Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-24
THE CASA GRANDE.
Magni6cent Ruins Of Structure Belonging
to Historic Period "A Palace
Where n King May Have Lved-Re.

| Magniacent Rims Of n Structure Belonging
to a Pre- Historic Period A Palace
Where a King May Have Lived Re-
wAsHINGToN, September 23.-secretary
Noble has transmitted to the Director OF the
Geological Survey report by Special Agent
Morrison on the condition Of the Casa Grande
(Great House1 ruins in Pinal county, Ariz.,
with instructions that the necessary steps be
| Immediately taken to repair and protect the
ruins under the authority granted in the act Of
March 2 1889. appropriating $1,000 for that pur-
pose. Special Agent Morrison, who was sent
out to examine the condition of the ruins,
IN, his his report states that these ven veaera, =.
a great undulating plain about midway
between the station of Casa Grande and Flor
ence seven or eight miles from the Gila River.
He says that the front of the main building
measures go feet and the width 43 feet. The
height of the first story is 13 feet, the second
nine feet and the third and fourth stories are
upper story has disappeared. The walls are
between four and i've feet thick. and the mate
rial of which they are constructed is almost in
aestructlDle concrete, made OF me gravel, sano
now used in Washington. This was laid in the
walls in great blocks one Of these measuring
three inches in width and two feet six inches
in height. The walls. both inside and out, were
plastered with cement which yet clings to them
with wonderful tenacity, that on the inside be-
ing as smooth and glossy as the best hard nm
ished interiors of the present
$50
An Esthetic Interior.
All of the rooms, of which there are four now
intact, are of uniform buff color, which is very
pleasing to the eye. The largest Of these rooms
is 34x9 feet The extreme height of the build
ing is nearly 40 feet. The lower story is nearly
filled up with crumbling debris and the drifting
sand OF the plain. The holes in which the cell
ing tfmbers were placed are plainly visible, but
every particle Of wood has been carried away by
relic hunters, and the disintegration OF the
walls has been so rapid of late years that If
measures are notimmediately taken to strength
en- them the entire mass will soon fail into
shapeless ruin. The report says that for miles
around the mysterious Casa Grande many great
mounds, now hardly distinguishable from the
desert sands. bear indisputable evidence Of
having been at some far remote period, the
abode of busy industries. Mr.. Morrison says
that he Is convinced that the Casa Grande was
not used for either religious or warlike pur-
poses. The superiority OF the architecture-it
having outlived all the other structures by
which it was surrounded-the numerous small
apartments into which it was divided, and the
elegance Of the interior finish, all point to the
conclusion that it was the palace Of the King
or Chief who governed the primitive Ameri-
cans who inhabited these vast domains ages be-
fore Aztec or Toltec.
OF Unknown Origin.
The most ancient of the traditions Of the
Pimas and Papagoes, who yet live here where
their fathers have lived for centuries, alludes
to them as "the ruins" The earliest historic
record of Casa Grande was given by the famous
Spanish cavalier and explorer Cabeza de Baca,
who discovered it during his journey across the
continent about 1887. A few years later the
famous explorer Don Francisco de Coronado,
Governor of New Galicia, who led the expedi-
tion into New Mexico, describes the ruins as
being four stories high, with walls SIX feet
thickness. The ruins are regarded as one of
the most interesting remains Of the prehistoric
age to be found on this continent.