REPORT OP THE SECRETARY. 47 



in order that the precious material may not by any misadventure be destroyed, 

 it should be published at an early date. 



Besides work strictly linguistic, Doctor Swanton had in hand a paper on 

 the tribes of the lower Mississippi Valley and neighboring coast of the Gulf 

 of Mexico. This can not be completed, however, until additional researches 

 among the tribes in question have been made. 



Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, ethnologist, spent July and August largely in the 

 preparation of his report on the excavation and repair of the Casa Grande 

 ruins, Arizona, during the preceding fiscal yeai% which was printed in the quar- 

 terly issue of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 



Doctor Fewkes was in the Southwest from October 24, 1907, to the end of the 

 fiscal year. From November to the middle of March he was in charge of the 

 excavation and repair work at Casa Grande, for which there was available the 

 sum of $3,000, appropriated by Congress, to be expended under the direction of" 

 the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The season's operations at Casa 

 Grande began with excavations in Compound B, the second in size of the great 

 compounds which form the Casa Grande group. This was found to be a rec- 

 tangular area inclosed by a massive wall. Within this are many buildings, the 

 majority of which were once used for ceremonial and communal purposes. On 

 excavation it was ascertained that the two great pyramids in Compound B are 

 terraced and that they contain seven distinct floors. The remains of small, 

 fragile walled houses, resembling Pima jacales, were found upon the tops of 

 these pyramids, and in the neighboring plazas subterranean rooms, with cemented 

 floors and fireplaces, were unearthed under the massive walls. This compound 

 was thoroughly repaired with Portland cement, and drains were built to carry 

 off the surface water. A roof was built over the subterranean room, the de- 

 cayed upright logs that once supported the walls were replaced with cedar 

 posts, and other steps were taken for the permanent preservation of these 

 interesting remains. 



The walls of Compounds C and D were traced throughout ; in the middle of 

 the latter compound is a large building, the ground plan of which resembles 

 Casa Grande. The most extensive structure excavated at Casa Grande is a 

 clan house, a building 200 feet long, with 11 rooms whose massive walls inclose 

 a plaza. In the middle of the central room of this cluster thei'e is a seat, called 

 by the Pima Indians " the seat of Montezuma." On the north side there is a 

 burial chamber, the walls of which are decorated in several colors. This room 

 contains a burial cyst in which was found the skeleton of a priest surrounded 

 by ceremonial paraphernalia. The bases of the walls of the clan house were 

 protected with cement, and drains were built to carry ofl: water. For the con- 

 venience and information of visitors all the buildings excavated were appro- 

 priately labeled, and placards containing historical data were posted at various 

 points. Although the appropriation was not sufiicieut for completing the work 

 of excavation and repair of the Casa Grande group, the amount available made 

 it possible to present a type ruin showing the general character of the ancient 

 pueblo remains in the Gila and lower Salt River valleys. 



At the close of the work at Casa Grande, Doctor Fewkes was able to make 

 a comparative study of the mounds in the neighborhood of Phoenix, Mesa, and 

 Tempe, and also of the ancient habitations on the Pima Reservation. Several 

 large ruins in the vicinity of Tucson were visited, and an extensive ruin, known 

 to the Pima and Papago as Shakayuma, was examined near the northwestern 

 end of the Tucson Mountains. Several ancient reservoirs, now called " Indian 

 tanks," situated east of Casa Grande, along the trail of the early Spanish dis- 

 coverers, were identified by their historic names. In a reconnoissance down 



