Arizona Vacation ~ Pictures ~ Ancient Casa Grande

My husband and I have vacationed in Arizona on several occasions and always like to seek out different sites that we have not yet seen.

As many of you probably already know, this State of Arizona has many grand sites (the Grand Canyon to mention just one...and the word "grand" certainly does justice to the name) but also contains numerous other sites from mountainous terrain to flat desert country.

Archaeologists find much of interest as ancient pueblo peoples lived, worked and died here for many centuries. Much of this was prior to discovery of this continent by explorers from European and other countries much-less westward expansion of settlers in what would eventually become the United States of America.

Relics of the past as well as ancient ruins are left behind as a testament to this native American Indian presence.

Casa Grande which has been declared a national monument was on our list of places to explore one year after business in the Phoenix area had been completed.

(c) Peggy Woods - All Rights Reserved

Sonoran Desert

Since Casa Grande is located in the Sonora Desert which is one of North America's largest and hottest of deserts, one should be prepared...depending upon the season of the year...when visiting this national monument to dress accordingly.

While winters in the desert (November to March) can be fairly comfortable with moderate high temperatures ranging from averages of 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) with lower night-time temperatures...in the summer months those high temperatures can become sizzling!

My husband and I were visiting in the winter-time so our main precautions included wearing comfortable clothing with good walking shoes.

Sunglasses and having and using suntan lotion is a smart precaution no matter what time of year one is vacationing in the southern reaches of Arizona as the sun is almost always bright and dazzling.

Obviously traveling through any desert territory, always having plenty of water and/or other fluids on hand is a must!

The Sonoran desert covers a good part of southwestern Arizona, parts of southern California, Baja California and parts of Mexico.

Many plants and wildlife survive in that environment including the iconic saguaro cactus.

Casa Grande

Hohokam Indian people lived in this part of Arizona for over one thousand years before disappearing around the year 1450 from this Casa Grande site. The name Casa Grande means "big house" and/or "grand house" and the largest structure which is about four stories high certainly dominates the landscape.

They were successful farmers scratching out a living in this desert territory by successfully building a series of irrigation canals.

By watching the progress of the sun, an early and very accurate calendar was followed and utilized by these Hohokam Indian farmers much as farmers today pay attention to the time of year and best time to plant their new crops.

Archaeological ruins left behind show how these Indians used the sun for gaging the time of day and time of year, and petroglyphs also show them having left marks scratched and drawn onto stone with images of the sun as well as other drawings of importance related to how they lived.

Indian ruins

As people started moving and settling in the west, naturally these Indian ruins were discovered and sadly people started removing remnants of this ancient Hohokam Indian culture as well as drawing graffiti onto the walls.

President Benjamin Harrison in 1892 designated this Casa Grande as the first ever historic and cultural reserve in the United States worth protecting. One square mile was originally set aside containing these ruins.

By 1918 President Woodrow Wilson declared it to be a National Monument and the National Park Service took over the management of it.

Reinforcement of this caliche Indian ruins was undertaken to preserve it and a protective corrugated roof was built over the "big house" in 1903 to protect it from the elements. Caliche is a sedimentary rock found in desert conditions around the world and these ancient pueblo peoples obviously used what they found in the Sonoran Desert readily available to build their domiciles.

However caliche does not hold up well to rain...thus the first roof with a second steel one being constructed in 1932 to further protect these ruins.

Civilian Conservation Corps

This was a popular program which employed out of work single young men during the Great Depression. They did important work with long lasting effects some of which included things such as the following:

• Flood control
• Erosion control
• Forestry conservation and protection
• Building of roads
• Building of lodges
• Even things with recreational purposes such as the stocking of lakes and streams with fish.

The CCC employees were not paid that much, but during the Great Depression being fed, receiving a little money (most of which was paid to their family) and accomplishing tasks of importance was much better than being one of the countless numbers of people who had no hope of finding a job and who had to stand in soup lines for a bit of daily nourishment. These young men were fortunate temporary employees of the Federal Government during that time.

From 1937 to 1940, Civilian Conservation Corps members built adobe park headquarter buildings on the site next to Casa Grande and the park service still operates from those buildings today.

Because of the historical significance of what the CCC accomplished there, those adobe structures were also added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Arizona vacation

Located about forty miles south of the City of Phoenix on the way to Tucson, Arizona...Casa Grande National Monument located in Coolidge, Arizona is well worth a stop if traveling to Arizona while on vacation.

Take time out to stroll the desert grounds and learn about the ancient Indian ruins left behind in the 13th century by the Hohokam people. See some of the relics in the museum and enjoy the surrounding Sonoran desert scenery.

My husband and I certainly enjoyed our visit and I am sure that you will also.