Casa Grande Ruins Administrative History

National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Charles D. Poston, Arizona Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to William P. Dale, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, January 18, 1864. Microfilm 234 Letter Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-80. Roll 3 Arizona Superintendency 1863-69. Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In this letter, Poston gives a description of the Great House and suggests that there should be an archeological excavation of the ruin.

Central Classified Files 1907-49. National Monuments, Casa Grande Ruins. Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service. Numerous reports and correspondence dealing with the monument are found here.

Letters Received by the Office of the Secretary of the Interior Relating to National Parks 1872-1907. Casa Grande Ruins Reservation. Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service. Numerous reports and correspondence dealing with Casa Grande Ruins Reservation under the administration of the General Land Office are found here.

Records of the Field Headquarters in San Francisco. Classified File 1925-36. Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service. Correspondence and reports dealing with Casa Grande Ruins National Monument construction projects are found here.

Regional Archives and Record Center, Denver, Colorado

Records of the Southwest Regional Office, 1937-68. Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service. This group of records contains reports and correspondence on every aspect of the monument including CCC projects.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Files

The monument files contain 1986-91 correspondence and superintendents' annual reports for 1973-90, while the library holds numerous reports including some of those for the Southwestern Monuments in the 1920s and 1930s and several volumes of ruins stabilization records. Library files also have photograph and drawing collections.

Bureau of Land Management, Phoenix

This agency office contains the survey field note books of the various Arizona townships. In addition to their survey work the men would indicate the population and vegetation in given sections.

Western Archeological and Conservation Center (NPS), Tucson

In addition to three boxes of Casa Grande Ruins National Monuments material, the library contains Southwestern Monuments Monthly Reports 1923-56, Southwestern Monuments Annual Reports for that same period, boxes of Southwestern Monuments material, and photographs of Casa Grande as well as a box of biographical material on Frank Pinkley.

Arizona Historical Society, Tucson

Clark, Charles M. "My First View of the Ruin of Las Casas Grande." MS-155. Notebook 1. Clark describes his adventures at Casa Grande in 1873-74.

Shilling, Frank Adams. Casa Grande Ruins." 1928. Biographical File Typescript. This typescript presents a description of Casa Grande and the surrounding countryside.

Arizona Historical Foundation, Carl Hayden Library, Arizona State University, Tempe

Senie Melissa Kent Biography. Kent was a daughter of James Bates, the Casa Grande custodian from 1915-18. This file contains some biographical data on Bates.

Printed United States Government Documents and Reports

Congressional Record. 50 Cong. 2 Sess. Vol. 20. PT2.

"General Information Regarding Casa Grande Ruin, Arizona." Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1913. This publication gives a general description and background information on the monument.

"Report on Wind Cave, Crater Lake, Sullys Hill, and Platt National Parks, Casa Grande Ruin and Minnesota National Forest Reserve." Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1909. Included in this publication is an annual report and description of Casa Grande Ruins Reservation.

Report of the Department of the Interior For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1909. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1910. An annual report on the monument.

Report of the Director of the National Park Service to the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1918. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1918. Pinkley first write of the astronomical uses of the Great House in this annual report.

National Park Service Publications

Fenn, Dennis B. "Initial Report: Adobe Preservation Research Casa Grande Ruins National Monument." Tucson: National Park Service, Western Archeological Center, May 1, 1978. Fenn conducted chemical soil amendment tests on walls built of Escalante Ruins soil.

Kriegh, James D. and Hassan A. Sultan. "Final Report Feasibility Study in Adobe Preservation Casa Grande National Monument and Fort Bowie National Historic Site." Tucson: University of Arizona College of Engineering. December 1974. Under contract from the NPS these two engineers studied stabilization methods for the Great House.

Mayer, Martin T. "Stabilization Record, Compound A Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, 1967." Globe, AZ: Southwest Archeological Center, Ruins Stabilization Unit. December 1967. Mayer tells of the 1967 stabilization work at Compound A.

_______. "Stabilization Record, Compound B Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, 1967." Globe, AZ: Southwest Archeological Center, Ruins Stabilization Unit. March 1968. A report on stabilization work in Compound B in 1967.

_______. "Stabilization Report, Big House Casa Grande National Monument, 1969." Globe, AZ: Southwest Archeological Center, Ruins Stabilization Unit. November 1969. Mayer's work on the Great House in 1969.

