GRANDE RUIN (see NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS), the Spanish name (signifying "large house") of the ruins of a prehistoric building in Arizona, near the Gila River, about 12 miles from Florence, Ariz., and somewhat farther from the Casa Grande station. It is the best-preserved structure of a type which was widely distributed. The space enclosed by the walls now standing measures about 43 by 59 feet; and the walls, which are high, show that there were three habitable stories. A large area surrounding this building is covered with mounds and debris of other buildings, indicat ing that there was originally a considerable settlement on the site. It was set aside, as the most interesting object in a small reservation, by executive order dated 22 June 1892, under the act approved 2 March 1889. By presidential proclamation of 10 Dec. 1909 the boundaries of the reservation were changed by the elimina tion of 120 acres on which there were no pre historic ruins and the inclusion of a tract of equal size adjoining the reservation on the east, on which are located mounds of historic and scientific interest. Casa Grande was a ruin when discovered. Since that time the identity of its builders has furnished a theme for spec ulation; and although it has been ascribed to the Aztec, the better opinion seems to be that the ancient people who inhabited this building were not closely related to any tribes of the Mexican plateau, whose culture was different from that of the sedentary tribes of Arizona.
The walls are of a fawn color slightly tinged with red. They are constructed of a cement called caliche, composed of lime, earth and pebbles; this was made into blocks, which were laid in courses. Consult Fewkes, J. W., de tailed report in Twenty-eighth Annual Report Bureau American Ethnology.
CASABIANCA, Louis, French naval officer: b. Bastia, Corsica, 1755; d. 1 Aug. 1798. With the Comte de Grasse, he took part in the American Revolution. He sat in the National Convention of 1792; and in 1798 was captain of the flagship L'Orient in the expedition to Egypt. He was mortally wounded at the battle of the Nile, 1 Aug. 1798; the ship caught fire; his 10-year-old son would not leave him, and both were killed by the ex ploding of the ship. The story of their death is the subject of Mrs. Hemans' well-known poem.