take part.
The construction by the ancients of the great irrigation ditches led
to greater cooperation of labor in the Gila-Salt Valley than anywhere
else in the prehistoric Southwest. This union of many men under a
chief, with equal representation in council, led to an advanced social
organization and culture, a degree of culture which would not have
been realized so soon under less favorable conditions. This coopera-
tion and resultant organization made possible also the building of the
great compounds and the massive structures they inclosed.
Excavation of one of the banks of an irrigation ditch near Casa
Grande shows successive layers of soil and small stones, indicating
repeated clearing out of the canal. The layers of stone may have
been necessary to prevent the earth washing into the channels. These
were also continually filling up with mud and detritus from the
river, the amount of which was considerable when the Gila was
swollen. The head gates were probably made of posts and brush,
not unlike the gates constructed at the present day by the Pima and
the Maricopa.
Closely connected with the irrigation ditches are the reservoirs
(vashki), of which there are one or more near every large group of
compounds in the Gila-Salt Basin. These reservoirs are shallow
depressions in which rain water collects, but were not always con-
nected with the irrigation ditches. Drinking water was probably
obtained from these and other receptacles.
METHODS OF DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD.
Considering the large population that must have lived at Casa
Grande, it is strange that so few human skeletons have been found.
There is evidence of two kinds of burial, inhumation in houses and
mounds, and cremation, an instance of which was discovered not
far from the north wall of Compound B.1
Whether or not this difference in the manner of disposal of the
dead was due to the rank of the deceased is not clearly evident, but
1 It would appear lh;il a people who burned tlu'ir dr;id did not believe In n resurrection
of tt>«. body. ;ind the s;iiii.- IIIM.V !)<• true <>f those who burled their dead. The plMcint,' of
offerings jn the grave Indicates faith In the continuation of life, but does not prove, of
course, belief in immortality. The practice of boning the dead, which was widespread
in the Southwest in prehistoric times, was abandoned when the teachings of the mis-
sionaries were followed.
ARIZONA. 31
the nature of the objects buried with a skeleton in Clan -house 1
would seem to indicate the grave o1' a priest. Skeletons unac.-om-
panied by mortuary objects were found in the pla/as of (V>mpoimd
A and in rooms of the southwest angle, but whether these are ir.ieicnt.
or modern is not positively known.
The absence, so far as known, of evidences of cremation lYo:n the
cemeteries of the Little Colorado region, including those of Zufii,
and of Sikyatki, Awatobi, and oilier Ilopi ruins, has been used as an
argument against associating the former inhabitants of these pueblos
with the Hohokam of the (Jila-Salt Basin. Moreover, the Pima do
not burn their dead, nor have they done so in historic times. It may
be said in reply to this objection, that the Hohokam inhumated as well
as cremated, thus furnishing a double precedent for their descend-
ants. Moreover, there is good evidence that cremation was practiced
in the eastern and northern Pueblo region, at Mesa Verde for in-
stance. According to Castaneda, the Cibolans ^ burned their dead.
The human bodies buried in the earth of Casa Grande were laid
at full length, no remains of an inhumated body in a flexed position
having been found. It is usual to find in pueblos and cliff dwellings 2
skeletons buried in both ways. The manner of interment may have
had in some cases an esoteric meaning, but in most instances it had
no special significance.
Several theories have been suggested to account for burial in the
contracted position. It has been asserted by some authorities that
the corpse was so disposed to represent the embryonic position.
According to a second theory the body was deposited in the squat-
ting position as suggestive of a state of rest.
1 Cibola is identified by the best authorities as' ancient Zuui, but no evidence of crema-
tion has yet been found in Zuili ruins.
8 A cliff dwelling is practically a pueblo built in a cave, and what is true of one prob-
ably holds true for the other, with slight modification.
O
WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1913
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