O'Bannon, Charles E., Bill Wikander, and Ted Ingersoll. 'The Determination of the Effectiveness of Stabilization of Historic and Prehistoric Adobe Architecture by Electro-Osmosis and Base Exchange of Ions, Phase III." Tucson: National Park Service, Western Archeological Center, July 1983. This contract study with the Arizona State University Engineering College involved testing the effectiveness of electro-chemical treatment of earthen walls.

Richert, Roland. "Compound A Stabilization Records Casa Grande National Monument." April 1955. Located in the Casa Grande National Monument Library. Richert discusses the concrete stabilized soil method used for 1955 ruins stabilization.

Shiner, Joel L. "The Backfilling of the Clan House Casa Grande National Monument." National Park Service, Ruins Stabilization Unit, Globe, AZ. 1962. Tells of the work done to backfill the Clan House.

Sudderth, W. E. "Casa Grande, 1972 Season, Stabilization Report 1972." Tucson, AZ: Western Archeological Center, Ruins Stabilization Unit. August 1976. Sudderth reports on the use of Daraweld-C to make "Amended Mud" which was applied to the ruins with whisk brooms.

Wilcox, David R. and Lynette O. Shenk. "The Architecture of the Great House and Its Interpretation." Tucson: National Park Service, Western Archeological Center, May 1977. This study presents early interpretation of Casa Grande developed by the pioneering anthropologists.

________. and Charles Sternberg. Additional Studies of the Architecture of the Casa Grande and Its Interpretation. Tucson: National Park Service, Western Archeological Center, Archaeological Series No. 146, March 1981. This study discusses Great House stabilization proposals of the 1970s.

Newspapers

Arizona Daily Star (Tucson). February 10, 1880.

Arizona Republic (Phoenix). September 25, 1932.

Arizona Weekly Enterprise (Florence, Arizona). May 4, 1889, May 11, 1889, December 14, 1889.

Casa Grande." Arizona Enterprise (Tucson). October 5, 1893.

Casa Grande." Phoenix Herald. September 27, 1879.

Casa Grande." Weekly Arizona Miner (Prescott, Arizona). June 8, 1877.

Coolidge Examiner (Arizona), June 8, 1962, October 30, 1975.

Cole, Joe. "Irrigation Project has 3 Parts." Coolidge Examiner. May 6, 1960.

Graham County Bulletin (Solomonville, Arizona). August 16, 1895.

Kay, Janie. "City Born on Desert 35 Years Ago." Coolidge Examiner. May 6, 1960.

Los Angeles Times. May 19, 1907.

Phoenix Herald. January 9, 1888, July 27, 1888, February 14, 1889.

Richardson, Glen. "Farming Future Looks Bright." Coolidge Examiner. May 6, 1960.

Sayre, Edith. "J. J. Recalls Growth." Coolidge Examiner. May 6, 1960.

________. "The Coolidge Story." Coolidge Examiner. May 6, 1960.

Tempe News (Tempe, Arizona). October 12, 1889.

Weekly Arizona Miner (Prescott, Arizona). February 7, 1879.

Articles

"A Real American Ruin." Outlook. 91(January 16, 1909) 98-99. Tells of Fewkes' excavations in Compound A in 1906-07.

Attwell, Walter G. "3 Roofs in 1,000 Years." American Roofer. 28(July 1938) 11, 19-20, 25, 27. Attwell writes about the building of the 1932 ruin shelter roof.

"Casa Grande to be Preserved." American Antiquarian. 11(November 1889) 358. The article tells of Alexander Morrison's inspection of the Great House.

"Casa Grande Ruins: An Old House Gets Its Face Lifted." Arizona Days and Ways Magazine. (May 6, 1956) 6-8. The article recounts the mid-1950s stabilization program.

Cook, William Wallace. "Relics of a Long Lost Race." Illustrated American. 19(April 25, 1896) 559,574. Cook erroneously states that Coronado's "Red House" was the Casa Grande.

"Correspondence and Report Relating to the Condition of Casa Grande in 1895 with Recommendations Concerning Its Further Protection." Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1897. It contains W. J. McGee's inspection report of Casa Grande.

Crane, Alice Rollins. "The Prehistoric Ruins of Casa Grande." Overland Monthly. 36(October 1900) 295-297. She gives Juan Mateo Manje's description of the Great House.

D. D. M. "Arizona Antiquities." The American Architect and Building News. 19(June 26, 1886) 307-308. The author wrongly states that the sixteenth century Spanish explorers visited the Casa Grande.

