Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-03-16
CASA GRANDE RUIN.
THE MYSTERIOUS CASTLE OF A PRE-
HISTORIC RACE.
A Visit TO the Interesting Rims IN hri~"''"
snd Glimpse into the Myste-
rious Past.
Correspondence Of tho Richmond DlsDa'ca:l

is today. IL was a period when ioWian1s
and highland blOssomed with the fruits OF
industrious labor: when valley ana noun
tain-side were dotted here and there by q
numerous people OF upright minds and
simple tastes, but the race whlGh once
! caused these arid plains and desolate val
lcys 10 be wreathed in verdure nave pa9se.I
away without trace of their origin, tner
history. or their extinction. ana lew
crumbling and weather-stalned runs marx %
( al that is left to indicate the story OF thelr
existence, and the Pickering ana uncertain
CLEAN Of conjecture is the only gulde 10
the explorer in discovering the late that
/ Iefol them. Tho chief and best known Ot
these prehistoric relics both IN extent ana
preservation is
THK FAMOUS CASA GRASDE. .,
II is situated in the valley Of the Gila
river. about FIVE miles south OF that rlYer
! and six miles below the town of Florence,
! in Southern Arizona. II is an object or
/ great interest 70 the traveller and OF study
/ O. the savant. but Of the ingenious hands
/ that built it and TO what purpose. us
[ labyrlnthian chambers were dedicated no
one as vet has satisfactorily solved. It's
! thick walls are built OF peculiar concrete
/ of unknown ingredients, winch diner
greatly from any materials used by the IN
| dian tribes Of the Southwest, and It's into
/ ri0r is finished with a smooth coat OF ce--
ment that has withstOOd the ravages OF
| time during the centuries that have elapsed
since its discovery and for the possible
| centuries that preceded that event.
~ IMPOSING BUILDING.
/ Il was evidently fine an, imposing
| building OF eight stories in height. but be-
vond this fact there is only conjecture.
| The ruin was first discovered bt a Spanish
explorer. Cabcza do Naca, in Ms journey
/ ...-. fto r.rt4fuanf lfrf moron riIIV
| explored in 1910 two years lascr, by an
| other Spanish adycnturer, Coronado, when
1 he led his famous expedition horthWard,
and u vas then four stories high with walls
! six feet thick. and around u We're many
other ruins with portions Of their walls still
STANDING. which would 90 10 prove that
quite n CITY must have once existed here. To
snow its great antiquity IL is SAL that the
/ Pima Indians, who then Or :nOW were
living IN the immediate yit.nitv, he'd
DO knowledge of the origin or his
tory Of the structure or the :eople who
built 10, fcrlt has been a ruin, as long rs
/ tradition has existed in the tfibe, and II
what time or hy whom crectcdils rs much
q mystery 10 the Indians as TO tielr curious
visitors. Two Catholic priesfs, Fathers
Kiuo and Mango, visited the Casa 'rande
/ in 1924 and wrote q graphic DESCRIPTION OF
tho ruins rs they then were. fhey found
Inc remains of q great edihct; having a
largo room in the centre, four ;orles high.
with walls SIX feet thick. and they also
give an account OF twelve Otutr runs IN
Tho vicinity.
TIE RUINS N 1777.
Father Pedro Fout also visited the ruins
IN l777, hut found them 20 be b the same
condition as when seen by hino hnd Mango.
lie describes tho main building ~ an Oh:
long square facing 10 the mulr points OF
A.. L. ION Il
north and south 40 feet and east and west
afg feet. The interior OF the building con-
sists OF five halls, the three puddle ones
being Of same size. and the Q trcno one
LONGER. The three middle Cncssre twenty
SIX feet in length and ten feet u breadth.
