Twenty miles east of Casa Grande lies the Casa Grande National Monument. That, co-incidently, is also the town where our friends Jo and Larry are staying, so we buzzed north seventy-odd miles, met with them, and went to see the ruins of Casa Grande; The Big House.
The Hohokam peoples (a term being phased out because the native american population feels that it is offensive) lived in this area from approximately 300 AD to 1450 AD. They transitioned from a Hunter/Gatherer society to one that focused on agrarian activities. Having received knowledge of seeds and plants from their predecessors, the Archaics, who arrived in the area via the Bering Strait land bridge, the Hohokam devised a complicated system of levees and dikes to divert river water through canals to their fields of corn and squash. Hundreds of miles of canals were dug with wooden tools so precisely that modern engineers cannot appreciably improve on the water flow.
Some two thousand people lived in the area of Casa Grande. The four story structure was built of a mud and stone mixture that was placed without formwork in walls that are four feet thick. Each layer of mud was about two feet thick and hardened enough as the workers circled the structure to continue construction in a spiral pattern.
Window and door openings, as well as floor structures, were made of mesquite wood laid horizontally and poured into the mud walls. The wood is long gone, but the round holes where it was placed are still visible.
The wall on the west side has two holes strategically placed to be able to see the summer and winter solstice, suggesting a knowledge of astronomy. Some say that without a calendar, these two events marked important agricultural dates.
It is amazing that such a structure has remained after all these years. The cover was constructed in 1932 as an effort to preserve the ruins. No information exists that tell us why the inhabitants left or why they built the structure, but they obviously were an industrious sort.
Later in the day we were invited to a potluck at the RV park in Casa Grande where our friends are staying. It was an enjoyable evening with lots of food and a Jazz band for entertainment.
Sunday we walked the 4th Ave Street Fair in Tucson. Twice a year, 4th is closed to vehicular traffic and hundreds of booths are set up. People come from far and near: some 360,000 attended the three day event last year! Here's Donna with her new hat! You can't see the red flower on the back, but it is very stylish! And kept the 84 degree heat away….
This young fellow was one of the few vendors with free merchandise! Donna took advantage!
Rest assured, Mom was nearby…..
We had a great lunch (that is, after the lunch at the street fair) at the Tucson Tamale Company. They make the best tamales we've ever eaten, and have an extensive menu of fillings from hot to mild, vegan to beef, and everything in between. If you're interested, they have a website and ship all over the country….
We finished the day with a dog walk at dusk and enjoyed an Arizona sunset.
Just as we returned from our walk, we noticed the moon with a very faint planet just to the right and down a bit. About 4 o'clock. It was much prettier in person.
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