Arizona City, and Casa Grande Ruins

Sunday, December 1
Time to move from Tucson and head a bit further north. The destination was just a short one hour drive up the I 10 to Arizona City. Not sure if I like these short moves or not. The work of putting everything away then setting it all up again is the same whether you move one hour or eight. There is so much to see and do in this part of Arizona we really can't move too far or we'll miss stuff.

1500 foot Picacho Peak

Lots of cotton grown here. Those colored tarps are covering huge bales of harvested cotton.

We checked in to High Chaparral RV Park in the early afternoon. We barely got into the park and we met up with Wayne and Karen, friends of Ray and Deb's (Kastle's Journey) who let them know we would be coming. After we got set up we went over to their site and had a great visit. They filled us in on what to see and where to shop, etc. I'm sure we'll see them again this week.

Monday, December 2
This morning we headed east then north toward the town of Coolidge. We were surprised to see so many cotton fields in the area. We later learned that this area is the heart of cotton growing in Arizona and that the top three cotton producing states are Texas, California and Arizona. Who knew? Anyway Coolidge has been around since the mid 1800's and is certainly oriented to cotton producing. Lots of cotton gins in the area.

This area has been inhabited for thousands of years. The Hohokam Indians were here from about 500 AD to 1400 AD. They dispersed from the area which was then later inhabited by native Americans prior to contact with white settlers.

These Ancestral People (as they are referred to today) built hundreds of miles of canals to irrigate their crops of corn and squash. They also gathered cactus fruits, mesquite pods, and harvested rabbits and deer.

Map of Compound A. The large structure outside is called Casa Grande (Large house) and was named by a Spanish priest that traveled through this area in 1694.

An old photo from 1880 shows Casa Grande.

Today the ruins are protected by a huge steel structure. It was built in 1932 to replace a wooden structure.

This is David, our very knowledgeable docent.

There are two resident Great Horned Owls that make the shelter their home. They have been back here for ten years.

The walls are made of Caliche, which is really mud and stones.

There are two holes in the walls that align with the sun at the Spring and Fall equinoxes.

These holes are from decayed timbers used to build the ceilings. The structure is four stories high which is very unusual for these types of buildings.

The remnant of another building in the compound.

Lots of buildings in this compound.

The lower portion of the building has been covered by a sort of concrete to help maintain it.

These rounded walls are actually a covering over the original wall remnants to help preserve them from the elements.

An old picture of the ruins prior to 1932 when the new cover was built. 

Some rock carvings found in the area.

A Saguaro skeleton.

The wood interior of the Saguaro was used as building materials.

Cross section of the Saguaro showing the wooden structure inside.

The mounds in the distance are covering other ruins in this site.

Casa Grande Ruins is a small site.....above ground, but most of the site has been purposely covered up to avoid erosion and vandalism. They have only excavated a potion of Compound A. There are at least four other compounds buried in the desert.

We stopped for a late lunch at Tag's Cafe downtown. They had a great green chile cheeseburger! We then took the long way home through some of the agricultural fields.

......and that was Our View From Here!