Thus appeaTed Casa GrGnde I:Ore than
hundred years ago, but tho rains and
winds Of a century have m0ds havoc on
lts cumhling walls. The buAiing stood
upon slight emlnence, and wy douutle-5
thc main c4iiicc IN this buried city. Inc
walls were composed of q cOntrete made
of mud and Gravel and held together nv
hard cement. This concrete wis made N
LARGE blocks which were laid H. place and
tgutlv cementcd together. TE' inner sur
face was coated with this pccutar cement,
and is as hard and smooth today as when
IT dried under the hands OF Ehe ancient
lu.ldCrs. The ruin rs seen today Is about
~ iF 'i anu illN NAAlo NNl TAftf4Nt4A.r AAN
round holes in which are found pieces of
cedar-poles which supported :tho floors,
and the end of these poles seen; 10 be cut
with some blunt instrument, aEdas quite a
number Of stone axes. bone AVIS, ana
other instruments Of the stole age have
been excavated from theruIns Il Is claimed
the people who built these remarkable
structures had no knowledge o! the use OF
iron.
AN ANCIENT CANAL.
In the immediate vicinity the remains Of
large lrrigating canal have been followed
10 the ella river, forty miles distant. This
canal probably brought water 80 the city
and irrigated the valley which surrounds
the ruins in every direction. Recently tho
Government has made a special apprOprla-
ton for the protection and preservation OF
Tins interesting old ruin. and il IL now lln-
der the immediate care of the Interior De-
partment: and Secretary Noble has acted
promptly in sending ont speciai agent,
MIR. Morrison, 10 Investigate ana repair tho
rims. However. the archgOlOglStS seem
20 fear that such experiments VIII tend
rather to injure than improve the appear
anCe and antiquarian value OF the reno.
The building material Of tho Casa Grande
has been SO variously described by travel
lrr3 that il is rather difficult to reach the
truth: but Mr.. Morrison says the maternal
is concrete formed of lno gravel, sand,
and cement: however, most otner writers
Thought it to be simply adobe-that Isl
puddled earth. such as has been the chef
building material OF Old and New Mexico
for centuries. In tho Casa Grande, how
ever. the usual method of making the
adobe into bricks was not done. for II was
appareutlv set in ble frames or boxes, such
as are used for concrete, and Mr.. Morrison
was the first person TO discover the exist
ence of cement either IN the blocks or IN
the fine, smooth coating OF plaster when
covers the interior walls, the general ldea
being that the inner plaster was simply
separate coat Of the same material from
which the building was constructed, though
worked 10 a finer consistency SO as 20 give
1t the effect and hardness OF a good hnlsh.
TIE ANTIQUITY OF CASA oRANDE.
As regards the antiquity of the Casa
Grande Mr.. Morrison believes the rum TO
be a survival from an exceedingly remote
past and his idea is that when the
Spaniards first found the Casa Grande,
about the middle Of the sixteenth century,
that il was a ruin then and go long ante
dating the native tribes of the locality that
the Indians knew nothing OF its origin or
history, but other equally eminent au-
thorities regard Mr.. Morrlson's view as
skeptical and not sufficiently founded on
recent researches ana the luosG auV""Ait.'-
tive conclusions. Mr.. II. II. Bancroft,
a great writer on American antiqui-
ties, sees no ground for assuming that
the Casa Grande Of the CHA was
much more than a century. old when
it was first seen by CabeZa De Vaca, and he
holds that the Casa Grande and all the
erections of its kind were the work OF the
Pueblo Indians, and that New Mexico, Arl-
IONA. and northern chihuahua were once
inhabited by agricultural, seml-cvillIzed
tribes differing more among themselves
than do the Pueblo tribes of the present
day: but how the civilizations OF these
tribes came to decline some generations
before the invasion Of the Spaniards IS q
question of much surmise and CONJECTURE,
and from the nature of the case, scarcely
capable of definite solution.
SKELETONS OF PREHISTORIC PEOPLE.
The Hemenway Archaeological expedition,
under the charge of Lieutenant FRANK
Cushing, have recently made extensive re-
searches among the ancient ruins along ths
ella and Salt rivers in Arizona, aud touhu
numerous skeletons and evidences OF pre-
historic people; and many Of these were
presented 10 the Army Medical Museum az
Washington, and Surgeon-General Johh
Moore had q careful study made OF them,
and SAYS that many Of these skeletons az arc