by hills and buttes, until the view is closed by the Superstition
mountains. On the northwest the valley of Gila river runs into the
horizon, with a few buttes here and there. On the west lies a range of
mountains closing the valley in that direction, while toward the
southwest and south it extends until in places it meets the horizon,
while in other places it is closed by ranges of mountain blue and misty
in the distance. In an experience of some years among northern ruins,
many of them located with special reference to outlook over tillable
lands, the writer has found no other ruin so well situated as this.

The character of the site occupied by the ruin indicates that it belongs
to a late date if not to the final period in the occupancy of this
region, a period when by reason of natural increase of numbers, or
perhaps aggregation of related gentes, the defense motive no longer
dominated the selection of a village site, but reliance was placed on
numbers and character of structures, and the builders felt free to
select a site with reference only to their wants as a horticultural
people. This period or stage has been reached by many of the Pueblo
tribes, although mostly within the historical period; but some of them,
the Tusayan for example, are still in a prior stage.

[Illustration: Pl. LIV: Standing Wall near Casa Grande.]

A ground plan of the ruin is shown in plate LII, and a general view in
plate LIII. The area covered and inclosed by standing walls is about 43
feet by 59 feet, but the building is not exactly rectangular, and the
common statement that it faces the cardinal points is erroneous. The
variation from the magnetic north is shown on the ground plan, which was
made in December, 1890. The building comprised three central rooms, each
approximately 10 by 24 feet, arranged side by side with the longer axes