Casa Grande Ruin, Coolidge, AZ

December 19, 2016

We have been at this wonderful resort now for a little over a week and have been busy participating in activities.  This is a very active resort with something for everyone.  There is exercise classes (walking, water aerobics, lap swimming, bicycling, dancing), golf, games (dominos, bingo, etc.) radio controlled car track, pickleball, bocci ball, dance classes, cards, and for me the greatest thing is the quilt room where I can sew to my hearts content and get advice from other ladies.  Ron is enjoying the golfing group and will attend his first golf event on Thursday of this week.  There is also a photography club which looks promising.   The resort has ticketed meals (breakfasts on Saturdays, one day a week lunch, and dinners) as well as  dances with live entertainment and trips out of town.  What a great place we found and will return to next year for three months.

Yesterday Ron and I drove to Coolidge (about 20 miles to the east) to see the Casa Grande National Monument which is an Indian ruins dating back to the 1400’s.  While we have gone to many ruins over the years, the village here is not enclosed as we have seen at places like Mesa Verde and other southwest Anasazi villages.

Here the structures were covered with roofing materials but much more open.

What the roofing of homes was like

This may be because this area is warmer than some of the other areas we have viewed.  The Hohokam people lived in this area prior to 1350 A.D and lived here for many centuries prior to the construction of the Casa Grande four story building but left within a century after its construction for unknown reasons. 

The Great House was made from caliche mud (a concrete like mix of sand, clay and calcium carbonate limestone) layered to form four foot thick walls at the base with hundreds of trees either carried or floated 60 miles down the Gila River to the village.  These timbers formed ceiling or floor supports.

Front view

Back Vuew

Side View

Inside Wall

Other Ruins near the Great House

Another partial structure

The walls of the ruin face the four cardinal points of the compass.  One opening aligns with the setting sun in summer and others align with the sun and moon at specific times.  The people would gather at these sites to study the position of the celestial objects in relation to times for planting, harvesting and celebration.   The Hohokam too were responsible for digging with sticks and stones the many miles of canals leading from the Gila River to their planting sites.  Amazing.

In 1694 the ruins were viewed by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a missionary, when led to it by the Pima Indians. 

The Monument today consists of the large Casa Grande ruin, and two other partial structures as well as a ball court and outlines of what were probably living areas and a museum featuring information about the site.  Much of the ruin suffered from souvenir hunters damaging the site to the point that in 1892, this site became America’s first archeological reserve. 

An interesting afternoon visit on a cool day in the desert of Arizona. 

A View to the Mountains in the distance

Some Saguaro Cactus at the Monument