42 CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA [BTH. ANN. 28 
of the material eroded from the top of the walls, but was due in part 
to drifted sand, which for the greater part filled the rooms of the 
compounds. The sandstorms left deposits at the bases of the walls, 
both within and without, the sand often drifting like snow; but 
when the drift was once arrested by the walls and by roots of mes- 
quite trees, and weighted down by the adobe that fell from the 
walls, the'rooms and walls were eventually covered. 
COMPOUNDS C AND D 
The amount of excavation and repair work on Compounds C and 
D was not so extensive as on Compounds A and B. Neither of 
the former contained high mounds, and apparently neither ever had 
included extensive buildings with thick high walls. The walls of the 
central building of Compound C were low and few in number. The 
corners and surrounding walls in Compounds C and D having been 
determined, part of the accumulated earth was removed, provision 
being made for protection of the wall where necessary. In both 
these compounds the surrounding wall had been worn down almost 
to the level of the plain, a low platform being the only visible evidence 
of its former existence. 
TRADITIONS 
The question, Who built Casa Grande? has been repeatedly asked 
the Pima Indians dwelling in the neighborhood from the time of its 
discovery in 1694 and their answer has generally come to be, the 
“Hohokam,’’ or Ancients. But if their old men are interrogated 
more closely they frequently mention the name of a chief (civan) 
called Morning Green, who, they affirm, constructed the buildings 
and ruled over the inhabitants. There is internal evidence that the 
legends they relate of this chief are not inventions of the modern 
Pima; at all events incidental references to him as master of the 
Wind gods and the Rain gods date back to Father Font’s narrative 
in 1775. Modern variants of the legends are probably somewhat 
embellished, however, by repetition from one generation to another.! 
The Pima conception of this chief is best indicated by quoting a few 
folk-tales, some of which have not been published while others have 
been known for many years. 
1Dr. Frank Russell’s excellent monograph on The Pima Indians (26th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol.) 
shows the wealth of Pima (or Maricopa?) material still available. This material, like all legends, can be 
treated in a scientific way in the interpretation of culture and should not be rejected by archeologists. 
Ethnology is simply culture-history, of which archeology is one chapter. 
Neglect of ethnology in the study of the archeology of the American Indians is unfortunate. Some 
of the Pima told the writer that his interpreter had made mistakes in interpretations, so that what is 
given here can be regarded only as approximations to truth. As will appear in many of these legends, 
the chief of Casa Grande is exalted into a cultus-hero, who had extraordinary magic powers; in some stories 
he is represented as the supernatural offspring of the sun and a maid. 
