Sunday, March 1, 2015

Casa Grande National Monument, Arizona…

Our last day in Casa Grande had us looking for something else to do. I had read a lot of blogs of people who visited the Casa Grande National Monument and most of these reviews gave me the impression that the monument might be a bit underwhelming. Despite its critics we decided that we too should check it out and form our own opinions.

About 30 minutes away we pulled into the Casa Grande National Monument parking lot just outside of the town of Coolidge, Arizona. There is a $5 per person charge to enter the grounds but we used our America the Beautiful Annual Pass to get in free. As we entered the Visitor's Center we noticed a store and small museum of sorts in the building. As we worked our way through the building we were told that a guided tour was about to commence.

The guided tour took about an hour with most of it taking place at an outdoor seating area with the monument in the background. Our very informative volunteer told us all about how the Native Americans made their way to this part of the desert and how they transformed it into a large community of dirt farmers and artists. The last 10 minutes involved a tour around the imagemodest ruins with some brief commentary given by our guide. The volunteer guide was both informative and passionate about the history of the monument.  Even though there were a few rude, impatient guests he managed the group perfectly.

Initially we understood why so many thought this place to be quite under whelming but as we lingered something crept over us and our opinions began to change. We could envision small groups of early Hohokum Indians in the Sonoran desert trying to eek out an existence in this very arid and hot climate. With the once flowing and now very dry Gila River only a mile or so away their will to live and thrive empowered them to create an extensive, well engineered canal system to feed water to the dry reaches of desert that they lived.This enabled them to grow corn, squash and beans adding variety to their foraging diet.

As the water flowed the populations swelled to around 2,000 people and the community of dirt farmers and artists seemed to have a wonderful existence. We loved the baskets and pottery they made produced on display in the Visitor Center.. There were several scattered small fenced compounds and this one in particular had a four story big house or Casa Grande erected. The significance of the big house is unknown but I like the theory that it was more of a palace housing the chiefs, the wise men and the spiritual leaders. How grand it must have been to live in this community at least until it came crashing down as the result of flooding, drought or both…

The monument may seem underwhelming at first but after a little time I think many will come to admire as we did the amazing strength and culture of the Native American people who once lived in this place. An added treat was to discover from our guide that a small family of Great Horned Owls had taken up residence in the structure built back in the 1400 AD era. As the father owl remained perched above in the protective roof (built in 1932) he oversaw the mother owl sitting on her nest. The owls surely must understand the significance of this site since they have made it their home.  We are so glad we visited this wonderful monument.

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tour and explanation of Casa Grande.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great tour and I loved the owl picture

    ReplyDelete
  3. We felt the same way. At first I wasn't too sure but the more I learned and the more I thought about it the more impressed and in awe I became of these people. Just fascinating. We have been there a few times and will go back again. Haven't seen the owl though. That is great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the owls are nesting so they will be there for a while...

      Delete
  4. We use our imagination all the time. I know many, many times I have come away from a place saying...I would have never made it back then.

    Awesome photos of the owls.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is so hard to believe that people back then could have survived in that kind of climate but as we have found so many times, if there is a will there is a way. I love those owls, I can't wait to go back to our campground in Saskatchewan so see if our owls will return this year.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks again for the ideas! We are going to leave Willcox on Wed and head up to where you were. I've read several blogs on this spot, as well, and have wanted to visit. Love your positive attitude toward the NM. We, also, like your post on Ironwood so this area will be perfect to fill out few days before we check in in Apache Junction. Two great posts!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It is amazing how places can grow on you. I can see how this one would. The lives of these people were just incredible. How creative and ingenious they were. I like to believe they were way less stressed than we are. Sure wish we knew what happened to them. Thanks so much for this great post. The owls obviously have good taste too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We've not been there and really not heard much about it. However, we both love going to historical places and places of interests I read about from other bloggers. I hope nice weather returns real soon. We want to do the Mission, Desert Museum and Old Tucson. There's always someplace to go for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We haven't been there either, and should mark it for next time we are in AZ. We have nesting owls here by us in NM this week, and the big male has been hooting up a storm. The moon is out and almost full, so I think that is why?


    KarenInTheWoods and Steveio
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

    ReplyDelete
  10. We also enjoyed our visit to this national monument. Thanks for the great post about it.

    ReplyDelete