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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 52 



The following quotation 1 evidently refers to the Tempe mound: 



"Several mounds were found on the Salt River measuring from 80 feet 

 wide to 120 feet long. One of these is plainly discernible, as our illustration 

 shows, from the stage road at La Tempe. On the other side of the river two 

 mounds larger in size are to be seen, one near Hayden's mill and the other 

 close to East Phoenix. Mr. Bartlett, as well as other explorers, calls attention 

 to the fact that the pieces of pottery so widely scattered show that the vessels 

 were all painted or glazed white inside, an art which the Pima and other 

 Indians do not possess. The La Tempe mound was measured by him, and 

 found to be from 200 to 225 feet long by from 60 to 80 wide. This would 

 give a much larger edifice than the Casa Grande. It is true to the cardinal 

 points of the compass a peculiarity common to all these ruins and mounds. 

 Father Sedelmair also describes the La Tempe mound, and gave an account, 

 too, of the three-storied building or ruin there which he found at the junction 

 of the Gila and Salt rivers." 



i. GREAT TEMPE MOUND 



The largest of all the mounds is the Great Tempe mound, 2 on 

 the left of the main Phcenix-Tempe road, about 4 miles from the 



FIG. 70. Great Tempe Mound 



former city. This is probably seen by more white people in the 

 course of a year than any other ruin in Arizona. It is conspicuous 

 from the railroad and is a marked object in all the surrounding 

 country. The main mounds with their walls form one of several 

 clusters, covering more than 40 acres, evidently formerly one of the 

 largest settlements in the Gila-Salt Valley. 



Handbook to Arizona, pp. 411-412. 

 2 This is possibly the ruin called by Dr. Russell by the name of the chief, 

 S'o'am Nyu'i vaaki. 



