CASA GRANDE RUINS

Last Updated on September 11, 2023 by

Another in a long string of day trips, this one just outside of Phoenix. It’s a small site, but really pretty incredible. The main artifact is a very large multistory structure that could have housed an entire tribe.

The Casa Grande, built around 1350, is one of the largest prehistoric structures ever built in North America. Unfortunately, because it existed well before written history, its true purpose remains unknown. Although much of the rest of the site has been covered to preserve its condition, the literal Great House remains for exploration and observation.

It is a short loop around the structure with additional information signs throughout. The common understanding of this “uncivilized” culture is grossly out of step with what they achieved. Over a thousand years of agriculture and over 200 miles of hand dug irrigation from the distant river to the site is a feat as impressive as the pyramids in my opinion. We commonly comment on the effort and ingenuity of the WPA guys, but these ancient peoples absolutely give them a run for their money. It still remains incredibly difficult for me to visualize literally thousands of acres of crops of corn, beans, squash being grown in the middle of this desert. Kind of a shame they didn’t also discover bronze weapons, the Spanish outcome would likely have been dramatically different, but that’s neither here nor there.

This site also highlights the demographic Ang and I now belong to – Tuesday afternoon, 40 miles from anywhere, and the parking lot is nearly full with late 50 to early 70 year olds. The only self-esteem saving bit is that I am still able to complete the 1/4 mile circuit of the ruins without the assistance of a walker. Winning, I think.

Although not very well captured in the image below, Case Grande also holds what archaeologists believe to be a ball pit. The indent you see in the middle of the mound is actually a hand dug oval shaped playing field. Archaeologists have found over 200 of these structures located in large Hohokam villages throughout southern and central Arizona. Speculative to be sure, but the thought there was time for some leisure activity helps me to believe life here wasn’t quite as hard as the landscape would indicate.

What happened to these people of the Sonoran Desert is anyone’s guess. They had departed the site by approximately 1450 and it went unpopulated until being rediscovered almost 250 years later in 1694 by Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino. He described it as Casa Grande and it has been the name ever since.