This plan was approved in its general features, but the means provided for its execution were found insufficient.  A further complication arose from the fact that a few months later Mr Mindeleff severed his connection with the Bureau of Ethnology and his knowledge became no longer available.

November 20, 1890, the writer was ordered to proceed to the ruin and inaugurate the work of repair, following, so far as practicable, the plans already approved.  He left Washington soon afterward and reached the ruin late in December.  It was found necessary to make a detailed survey of the ruin and of the group of which it forms a part, and to make plans and sections showing the probable amount of excavation for the use of those who were invited to bid on the work.  Furthermore, the amount appropriated was so well known to be inadequate that great difficulty was experienced in obtaining bids, and it was only through the efficient cooperation of the Reverend I. T. Whittemore at Florence and of Mr C. A. Garlick at Phoenix that success was finally achieved.  Two bids were received from the former place and one from the latter; but this was not accomplished until March 17, 1891, the date when the last bid was received.  In the meantime the writer, having completed his work at Casa Grande, so far as he could, had entered, in January, on an archeologic investigation of the valley of the Rio Verde, in compliance with his orders to that effect.

It was found impossible to execute all the work deemed requisite for the preservation of the ruin within the limits of the appropriation.  A selection of items became necessary, therefore, and those which were of most importance were chosen.  Even in this, however, it was found that a maximum limit on the amount of work to be done on each item must be set, and this limit was considerably below the amount of work estimated to be necessary.

The first thing to be done was, of course, the clearing out of the rubbish and debris.  The item next in importance was the underpinning of the walls with brick wherever it was needed.  The third item was the restoration of the lintels and the filling of the cavities above them.  The fourth item was the tying in of the south wall, or of the several parts of it, with braces.  This was the only feature of the plan which would appreciably disfigure the ruin, but some such device was deemed essential for the preservation of the south wall.

These four items consumed practically all of the amount appropriated, and the other items of the original plan were therefore omitted.  The bid of T. L. Stouffer and F. E. White, of Florence, Arizona, covering the four items, was accepted, and a contract was made with them, under date of May 9, 1891, for the execution of the work for the sum of $1,985.  This contract, together with the specifications, plans, and other drawings which formed part of it, accompany this report.  It was transmitted to the Director of the Geological Survey, and by him approved and forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior June 6, 1891.  It was approved by the Acting Secretary June 20, 1891.  Finally, on July 20, 1891, it was placed on file, together “with the bids, proposals, and all the original papers.”