Vol. 50 1907 



Smithsonian 



♦ 



Miscellaneous Collections 



Vol IV Quarterly Issue Part 3 



EXCAVATIONS AT CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA, IN 1906-07 

 By J. WALTER FEWKES 



Introduction 1 



Casa Grande is an Indian ruin of undetermined antiquity situated 

 in Pinal County, southern Arizona, a little more than a mile from the 

 left bank of the Gila River. It lies twelve miles from Florence and 

 about eighteen miles from the Casa Grande station on the Southern 

 Pacific Railroad. Casa Grande was given its name about 1694 by 

 its discoverer, the celebrated Jesuit, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, 

 and has been repeatedly described and figured since that zealous and 

 intrepid pioneer made his missionary trips across the deserts of 

 southern Arizona. 



This great house is the most important ruin of its type in the 

 Southwest, and as such has strong claims for archeological study, 

 repair, and permanent preservation. It has a peculiar fascination 

 for the archeologist on account of its age and also because of the in- 

 completeness of our knowledge of the ancient inhabitants of the 

 Gila Valley. 



The main building and its surrounding mounds, when considered 

 together, may be called the Casa Grande group of ruins. Very little 



1 This paper is a report of progress on certain unfinished archeological work 

 conducted by the author under a special appropriation for the exploration, re- 

 pair, and protection of the Casa Grande ruins in Arizona. This appropriation was 

 disbursed under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, and the field 

 work extended from October 24, 1906, to March 24, 1907. Provision has been 

 made by Congress for the continuation of the work during the fiscal year 

 1907-08, and it is anticipated that on completion of the exploration a final 

 report will be published by the Bureau of American Ethnology. 



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