THE REPAIR OF CASA GRANDE RUIN
By Cosmos Mindeleff
INTRODUCTION
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.
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.