The Repair of Casa Grande Ruin, Arizona, in 1891 | Page 2

ruin in 1891 and of the plans formed for its repair, the latter being necessarily controlled by the amount appropriated. After this there is an account of the work done, from the passage of the bill until the delivery of the work to the agent of the United States who received it, and of the reservation, of an area of land about the ruin by order of the President. This is followed by a catalogue of the articles found during the excavations in and about the ruin, which were subsequently deposited in the National Museum; a transcript of the contract under which the work was done, including specifications, plans, and sections, and the report of Mr H. C. Rizer, who inspected and received the work. Finally, there are appended the correspondence and report relating to the condition of Casa Grande in 1895, with recommendations concerning its further protection.
[Footnote 1: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 289 et seq.]
Casa Grande has occupied a very important place in the literature of American archeology, a place which it doubtless will continue to occupy; and as dates are frequently of importance an effort has been made to make the present report as full as possible in that respect.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS
Casa Grande appears to be the sole surviving remnant of an extensive and important class of remains in the southwest. These remains occur usually in large groups or clusters, and Casa Grande is no exception. The name has been ordinarily applied to a single house structure standing near the southwestern corner of a large area covered by mounds and other debris; but some writers have applied the term to the southwestern portion of the area, others to the whole area.
Probably no two investigators would assign exactly the same limits to this area, as its margins merge imperceptibly into the surrounding country. The accompanying map (plate CXII) shows the limits of the ruins as interpreted by the writer. The surface covered by well-defined remains, as there shown, extends about 1,800 feet north and south and 1,500 feet east and west, or a total area of about 65 acres.
Casa Grande ruin occupies a position near the southwestern corner of the group, and its size is insignificant as compared with the entire cluster of ruins, or even with the remains of the large structure which occupied the north-central part of the area. The contour interval on the map is 1 foot, sufficiently small to show much surface detail. The depressions are indicated by dotted contours.
Within the area shown on the map there are a large number of mounds, more or less leveled by long-continued exposure to the elements. Some appear to be quite old, others represent buildings which were standing within the historic period, and many interesting features are presented which can not even be alluded to here.
Casa Grande proper was one of the smallest of the house clusters, but it is unique in that the walls are still standing to a height of more than 25 feet. While fragments of standing wall are not uncommon, either in the area mentioned or in the valleys of Gala and Salt rivers generally, no other example exists, so far as known, so well preserved as the one under consideration.
For miles around Casa Grande the ground surface is so flat that from the summit of the walls an immense stretch of country is brought under view in every direction. In the whole southwest, where there are thousands of ruins, many of which represent villages located with especial reference to outlook, there are few, if any, so well situated as this.
A ground plan of the ruin is shown in plate CXII and a general view in plate CXIV. The area covered and inclosed by standing walls is about 43 by 59 feet, but the building is not exactly rectangular, nor do its sides exactly face the cardinal points, notwithstanding many published statements to that effect. 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, the longer axes running east and west. Excepting the central tier of rooms, which was three stories high, all the walls rose to a height of 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.
The exterior walls rise to a height of from 20 to 25 feet above the ground. This height accommodated two stories, but the top of the wall is from 1 to