Casa Grande Ruin | Page 8

corner of the
group, and the ground surface for miles about it in every direction is so
flat that from the summit of the walls an immense stretch of country is
brought under view. On the east is the broad valley of Gila river rising
in a great plain to a distant range of mountains. About a mile and a half
toward the north a fringe of cottonwood trees marks the course of the
river, beyond which the plain continues, broken somewhat by hills and
buttes, until the view is closed by the Superstition mountains. On the
northwest the valley of Gila river runs into the horizon, with a few
buttes here and there. On the west lies a range of mountains closing the
valley in that direction, while toward the southwest and south it extends
until in places it meets the horizon, while in other places it is closed by
ranges of mountain blue and misty in the distance. In an experience of
some years among northern ruins, many of them located with special
reference to outlook over tillable lands, the writer has found no other
ruin so well situated as this.
The character of the site occupied by the ruin indicates that it belongs
to a late date if not to the final period in the occupancy of this region, a
period when by reason of natural increase of numbers, or perhaps
aggregation of related gentes, the defense motive no longer dominated
the selection of a village site, but reliance was placed on numbers and
character of structures, and the builders felt free to select a site with
reference only to their wants as a horticultural people. This period or
stage has been reached by many of the Pueblo tribes, although mostly
within the historical period; but some of them, the Tusayan for example,
are still in a prior stage.
[Illustration: Pl. LIV: Standing Wall near Casa Grande.]
A ground plan of the ruin is shown in plate LII, and a general view in
plate LIII. The area covered and inclosed by standing walls is about 43
feet by 59 feet, but the building is not exactly rectangular, and the

common statement that it faces the cardinal points is erroneous. The
variation from the magnetic north is shown on the ground plan, which
was made in December, 1890. The building comprised three central
rooms, each approximately 10 by 24 feet, arranged side by side with
the longer axes north and south, and two other rooms, each about 9 by
35 feet, occupying respectively the northern and southern ends of the
building, and arranged transversely across the ends of the central rooms,
with the longer axes running east and west. Except the central room,
which was three stories in height, all the rooms were two stories above
the ground. The northeastern and southeastern corners of the structure
have fallen, and large blocks of the material of which they were
composed are strewn upon the ground in the vicinity. It is probable that
the destruction of these corners prior to that of the rest of the building
was due to the disintegration of minor walls connected with them and
extending, as shown by the ridges on the ground plan, northward from
the northeastern corner and eastward from the southeastern corner.
These walls doubtless formed part of the original structure and were
probably erected with it; otherwise the corners of the main structure
would not have been torn out or strained enough to fall before the rest
of the building was affected.
It is not likely that the main building originally stood alone as at
present. On the contrary there is every reason to suppose that it was
connected with other buildings about 75 feet east of it, now marked by
a bit of standing wall shown on the map (plate LI), and probably also
with a small structure about 170 feet south of it, shown in plate LIV.
These connections seem to have been by open courts inclosed by walls
and not by continuous buildings. The court east of the ruin is well
marked by the contours and seems to have been entered by a gateway
or opening at its southeastern corner.
_Dimensions._
It is probable that the area immediately adjacent to the ruin, and now
covered by mounds, carried buildings of the same time with the main
structure and was occupied contemporaneously with it or nearly so.
This area, well marked on the map, measures about 400 feet north and

south, and 240 feet east and west. It is not rectangular, although the
eastern and western sides, now marked by long ridges, are roughly
parallel. The northeastern corner does not conform to a rectangular plan,
and the southern side is not more than half closed by the low ridge
which extends