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

that ruin, hence only a brief account will now
be necessary to aid in making the present report intelligible. Following
this description is a statement of the condition of the 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