The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1921-11-18
VERMONTER WRITES ABOUT THE
RUINS OF CASA GRANDE.
Casa Grande, Ariz. Nov. A, l

Are you interested in ruins This
town is named from a remarkable
prehistoric structure called "The
Grand Castle"-Casa Grande. 1t is
important enough for the the United
States government to keep care
'taker by it all the time. 1t is in the
desert, 16 miles from this town.
When l called at the Chamber of
Commerce to get information about
it l was fortunate enough to bump
into the County Agricultural Agent,
Mr. E S Turville, who was going out
that way and he offered me ride.
He was going to make an address to
a Womans Club. Think of it A
woman's club in Arizona Desert On
the ride out, across the hard baked
soil, through the Sage, Mesquite and
Cactus in the little Ford, Mr. Tur-
vile told me all about the interest
ing life on the desert. Lots of east
.ern people, many college graduates
come and take up land on the desert.
There is plenty of water, but it is
under ground, and has to be pumped
up with engines. These engines
pump from 200 to 600 gallons a
minute and the land is irrigated with
it. The soil is good when it is wet
up. The settlements are far apart.
We rode for miles and passed these
little farm patches only occasionally.
The road we followed across the
desert was just a trail. 1t wound
here and there lodging this bush and
that. Pretty smooth too, and we
sailed along on "high" most of the
way.
Mr. Turville is trying to create a
community spirit among these set
tiers, but it is hard work, for the fact
that they left civilization to come
here, proves in a sense they are in
dividualistic and not dependent on
the community. Some of them go to
the trouble to bring lumber from a
long distance to build with, when
adobe is the natural building material
of the locality. | noticed in Santa
Fe that the new houses that are 60
ing up are built of adobe, and in the
style of the first settlers.
But the Ruins is what | started to
talk about. Mr. Turville dropped me at
the castle Grande" and went on to
his meeting.
| found Mr. Pinkley, the Govern
ment caretaker, showing a company
of tourists around, so l joined the
party, and spent a most interesting
two hours living in the mysterious
past. The excavations around the
castle are revealing more wonderful
things all the time, and Mr. Pinkley,
who is a learned archaelogist, and
has spent twenty years on this spot
experimenting the researches, and
gradually unfolding the life of these
ancient people from the findings, told
us the story, and pointed out the
details of their manner of living;
how they worked; how they moulded
the pottery; how they built the mud
walls, patting down the soft mud
with their hands-we could see the
finger-prints still; how they built the
walls without forms, letting one
layer dry and harden before the
tilation and drainage; their plans for
defence, their burial places, affairs
for sacrifice, ceremonial rooms, liv-
ing rooms; the wall about the city;
their rubbish dumps; precise holes in
the walls made in such a way that
the sun should cast bar of light on
the wall just twice a year, giving
them a calendar. The rubbish heaps
contain tons and tons of broken pot
terry. | dug in a few inches, and
brought away few curious speci-
mems. The excavations are still 60
ing on. Mr. Pinkley and his Indian
helpers are still at work.
| must mention one curious thing.
The doorways between the rooms of
the castle were so low I had to bend
double to get through, and just bare
ly wide enough, by hugging my arms
close to my sides Why p? Who know
Mr. Pinkley reasc ned that they were
not thereby necessarily dwarfs, but
if the enemy got into the castle, only
one at time could come through
the door, and he would be in a
peculiarly defenseless attitude. As
he entered, STOPPING, he couldn't use
a bow, nor a club, nor a knife while
bent double and every one that came
through could easily be knocked on
the head one by one. Looks rather
1t was a wonderful experience for
a Vermonter to be there on the fiat
sands with a fringe of
rugged mountains round the horizon,
locking like gigantic mud piles with
no vegetation on them, the
white sand plain broken by the scrub
by Mesquite, Sage, and here and
there a straight tall prickly Cactus.
"The day, so mild
Was heavens own child
With sky and desert
Reconciled."
The day was so very mild chat my
winter clothing was superhuous, and