Dodge, Natt N. "The Reluctant Leader." Westways. (April 1960) 10-11. Dodge give a brief biography of Frank Pinkley.

Doyel, David. "The Prehistoric Hohokam of the Arizona Desert." American Scientist. 67(September-October 1979) 544-554. Doyel confirmed Charlie Steen's findings that the Salado did not join the Hohokam.

Fewkes, J. Walter. "A Report on the Present Condition of a Ruin in Arizona Called Casa Grande." Journal of American Ethnology and Archaeology. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1892. Fewkes reports on the Great House just prior to its stabilization.

________. "Excavations at Casa Grande, Arizona in 1906-07." Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 50(October 25, 1907) 289-329. Fewkes tells of the Compound A excavations.

________. Casa Grande, Arizona." Twenty-Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1912. Fewkes recounts his excavations at Casa Grande in 1906-07 and 1907-08.

Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. 29(January 1890) 45-46. Tells of Alexander Morrison's inspection of Casa Grande.

Hanks, Henry Garber. Casa Grande." Californian. 2(August 1880) 101-106. Hanks led a group of New Jersey geologists to Casa Grande in 1879.

Hooper, Bruce. "Arizona Landmarks: Stereography of Natural Wonders in Arizona Territory, 1877-1930s." Stero World 16(November/December 1989) 32-35. Hooper discusses the early photographers of Arizona and the distribution of those photographs.

Huffman, John W. "Turquoise Mosaics from Casa Grande." Art and Archaeology. 20(August 1925) 82-84. Huffman, a temporary monument employee in the mid-1920s, helped George Boundey with excavations. He describes the extraordinary find of two turquoise mosaic birds and a turtle beneath the floor of one of the room in Compound A.

Judd, B. Ira, James M. Laughlin, Herbert R. Guenther, and Royal Handegarde. "The Lethal Decline of Mesquite on the Casa Grande National Monument." Great Basin Naturalist. 31 (September 30, 1971) 153-159. The authors conclude that a major cause of death of the monument mesquite came from the declining water table.

Lee, James Wideman. "At the Gold Mines of Arizona." American Illustrated Methodist Magazine. 2(September 1899. Lee recounts the Aztec legend of Casa Grande.

Mindeleff, Cosmos. "The Casa Grande of Arizona." New England Magazine. New Series. 16(July 1897) 570- 582. Mindeleff tells of the Great House stabilization in 1891.

_______. "The Casa Grande Ruin, Southern Arizona." Scientific American Supplement No. 1118. (June 5, 1897) 17877-17878. Mindeleff gives another account of the Great House stabilization in 1891.

________. "The Repair of Casa Grande Ruin, Arizona in 1891." Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1897. Mendeleff writes of the background to making the Casa Grande stabilization repairs and presents an in depth account of the repairs that he made in 1891.

"New Old Lands." Children's Church At Home and Abroad. 8(November 1890) 466-467. The article gives an account of the Reverend Isaac T. Whittemore's work to preserve the Great House.

"Repair of the Casa Grande Ruins, Arizona." American Architect and Building News. 40(April 23, 1898) 28-29. Another account of the 1891 stabilization work.

Russell, Frank. "The Pageant Beautiful at Casa Grande." Progressive Arizona. 3(1926) 17, 44. Russell describes the first pageant held at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.

Sir Newton. "The Story of Casa Grande." Arizona Magazine. 1(March 1893) 1-15. The author reproduces the early descriptions of the Casa Grande.

Squire, E.G. "New Mexico and California." American Review. (November 1848) 503-528. Squire presented Emory's description of the Great House and included a drawing of it.

Steen, Charlie R. "Excavations in Compound A, Casa Grande National Monument, 1963." The Kiva. 31(December 1965) 59-82. Steen writes of his discovery that disproved the idea that the Salado had joined the Hohokam.

Stewart, J. Z. "Ancient Ruins in America." Juvenile Instructor. 12(January 15, 1877) 21-22. Stewart provides a description of the prehistoric Casa Grande for school children.

"The Problems with Preservation." The Atom. 10(January-February 1973) 8. A publication of the Las Alamos National Laboratory tells of the stabilization problems of the Great House.

Van Valkenburgh, Sallie. "The History of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument." The Kiva 27(February 1962) 1-31. A pioneering effort on the history of Casa Grande.

