A Lost Civilization at Casa Grande
One of our favorite things about a road trip is the small stops along the way. We always bring up a map, look for roadside attractions or national monuments and add them as via points along our route. We’ve found some of our favorite oddities and towns this way. Casa Grande was just a short 20 min off our route and well worth the stop.
Casa Grande (Spanish for Big House) is the remains of a 4 story structure abandoned around 1450. The national monument is multiple structures surrounded by a compound wall. The ancient Sonoran Desert people called “Hohokam” were an impressive tribe. They existed in a very harsh environment where they farmed the Gila Valley, developed wide-scale irrigation farming and extensive trade connections that lasted over a thousand years!
Casa Grande is full of interesting stories of the hardy inventive people who built it. So if you find yourself driving through Arizona, take a little detour to the nation’s first archaeological preserve.
Steve Gordon
This video features music by David & Steve Gordon. If you enjoy the background music on this video, you are invited to visit our website and explore our selection of award-winning music. You can download free music tracks at this link: http://www.sequoiarecords.com/free-music.html
gonewiththewynns
We do love the background music on this, thanks for adding a little extra life to our work Steve!
Jason Wynn
Another interesting thing: There used to be trees around the Hohokam people used for food, but now with all the up-stream dams the area has only a small amount of desert vegetation. Sad really.
paul van
Also reminds me of the civilization that built Mesa Verde. The history of the peoples that inhabited the west are truly interesting. They had a great sense of being spiritually balanced in their lives.
mary
It amazes me that the Indian’s buildings have held up through the years. One of my favorite places is the Mesa Verde in Colorado. It is a very spiritual feeling being on their grounds.
Tal Gur
I guess the roof was built to protect from erosion but it looks quite funny!