Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-07
American Archaeology
in tn: Arizona Desert

T HE greatest archae illogical discovery
of recent yea IS in America has been
accomplished during the past season
In Arizona by DR.. wslter Fewkes Of the hu-
reau of ethnology. 1t is the unearthinx of
the Casa Grande. long one OF the most noted
runs or the southwest and proving that Il
must nave been enc OF the greatest piecos
OF prehistoric architecture on the continent
Inc casa Grande. or the big house of the
ella valley In Arizona. has been known TO
CIVILIZATION ever since the first coming OF
the Spaniards. 1t was n ruin In the time of
Alvarado and his followers. but modern re-
search has shown that IL was the remnant
OF a great tribal house OF the PImas.
though when erected or iust for what use
was mystery. 1t was IN much the same
condition a decade ago that 1t was when
first seen in 1900, but the clements were
slowly wearing 1t away. There is practically
no rain in that desert region. but the walls
We're being undermined at the ground level
by the little moisture In the soil. and nearly
ten years ago the government sent Cosmos
Mindelen OF the geological survey there TO
do what was possible I'm the way of prcserv-
alive work, tying the massive walls to-.
gether with iron rods and putting a ROOF
over the structure. The land on which the
ruin stands has been made "A government
reservation and there has been a caretaker
installed and wire fence run around the
tract
Last field season DR.. Fewkes of the bu
reau of ethnology was sent there again
with small appropriation provided by the
government to do a little more preseryatiye
work. That was his principal mission. but
OF course he was free to do a little exea-
waiting and 9 h..
and add what could be added TO the his
tory OF the old ruin
The original ruin is about forty by sixty
feet. with remnants OF three stories. There
are hve rooms on the ground floor and the
remnants of the walls are In places thirty
Feet high. The whole spot is a mound or
sand and there was the corner of a wall
ehat might have been a part of another
and smaller house sticking I'D at some dis
lance from the main building. 1t was plain
that there had been other buildings in the
rum and Mr.. Mindeleff had plotted some
or their traces on the sketch maps he had
made on the spot
But there was one popularity that struck
Dr. Fewkes and that was that there were
regular lines In the stunted desert shrub
oSis aiouHu the place where nothing grew
mere was possible explanation and that
was that there was reason below ground
that was Keeping the surface bare. The
walls or the old house are of hard packed
adobe mud that does not absorb the uttle
water that falls. and the fact that thera
were more or less regular lines on tho
ground devoid of shrubs indicated that
there might be an impervious wall close
beneath that was starving the upper
ground.
Following this theory digging was COM
menced at the old ruined corner wall that
was sticking out Of the ground to the north
west, and sure enough under ground II de-
Veloped into regular wall running down
toward the old ruin. The Indians who vera
employed on the work kept digging and
following the wall and they finally got
ploWs TO hurry the work. The digging pro-
ceeded, but so did the wall, and It kent
ahead OF the excavators for 420 feet Then
II turned at right angle and proceeded
lor 10 feet more Then it angled back on
the other long side of the parallelogram 42o
feet and turned back to where 1t started. IL
was an immense Enclosure, like an oriental
compound that had held the original
Casa Grande. In places the wall was eight
feet high and most of it was well pre-
served.