The Coolidge examiner., 1930-03-28
BY IRWIN HAYDEN

One or the most fascinating of
the pure sciences is that which
comprises the study of ancient
man. Most folks will stoop to pick
up arrow-points, whether they call
them Tighten stones, arrer-
spikes or arrow heads" Most of us
will wander through some well ar
ranged museum, where good speci-
mems of the handiwork of prehis-
toric men and women are interest
ingly arranged and we'll labeled
and few of us ever realize that the
things we see in the showcases are
there because of the generosity of
certain people. Certainly we do not
all appreciate the fact that all of
the ancient things were obtained
by hard and tedious labor, in hot
and dusty deserts, from dark an
smelly caves, or from damp and
often boggy soils in the humid re-
gions.
Charles Van Bergen, M. D., of
New York, has organized the Van
Bergen-Los Angeles Museum Field
Expedition, for the purpose of
searching the archives of desert
and cave. pueblo and shell-mound,
for information regarding prehis-
toric man in America. Because
archaeology is purely intellectual
persuit, DR.. Van Bergen can only
hope for an intellectual reward; a
reward which he will share with
the public, both layman and scien-
tist
Explores Casa Grande Ruins
The third day of January, 1880,
DR.. Van Bergen's party, with the
writer in charge, began the explo-
ration of refuse heap and a COM
pound on the Casa Grande Nation
al Monument in the lower Gila val
ley, Arizona. The work is being
done under permit from the sec
retary of the interior and we are
under the direct supervision of Su-
perintendent of National Monu-
ments Frank Pinkley.
Our search is for information.
We are not digging primarily for
specimens only. Therefore we are
obliged to observe carefully as we
go for evidences of walls, floors,
burials and all of the items which
tell us somewhat Of the life of the
people who built the houses whose
ruins we are exploring.
This is the first of a series of
short articles telling of our digging
and our finds. | offer them hum
bly,, not as scientific papers but as
running comments on the progress
of an intriguing work. The work
is done for the public good and the
next best thing to actual field-work
is fireside archaeology.
Many thousands of people have
visited the Casa Grande Ruin which
is about midway between Phoenix
anu uCSOn. nC NUN 10 OllC VI lhC
most spectacular in the Americas.
No one surely knows who built the
great four-story "big house, whose
walls still loom, landmark in the
desert. No one even ventures a
guess with any confidence. When
| the white man first saw the ruin it
was in a state of decay. Padre Eu-
sebio Francisco Kino, missionary to
the Indians of Sonora, in Old Mex
leo, gave us our first written rec
ord of the Casa Grande. He saw ii
/ in 1894. 1t was then abandoned and
old.
Built by Hohokam
The Pima Indians nave lived in
the vicinity of the ruin since before
the knowledge of white men. They
disclaim any knowledge of the
builders of the ruin and the small
er ruins near by. The Pimas shrug'
ged their shoulders and said that
the Hokoham were responsible;
but that word signifies the wan
ished people.
Frank Pinkley told me that the
first work on the ruin, from the
standpoint of archaeology, was done
in 1921, when the walls of the Casa
Grande were repaired somewhat. A
roof has been erected over the
standing walls, to shed the rains
which are SO damaging to adobe