The Phoenix herald., 1880-11-05
CASA GRANDE.

| of it, and the impressions of traveller
upon viewing it. II is Ger tainly one
of the most interesting and importan
vestIges of an earlier civilization
I upon this coast, and we have though
our readers would like to TO see !
| view of the exterior of the structure
/ with some notes concerning ;tts in
| ternal construction and arrangement
| The view of the exterior is taken
/ from Conklin's Pictures Arizona,
: published by the Continent Stereos
! pic Co., of New York. 1he descrip-
tion of the ruin and the diagrams ac
companying it we condense from ar
| article prepared for the Californian
by Henry G. Hanks, of this city.
The ancient building known rs
Casa Gran1e, on the banks OF Gila
river, is at the present time the most
interesting of all the ruins left by
prehistoric people Although there
are many other ruins of less note
which are worthy OF careful study,
this one is the best known, and is
identified with the history of the
country. The first mention of Casa
Grande IS in the accou:.t Of the eX-
plorations of Colorado in 1850. Coro-
nado came northWard from Mexico
to search out the grand buildings
which were reported to exist in the
rigion he explored. The Casa Grandc
was then Il ruin, and the explorer
was much chagrined at finding it in
stead of the golden splendors pro
missed him. Another account Ges-
cribes a visit of Father Kino to the
ruin IN 1894 and he found traditions
then 400 wears old. Other accounts
by visiting priests contain testimony
from the Indians which led the eX-
plOrers TO conclude that Casa GraEdc
was built in the 18Th century. Later,
however, the Indians We're closely
examined as to the truth Of their
traditions, and they admitted that
they in truth knew nothing Of the
origin of the building, but that all
was wrapped in mystery.
Mr.. Hanks. in company with Prof.
George II. Cook, State Geol0gist of
New Jersey, and S. z. Van Wrinkle,
also Of New Jersey, visited Casa
Grande IL April, 1879. This re
narkablc ruin lies about IL miles
from the nOurishing town of Flo
renee, Pinai county, Arizona. 1t
stands on widc-sprediHg mesa,
rising slightly from the man road.
The mesquite trees, although low.
hide the building until it is nearly
approached. For miles distant from
the ruin the ground IS spread with
fragments of broken pottery, in such
quantities that ii Is imp0ssib blc to re
ject the idea that the site was ut one
time dcnsely populated, where now
utter uesolatIOn reigns. II IS natural
under such circumstances, TO spcCu |
late as to how the people livcu; foI, |
if the country was II the same stale /
then as now, the question would be 4 |
one 10 answer. The visitor !
has ample time 10 think the matter I
over frcm the time he first begins to 1
observe the signs of human habita- /
tion until he reaches The building |
With our party the conclusion reach I
ed n5fs that the COLORADO desert naay !
have been once an inland sea, and .
the climate widely different from the |
present.
AS tie traveller approaches Casa |
Grande he cannot fail to oe some |
what disappointed, the more so il he |
has taken q romantic or poctIcal /
view of the published descriptions of |
that noted building. Instead of the |
stately ediilce he has pictured in his !
imagination, he beholds only a huge |
dun colored, almost shapeless mass,
looming up strangely from tie desc /
laie plain. There is nothing archi- |
tec,ural about the structure 1t is, AT !
best, but mud house; though, as he /
examines it more closely. il seems !
I I.
mind is filed with conjecture as 10 |
the uses TO which this great building
may have been put, and why it stands |
50 lonely and isolated.
The diagram,- Fig. l, upon this
page is the ground plan of asa |
Grande, on d scale of 20 it. to tie |
inch. The walls were originally, as
near as may be, four ft. in thickness,
the exact measurement being three |
and seven-tenths fl. The highest |
point, as the building now stands,
is 30 fl. 1t was originally four or
five stories high, each of which was |
eight #. from floor TO ceiling. The !
extreme length, carefully measured, |
is 5315 #, and the width 43 It. In |
the north. south, east and west faces |
of the building there were narrow
doors, centrally placed. through |
which entrance was made into the
main compartments, and over each
door narrow port holes, decreasing
IN width from the bottom upward. |
The diagram, Fig. 2. gives the form
of them, drawn to scale of half an
inch to the foot.
The building faces nearly the car
dinal points of the compass, the |
north and south walls bearing north, !
ten degrees cast, which is nearly /
the true meridian. The interior |
must have been dark, as the light |
was admitted only through the be |
fore described portfolios. The inner
room was, presumably, like a DIM
geon. The central series Of rooms
was at leas one story higher than the
others. From A into E Zig. u |
there is portfolio in the second |
into ID there was originally a port
hole of the same size, but it has been
filed in From Z to G there is
door, but none from G into 3, IN
stead of which there are several
circular openings, from eight
10 ten inches in diameter,
through the thick
walls and resembling modern stove
pipe holes. They are still perfectly
smooth on the inside What use
.hese singular openings were put to
ean only be conjectured. Concern
ing the present condition of this
ruin, Mr.. Hanks observes,
hat the inner surface has renamed
-hese long years intact, the smooth
ace showing no sign of decay. The
little wrinkled marks, left when the
the surface dried, remain the same,
IS when centuries ago the builder
aid aside his tools, and the work
was declared finished. Readers of
works written by travellers in Egypt
wonder at the accounts given of tenn
pie and tomb, whose pictured walls
remain ds fresh as if newly painted.
They are inclined to think, if at all
that these statements are
Yet here IN Altoona
we have evidences that in the warm