[Source: TriValleyCentral.com] -- Last June, the local landmark celebrated 115 years as nationally protected grounds. In fact, Casa Grande Ruins was the first prehistoric and cultural site to be established in the United States. The Casa Grande represented the centerpiece of the Hohokam irrigation farming culture, which flourished in the Gila River Valley beginning sometime between 300 B.C. and 300 A.D. By the Classic Period (1100-1450 A.D.), experts believe that anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 Hohokam inhabited the area, living along 300 miles of canals dug from the Gila River.Successful farming bred advanced architecture, as the Hohokam created building material by combining river water with desert earth, a material known as "caliche." The Hohokam started a practice of building earthen platform mounds every two to four kilometers along the river. The monstrous Casa Grande was built around 1300 A.D. But a lengthy drought, followed by a series of intense floods, destroyed the Hohokam farming network. The culture essentially disappeared around 1450 A.D., leaving behind little more than caliche ruins.
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