Books

Bancroft, Hubert H. History of Arizona and New Mexico. San Francisco: The History Co., 1889. Still a standard work on Arizona and New Mexico to 1888.

Bandelier, A. F. Final Report of Investigations Among the Indians of the Southwestern United States, Carried on Mainly in the Years 1880 to 1885. Part II. Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, 1892. Bandelier presents his fortification ideas for the use of Casa Grande.

Bartlett, John Russell. Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, Chihuahua, connected with the United States and Mexican Boundary Commission During the Years 1850, '51, '52, and '53. 2 Vols. N.Y.: D. Appleton & Co., 1854. Bartlett tells of his experiences while head of the U.S. Boundary Commission.

Bolton, Herbert Eugene. Kino's Historical Memoir of Pimeria Alta: A Contemporary Account of the Beginnings of California, Sonora, and Arizona, by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, S.J., Pioneer Missionary, Explorer, Cartographer, and Ranchman 1683-1711. 2 Vols. Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1919. Bolton recounts Padre Kino's visits to Casa Grande.

________. Font's Complete Diary: A Chronicle of the Founding of San Francisco. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1931. Bolton gives Font's description of Casa Grande.

Browne, J. Ross. Adventures in the Apache Country: A Tour Through Arizona and Sonora, 1864. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1974. Browne presents a description and drawing of the Great House.

Commissioner of Immigration, Pinal County Arizona. Pinal County Arizona 1916. Casa Grande, AZ: Commissioner of Immigration, Pinal County, 1916. A tract designed to attract settlers to Pinal County.

Cordell, Linda S. Prehistory of the Southwest Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 1984. A very good account of the Hohokam.

Coues, Elliott. On the Trail of a Spanish Pioneer: The Diary and Itinerary of Francisco Garces in His Travels Through Sonora, Arizona, and California 1775-1776. 2 Vols. N.Y.: Francis P. Harper, 1900. Coues writes of Padre Garces' visit to Casa Grande.

Dobyns, Henry F. ed. Hepah, California! The Journal of Cave Johnson Couts. Tucson: Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, 1961. Couts, an officer in the U.S. Army, described the area through which he traveled from Mexico to California in 1848-49.

Emory, W. H. Notes of a Military Reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri to San Diego, in California, including Parts of the Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila Rivers. N.Y.: H. Long & Brother, 1848. Emory passed Casa Grande while traveling to California with a military expedition during the Mexican War.

Griffin, John S. A Doctor Comes to California: The Diary of John S. Griffin, Assistant Surgeon with Kearny's Dragoons 1846-1847. San Francisco: California Historical Society, 1943. Griffin describes the Great House during a visit there in 1846.

Hamilton, Patrick. The Resources of Arizona, Its Minerals, Farming, Grazing and Timber Lands; Its History, Climate, Productions, Civil and Military Government, Pre-Historic Ruins, Early Missionaries, Indian Tribes, Pioneer Days, Etc., Etc. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft & Co., 1884. Hamilton wrote this propaganda tract at the request of the territorial legislature. His pre-Anglo period history is incorrect.

Mayer, Brantz. Mexico, Aztec, Spanish, and Republican. 2 Vols. Hartford: S. Drake, 1853. Brantz disliked the Arizona desert, but he did include a drawing of the Great House in his book.

Muhlenpfordt, Eduard. Versuch einer Getreuen Schilderung der Republic Mejico Besonders in Bezeihung auf Geographie, Ethnographie und Statistik. 2 Vols. Hanover, Germany, 1844. Muhlenpfordt spent ten years in Mexico. He gave an account of the Casa Grande area based upon the writings of the Spanish explorers.

Pinal County Board of Supervisors. Resources of Pinal County, Arizona. Florence, AZ: Enterprise Job Rooms, 1889. This tract gives a glowing account of Pinal County as a means to attract settlers.

Rothman, Hal. Preserving Different Pasts: The American National Monuments. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989. Rothman has written a good account of the National Park Service view of national monuments in the early days. One cannot agree with his characterization of Frank Pinkley. Rothman wrote that by the 1930s, the times had bypassed Pinkley and he merely became a disagreeable administrator who saw a threat from the central Park Service Education Office and refused to adopt the latest interpretive and educational techniques offered by that branch. Pinkley may have had his arguments with the central office in Washington, D.C., but he always took advantage of the latest technology offered by the NPS Education Field Office in Berkeley, California to advance his education and interpretive program.

