The Romance of the Colorado River / The Story of its Discovery in 1840, with an Account of the Later Explorations, and with Special Reference to the Voyages of Powell through the Line of the Great Canyons

by Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh

Ruin called Casa Grande, Arizona.
From a photograph by COSMOS MINDELEFF, U.S. Bu. Eth.

Another name closely linked with the early history of the Colorado is that of Padre Eusibio Francisco Kino,[^[2]] an Austrian by birth and a member of the Jesuit order. This indefatigable enthusiast travelled back and forth, time and again, over the whole of northern Sonora and the southern half of Arizona, then comprised in Pimeria Alta, the upper land of the Pimas, and Papagueria, the land of the Papagos. His base of operations was a mission he established in Sonora; the mission of Dolores, founded in 1687. For some thirty years Kino laboured in this field with tireless energy, flinching before no danger or difficulty. He was the first white man to see the extraordinary ruin called Casa Grande, near the present town of Florence, and on the occasion of his first visit he took advantage of the structure to say mass within its thick adobe walls. This is probably the most remarkable ancient building within the limits of the United States, For a long time it was called the House of Montezuma, though, of course, Montezuma never heard of it. A similar ruin, called Casas Grandes, exists in Sonora. The construction is what is called cajon, that is, adobe clay rammed into a box or frame, which is lifted for each successive course as the work advances. In the dry air of that region such walls become extremely hard, and will endure for ages if the foundations are not sapped.[^[3]] Kino paid a second visit to the ruin of Casa Grande in 1697, this time accompanied by Captain Juan Mateo Mange, an officer detailed with his command to escort the padres on their perilous journeys.

[2] The name is written Kühn, Kühne, Quino, and in several other ways. Humboldt used Kühn, and either this or Kühne is probably the correct form, but long usage gives preference to Kino.

[3] See The North Americans of Yesterday, by F. S. Dellenbaugh, p. 234; and for complete details see papers by Cosmos Mindeleff, Thirteenth An. Rep, Bu. Eth. and Fifteenth An. Rep. Bu, Eth.; also Font’s description in Coues’s Garces, p. 93.

Padre Kino’s Map of 1701.
The first map giving the head of the Gulf correctly.
From BANCROFT’S History of Arizona and New Mexico.