Casas Montezumas: Chorographies, Ancient Ruins, and Placemaking in the Salt and Gila River Valleys, Arizona, 1694-1868 by Linnéa K. E. Caproni A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved April 2017 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Victoria Thompson, Chair Philip VanderMeer Dallen Timothy ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2017 ABSTRACT This dissertation uses the narrative practice of chorography as a genre for assessing the history of placemaking in the Salt and Gila River region of central Arizona from the late seventeenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. Chorography concerns the descriptive representation of places in the world, usually of regions associated with a particular nation. Traditionally, chorography has served as a written method for describing geographical places as they existed historically. By integrating descriptions of natural features with descriptions of built features, such as ancient ruins, chorography infuses the physical landscape with cultural and historical meaning. This dissertation relies on a body of Spanish- and English-language chorographies produced across three centuries to interpret how Euro- American descriptions of Hohokam ruins in the Salt and Gila River valleys shaped local placemaking. Importantly, the disparate chorographic texts produced during the late- seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries reflect ‘discursive continuity’—a continuity of thought spanning a long and frequently disregarded period in the history of central Arizona, in which ruminations about the ruins of ancient cities and irrigation canals formed the basis for what people knew, or thought they knew, about the little-known region. When settlers arrived in the newly-formed Arizona Territory in the 1860s to establish permanent settlement in the Salt and Gila River valleys, they brought with them a familiarity with these writings, maps, and other chorographical materials. On one hand, Arizonans viewed the ancient ruins as literal evidence for the region’s agricultural possibilities. On the other hand, Aztec and Cíbola myths associated with the ruins, told and retold by Europeans and Americans during the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries, offered an imaginative context for the establishment and promotion of American settlement in central Arizona. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project reflects a variety of graduate school projects. I first heard about the Hohokam ruins from Dr. Janelle Warren-Findley in spring 2008, when she shared a friend’s memory of picnicking in the Casa Grande: “Now you can’t do that,” she added. Our conversation made me wonder how people had interacted with the ruins historically, and that semester I examined the topic for a research paper that grew into my Master’s thesis. Then Dr. Noel Stowe, longtime Director of Public History at ASU, secured a graduate research assistantship for me with the National Park Service—co-writing a Cultural Landscape Inventory of the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Later, Nancy Dallett of the School of History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies secured for me a more ambitious National Park Service project, a Historic Resource Study of the Casa Grande’s early history before National Monument establishment (1918). The research for this dissertation derived from those projects; additional research was made possible with support from the following funding sources: the ASU Graduate College completion fellowship, the Max Millett Family Fund research grant, and the Charles Redd Center Summer Award. I am grateful to my dissertation committee for helping me reach this important goal. Dr. Dallen Timothy, professor in the School of Community Resources and Development and an expert in heritage studies, offered valuable insight. During two graduate courses, Dr. Philip VanderMeer helped develop my interest in writing community history, and then, despite knowing my struggle with brevity, bravely served on my committee. He is a hospitable and encouraging professor who, along with his gracious wife Mary, is a friend to both me and my husband. My Chair, Dr. Victoria Thompson, started this journey with me. I first wrote about the Casa Grande Ruins for her course, Writing Cultural History, in spring 2008, and she co-chaired my Master’s thesis. A friendly and patient advisor, Dr. Thompson ii stuck with me during life’s many hurdles that delayed completion of this dissertation. Ultimately, my writing has improved stylistically and intellectually in large part to her thoughtful feedback. Finally, I had a cheer squad who never doubted I could survive graduate school— from matriculation in 2006 to completion eleven years later. My parents fostered my love of history early on, have patiently and prayerfully supported me through this process, and devoted weeks of their lives taking care of my bambinos so I could write. My brother, sisters, nieces and nephews, many wonderful in-laws and lifelong friends offered love, support, and cheers at every milestone. All my classmates made graduate school fun and memorable. But I am particularly grateful for the friendship of my Coor Hall #4499 officemates who walked the PhD plank before me: Dr. Thomas Walsh, Dr. Erica Cottam, and Dr. Meaghan Heisinger. Meaghan—dear friend, academic partner-in-crime and fellow mommy-historian—, thank you for never letting me pretend “I’d be okay” with incompletion. Last but definitely not least, I’m thankful for the love of Dr. Nathan Hallam—my husband, best friend, colleague, and main motivation for not only staying in the PhD program but also completing this dissertation. We met in Professor Iverson’s “Place and Possibilities” class way back in 2008 and now enjoy life together as proud parents of Oscar and Maxwell—beloved daily reminders to get this done—and as friends with shared careers in history. Musing about our dissertations, routinely over wine in front of our digital fireplace, made this long process tolerable. I am eternally grateful to God for all of these blessings, and for giving me the opportunity to pursue my love of history as a career. iii DEDICATION To Nathan, the real prize of my graduate experience iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 Methodology and Literature Review ........................................................................... 3 Chorography: a brief history ................................................................................... 4 Chorography and Place Studies ............................................................................ 10 Chorography and Ruins ......................................................................................... 14 Early History of the Salt and Gila River Valleys: the Historiography ............. 19 Chorography in Arizona: Periodization and Chapter Review ............................... 23 2 A SPANISH CHOROGRAPHY, 1694-1796 ................................................................... 30 The Natural and Cultural Setting ............................................................................... 32 The Lower Salt and Middle Gila River Drainage Basins .................................. 32 Hohokam Landscape ............................................................................................. 36 The “Casa Grande” ruins ...................................................................................... 38 The Salt River ruins ................................................................................................ 40 Hohokam Mystique ................................................................................................ 42 The Spanish Preface: Mythic Encounters, 1539-40 ................................................ 43 “Totonteac”: Marcos de Niza, 1539 .................................................................... 45 “Chichilticale”: The Coronado Expedition, 1540 .............................................. 53 Real Spanish Encounters: “Casa Grande” Narratives, 1694-1796 ....................... 63 Father Kino, Manje, and the Casas Grandes, 1694-1711 ................................. 65 German Jesuits, 1736-1763 .................................................................................... 80 v CHAPTER Page De Anza and the Franciscans: “Palaces of Moctezuma,” 1774-76 ................. 89 Friar Bringas and the “Casa de Moctezuma Presidio,” 1796 ........................... 99 3 AN AMERICAN CHOROGRAPHY, 1846-1854 ........................................................ 105 Background: “Spanish-Mexican Rim,” 1803-44 .................................................... 108 American Entrada: Fur Trappers, 1820-30s ..................................................... 109 Documentary Knowledge of the Spanish-Mexican Frontier, 1804-44 ......... 115 Casas Montezumas: Army of the West Topographers, 1846–48 ....................... 124 William H. Emory‘s Notes of Reconnaissance, 1846-47 ................................ 125 Rise of American Ethnology: Gallatin, Bartlett, and Squier ........................... 141 Overland Gila-Trail Accounts, 1849-51 ............................................................ 147 John Russell Bartlett and the Gila River Boundary Survey, 1850-54 ................. 153 4 SHAPING ARIZONA’S CHOROGRAPHY, 1863-1868