Whittemore, Isaac T. A Brick for the New Church at Florence, Arizona. Auburn, N.Y.: Friends of the Mission, 1890. Whittemore writes of his efforts to preserve the Great House.

Typescripts

Egermayer, D. W. "Casa Grande National Monument." March 10, 1939. Typescript in the National Park Service, Western Archeological and Conservation Center. Tucson, Arizona. In addition to writing about the monument, Egermayer discusses the Southwestern Monuments headquarters staff stationed at the monument.

Gladwin, Harold S. "Report on Excavations at Casa Grande National Monument, 1927." Typescript in the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Library. Gladwin tells of his excavation of trash mounds and presents his conclusion that the Salado people joined the Hohokam in their classic period.

"Miscellaneous Introductory Hohokam Readings." Typescript in the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument library. General information on the Hohokam.

Pinkley. Frank. "Casa Grande National Monument." No date, but thought to be part of the 1920 Annual Report. Typescript in the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument library. Pinkley gave his interpretation of the Casa Grande ruins.

_______. Casa Grande National Monument." 1921. Typescript in National Park Service, Western Archeological and Conservation Center, Tucson, Arizona. Pinkley presents his interpretation of the Casa Grande inhabitants and the buildings in which they lived.

Reaves, Roy W. III. "Training Manual for Interpretation and Resources Management Employees." Ca. 1968. Typescript in the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument library. Reaves discusses the astronomical uses of the Great House.

Spears, C. Duane. 'Test Excavations in Compound B Casa Grande National Monument." July 29, 1973. Typescript located in the National Park Service, Western Archeological and Conservation Center, Tucson, Arizona. Spears made test excavation of this compound to determine the extent of original features and their condition.

Steen, Charlie R. "A Summary of Ruins Stabilization at Casa Grande National Monument 1889-1943." June 4, 1943. Typescript in the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument library. A very good summary of the stabilization projects at the monument to 1943.

"Symposium: Prehistoric Irrigation in Arizona." Notes taken by John M. Andresen (Casa Grande Ruins National Monument) at Pueblo Grande Museum, October 28-29, 1988. Typescript in the Casa Grande Museum library. Papers presented at this conference reflect the latest thinking on the decline of the Hohokam.

Teague, Lynn. "The Hohokam Classic Period and the Casa Grande." Typescript in the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument library. A very good overview of the Hohokam classic period written especially for monument personnel.

"Translation of [Juan Mateol Manje's Discovery of the Casa Grande Ruins." November 17 and 18, 1697. Folder: CAGR — Area History. Box 2, Casa Grande National Monument. Typescript in National Park Service, Western Archeological and Conservation Center, Tucson, Arizona. This translation gives Manje's description of Casa Grande.

Van Valkenburgh, Sallie. "Area History Casa Grande National Monument." June 1956. Typescript in Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Files. A pioneering history of Casa Grande.

_______. Draft for talk at Annual Arizona Historical Convention. Suggested title: "Generalizations from the Case History of a Ruin Which Survived." February 1963. Similar to Van Valkenburgh's article in the Kiva.

Technical Reports

Doyel, David E. "Excavations in the Escalante Ruin Group, Southern Arizona." Tucson: Arizona State Museum, 1974. In addition to Charlie Steen's discovery in 1963, Doyel's excavations also produced proof that the Salado did not join the Hohokam.

Hastings, Russell. "Report of Archaeological Excavations Under CWA at Casa Grande National Monument." Southwestern Monuments Monthly Report Supplement. March 1934. Hastings describes the excavations that he directed in the southeastern corner of the monument under the Civil Works Administration program. It is not very precise.

Opperman, Renee. "Astronomical Implications of the Architecture at Casa Grande, Arizona." Occasional Publications in Anthropology, University of Northern Colorado. 1980. She reaches the conclusion that astronomy governed the lives of the Casa Grande inhabitants.

Pamphlets

"General Information Regarding Casa Grande Ruin, Arizona." Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1913. The first printed material that Frank Pinkley received from the General Land Office to distribute to visitors.

Pinkley. Frank. "Casa Grande National Monument — Visitors' Handbook." 1920. Folder, CAGR, Casa Grande National Monument Visitors' Handbook by Frank Pinkley, 1920. Box 1, Casa Grande National Monument. National Park Service. Western Archeological and Conservation Center. Tucson, Arizona. Pinkley presents his interpretation of Casa Grande ruins in this visitors' handout.