In March, 1889, an appropriation of $2,000 was made by Congress for the
repair of Casa Grande ruin in southern Arizona. This amount was
insufficient for complete restoration, but under the authority of the
act of Congress making the appropriation some work was done. Partly as
an aid to further possible work, and partly that there may be an
available record of what has been done for the benefit of future
students of American archeology, this report is presented.
A full description of Casa Grande has been given by the writer in a
published memoir[1] on that ruin, hence only a brief account will now be
necessary to aid in making the present report intelligible. Following
this description is a statement of the condition of the ruin in 1891 and
of the plans formed for its repair, the latter being necessarily
controlled by the amount appropriated. After this there is an account of
the work done, from the passage of the bill until the delivery of the
work to the agent of the United States who received it, and of the
reservation, of an area of land about the ruin by order of the
President. This is followed by a catalogue of the articles found during
the excavations in and about the ruin, which were subsequently deposited
in the National Museum; a transcript of the contract under which the
work was done, including specifications, plans, and sections, and the
report of Mr H. C. Rizer, who inspected and received the work. Finally,
there are appended the correspondence and report relating to the
condition of Casa Grande in 1895, with recommendations concerning its
further protection.
[Footnote 1: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
p. 289 et seq.]
Casa Grande has occupied a very important place in the literature of
American archeology, a place which it doubtless will continue to occupy;
and as dates are frequently of importance an effort has been made to
make the present report as full as possible in that respect.