FEWkus ] HISTORY 65 
plastered inside, and the surface still remained firm, although it was evident they had 
been exposed toa great heat from the fire; some of the rooms did not open to all the rest, 
but had a hole a foot in diameter to look through; in other places, were smaller holes. 
About 200 yards from this building was a mound in a circle a hundred yards around; 
the center was a hollow, 25 yards in diameter, with two vamps or slopes going down to 
its bottom; it was probably a well, now partly filled up; a simiiar one was seen near 
Mount Dallas. A few yards further, in the same direction, northward, was a terrace, 
100 yards by 70. About 5 feet high upon this, was a pyramid about 8 feet high, 25 
yards square at top. From this, sitting on my horse, I could overlook the vast plain 
lying northeast and west on the left bank of the Gila; the ground in view was about 15 
miles, all of which, it would seem, had been irrigated by the waters of the Gila. I 
picked up a broken crystal of quartz in one of these piles. Leaving the “Cara,” I 
RS ee ee 
Fic. 5. Casa Grande in 1846 (Johnston). 
turned toward the Pimos, and traveling at random over the plain, now covered with 
mesquite, the piles of earth and pottery showed for hours in every direction. I also 
found the remains of a sicia [acequia], which followed the range of houses for 
miles. . . . The general asked a Pimo who made the house I had seen. ‘“‘It is the 
Cara de Montezuma,”’ said he; “‘it was built by the son of the most beautiful woman 
who once dwelt in yon mountain; she was fair, and all the handsome men came to 
court her, but in vain; when they came, they paid tribute, and out of this small store 
she fed all people in times of famine, and it did not diminish; at last, as she lay asleep, 
a drop of rain fell upon her navel, and she became pregnant, and brought forth a boy, 
who was the builder of all these houses. 
Shortly after the visit to Casa Grande of Lieutenant Colonel Emory, 
Lieutenant Colonel Cooke, in command of a battalion of Mormons, 
made his way to California via Tucson and the villages of the Pima, 
but there is little in his official report concerning the ruin. In 1848 
Maj. L. P. Graham, of the dragoons, followed; although he must have 
passed near Casa Grande he says but little about it. 
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