Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1889-12-06
THE CASA eRAHDE.
rom the New York rrIbupe.

From the New York Tribune.
Secretary Noble has done well in acting
promptly upon the report concerning the
ruinous condition Of the famous Casa
Grande Of the Gila, made by special Agent
Morrison. through whom il isproposed not
only TO protect but to repair" the ruins.
ArchaeoloRists may apprenend such expert
ments as will iniure rathur than improve
the appearances and antiquarian value Of
the relic. The material Of which the Casa
Grande was butt has been 40 variously de-
scribed by travellers that il il rather diff
cult to arrive at the truth. Mr.. Morrison
says the material is concrete made Of
ihe gravel. sand and cement Most
other writer's have been Of the opinion
that It was simply adobe; that is, puddled
earth. such as haS been the principal build
ing material in both Old and New Mexico
Tor centuries. In the Casa 0rande, how
ever, the usual method Of making the
adobe into bricks was not followed. but it
was apparently set in large frames or
boxes. such as are used for concrete. No
one before Mr. Morrison has discovered
the existence Of cement either in the
blocks themselves or IN the fine smooth
coating of plaster with which the walls Of
the interior are covered. The general con-
clusiou has been that the inner plaster was
simply a separate coat of the same materi-
al IRON which the building was consiruc-
ted, though the plaster for the interior was
evidently worked up to a liner consiStence,
80 as to give it the effect and the durabili-
~ of good hard finish.
A. regards the antiquity Of the Casa
Grande MIR. Morrison appears to entertain
opinions scarcely on level with recent
researches and the most authoritative con-
clusions. He speaks of the ruin as if he
believed that It was survival from a very
remote antiquity, and his idea seems to
rest upon the consideration that when the
Spaniards frat saw the Casa Grande,
about the middle Of the sixteenth century,
found it "a ruin, and so long antedaiing the
native tribes of the locality that those In
dAuS could give no account OF Its origin.
Hut il Mr.. Morrison had made careful
study of Mr.. II. H. Bancroft's works, he
would have found ample reason for doubt
| ing the concluhve nature of such testl-
mony Mr.. Bancroft, after full consider
alton Of all known facts. sees no ground
tor assuming that the Casa Grande Of the
4 (iila was much more than century old
when it was irst seen by Cabeza de Baca.
| No writer on American antiquities has
bad the opportunity Of consulting any.
! thing like the mass Of material accumula-
ted by NJ. Bancroft. He has examined
every particle Of evidence on the subject,
and his monumental work on the Native
Races" must ever be the most full and
trustworthy authority on all the subjects il
embraces. Now Mr.. Bancroft found it
necrnsary to abandon the old theory of ex-
tnct nations as builders of the New MeKi-
can monuments, and he has shown con-
clusivrly that there is no need for any such
hypothesis, the simple explanation of the
facts being obviously the correct one.
Mr. Bancroft holds that the Casa
Grande and all the erections of its kind
were the work Of Pueblo Indians. He
says: Every one of them may be most
reasonably regarded as the work Of the
present inhabitants of the Pueblo towns,
who did not differ to any great extent in
civilization or institutions from their de-
scendants, though they may ve.y likely
have beer vastly superior TO them in pow
er aud wealth" And he proceeds,
consequently, there is not single relic
in the whole region that requires the
agency Of any extinct race of people. OF
any other nations than those now living in
the country" The CONCLUSION he reaches,
therefore, is that New Mexico. Arizona
aud Northern chihuahua were once in
habitPd by agricultural semi-civilized
tribes, not differing more among them
selves than do the Pueblo tribes OF the
present time" How the civilization OF
these tribes came to decline some geneva
tons before the Spaniards came Is a ques
tion prolific Of surmise and conjecture, buI
in the nature OF the case incapable OF O
de6ntive solution. Mr.. Bancroft has
dealt with it, aud his suggestions are Ger,
tainly plausible, but that aspect Of the
matter cannot be entered upon here. The
preservation of the Casa Grande-and In
deed, of other like monuments to bc
desired and approvedi but at the same
time It lie we'll that the claims Of the vener
able reno upon our respect and Interest
should be accurately stated, and that they
should not be confused by incorporating
With them groundless or exploded the
ories.
eve Point with Pride"