198 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES 
Casa Grande,” as the name indicates, is the ‘large house’? men- 
tioned by the early explorers; it was the work of aborigines of 700 to 
1,000 years ago. It was discovered by the Jesuit Padre Kino in 
1694; he reached it again by way of the San Pedro in November, 
1697, and said mass within its walls. It stood 1% miles south of the 
Gila River, with which it was at that time connected by a wide ditch. 
It was visited by Padres Garcsé and Font in 1775 and minutely de- 
scribed by Font. It has always been one of the best preserved of the 
prehistoric ruins and has been restored to a considerable extent by 
the United States National Park Service, which took possession of it 
in 1892. There were three buildings within a space of 150 yards, two 
of which were practically ruined. The walls of the main building, 
which was three and in the central part four stories high, were massive 
and 4 or 5 feet thick at the base. The inner sides of the walls were 
vertical, but the outer sides sloped inward in a slightly curved line. 
The house contained 11 rooms and had a watchtower estimated to 
have been 39 feet high. The material used was the local mud and 
gravel packed into rectangular blocks until hardened. ‘There is some 
ornamentation in red on the inner polished walls, but no inscriptions. 
There are doors east and west, but no windows except circular open- 
ings in the upper part of the chambers. The framework of the build- 
ing evidently was burned, presumably by hostile Apaches. Near by 
are ruins of other buildings and of an elliptical amphitheater more 
than 100 feet long, probably all used for religious or communal cere- - 
monies. 
Excavations in 1930 a mile east of the Casa Grande ruins revealed 
several large houses, several crematory pits, and much pottery, 
carved bone, and stone and shell artifacts. Fragments of mirrors 
whose reflecting surface was a close mosaic of iron pyrite crystals were 
also found, showing that the people took considerable interest in their 
personal appearance. 
In the river flat just north of the ruins are remains of old irrigation 
ditches which conveyed river water to fields. The people of this 
early settlement were evidently experienced in agriculture, and the 
irrigation ditches, some of them large, show considerable engineering 
skill. (Seep. 201.) Itseems clear from the broken pottery and ruins 
that the Gila Valley and the valley of the Salt River supported a 
good-sized agricultural population in the early days. The Pima 
Indians called these people ‘‘Hohékam.’”’ They lived in small huts 
not unlike the Pima “‘jacales,” made of rude masonry. It is supposed 
that they came from the south. It is an Indian tradition that a hos- 
tile faction from the east drove these agriculturists from their settle- 
2 T+ +t h 
oe i > ee a 
east on his way to the Seven Cities of 
Cibola (Zufii) in 1540, but many author- 
ities believe that his route was farther 
| east, (See p. 161.) 
be the ruined house called gested 
a (red house), where Coronado 
