My Trip To The Big House

Last month I took a trip to the Big House. No, I'm not referring to the Arizona State Prison, although its Florence facility was less than 12 miles from my destination. My trip was to the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, which to my surprise was in the city of Coolidge and not in Casa Grande.




For those of you who have forgotten everything from your high school Spanish class, Casa Grande literally means "Big House." And that it is! It sits alone on an open desert plain, where it has towered four stories above the cactus and sagebrush for more than seven centuries. If its massive size isn't impressive enough, the fact that it was built entirely by hand -- using no modern tools or beasts of burden -- should be.



You can take a self-guided tour that loops around the adobe ruins of the Big House and the structures in the surrounding village. Don't forget to stop at the circular ball court, which is across the parking lot. Volunteers also give a number of guided tours throughout the day, which -- in my opinion -- is the best way to go.

Eusebio Francisco Kino, a Jesuit missionary who helped settle the area in the late 1600s, was the first European to lay eyes on the ruins. Others soon followed, and many left their mark behind. Father Kino wrote about several similar structures in the area, but only the Big House survived. The others were destroyed by either the elements or man.

Man did some damage to the Big House, too. It originally contained a number of log beams, made of Ponderosa pine, that the builders hauled down from the mountains, some 90+ miles away. When Americans began to settle in the area, they found these beams useful in building their homes, as well, and removed them from the old adobe structure. Other settlers, traveling by stagecoach, stopped at the Big House to rest and marvel at the strange dwelling. Some took pieces of the building as souvenirs. Others, like Aidye, left something else behind.

Today, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is part of the National Park System, which cares for and saves special places, like this one, so that all may visit. If you go, be sure to spend some time in the visitor center, which features impressive exhibits and Hohokam artifacts. Allow an hour or two for your visit. This is a "must see" monument.