152 CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA [BTH. ANN. 28 
hood of the “great houses’ of the Gila-Salt Basin; there are no 
modern pueblos in southern Arizona. When Europeans entered the 
Gila Valley they found tribes living in isolated dwellings not very 
different from the houses of modern Pima and Papago, who are sup- 
posed to be the descendants of the builders of Casa Grande. 
The appearance of the great walled compounds like Casa Grande 
suggests the warlike rather than the peaceful character of the inhab- 
itants. They were constructed for defense and their presence implies 
that their builders had enemies they feared. It is hardly possible 
that any considerable number of distant enemies could have menaced 
Casa Grande at the time this structure was built, but its inhabitants 
were fearful of their own neighbors, of warriors of their own stock, 
perhaps speaking their own language. Judging from what we know 
of the Pueblos, there was little unity of action among the people of 
the compounds. The conditions were feudal, each community for 
itself; the people did not unite to resist a common foe. Constant raid- 
ing led to a union of related clans, which erected thick-walled dwell- 
ings for protection. Possibly something akin to what has been called 
the “megalithic era’’ influenced these ever-growing communities. 
The ‘unconscious aim at expression of abstract power” by huge 
buildings may also have had its influence. An American feudal sys- 
tem developed in the Gila-Salado Basin, marked by the erection of 
buildings belonging to some chief (civan), around which were clus- 
tered small huts in which the common people lived. There was 
nothing like this condition among the Pueblos or even probably 
among the cliff-dwellers, but such a condition existed in Mexico in 
the days before the advent of the European conquerors. 
But if it be true that ancestors, of the Pima built Casa Grande, why, 
it may be asked, have the Pima lost the art of building “ great 
houses,” and why did they inhabit only small huts when the Spanish 
explorers came?! In reply it may be said that they were forced to 
abandon their great structures, being unable to defend them on 
account of their unwieldy size. Hostile invaders found these con- 
spicuous structures easy prey and broke up this phase of Pima cul- 
ture, overcoming the chiefs and driving out the defenders of the com- 
pounds. But, although scattered, the common people naturally con- 
tinued to occupy inconspicuous huts similar to those in which they 
had always lived. (See fig. 53.) This apparent change of culture is 
paralleled among sedentary tribes in Mexico. Although forced to 
desert their temples and great buildings, the ancient Mexicans still 
lived in huts, in which nothing sone to tempt the cupidity of 
their enemies. 
1 “Great houses”? are said by Bandelier, quoting Father Ribas (Final Report, pt. 1, p. 460), to have 
been occupied by southern Pima in historic times. 
