oncede to Pecos the honor of being the birthplace
of that famed individual, and how many, as is the case with other great
folks in more civilized communities, claim the same honor for
themselves.

I cannot, therefore, attach to the Montezuma tale any historical
importance whatever,--not even a traditional value.

Of course, Castaneda reports the story which every Indian tribe tells
of themselves; namely, that the Pecos Indians were the bravest and the
most warlike of the pueblos, and that in every encounter they were
always victorious.[145]

Historical data, founded upon positive written records, begin for Pecos
towards the fall of the year 1540, when Francisco Vasquez de Coronado,
then at Zuni or Cibola, sent the Captain Hernando de Alvarado with
twenty men to visit a village called "Cicuye."[146] Indians from that
village, "situated seventy leagues towards the east"[147] from Zuni, had
visited the latter town, and offered to the Spanish leader "tanned
hides, shields, and helmets." The hides were buffalo-robes, for the
woolly hair was still on them.[148] Alvarado reached Cicuye, passing, as
I have elsewhere stated, through Acoma and Bernalillo. I have already
identified Cicuye with Pecos. Besides the proofs already given, a few
descriptive abstracts from the report of Castaneda will add to the
strength of the evidence:--

(p. 71.) "Five days' journeys further, Alvarado reached Cicuye, a
well-fortified village, whose houses are four stories high."

(p. 176.) "It is built on the summit of a rock. It forms a great square,
in the centre of which are the _estufas_." (Compare general description
and diagrams.)

(p. 177) "The village is surrounded besides by a stone wall of rather
low height. There is a spring which might be cut off."

In regard to the wall, I refer to the plans and descriptions; as for the
spring, it trickles out beneath a massive ledge of rocks on the west
side of the arroyo, nearly opposite to the field. Its water, slightly
alkaline, is still limpid and cool, and a great source of comfort. The
sketch upon the next page will give an idea of its appearance.

[Illustration: Spring]

There is no trace of work about it. At sunset of the 3d of September,
Mr. Bennet and I saw a herd of many hundred sheep and goats driven to
this spring by Mexicans for water, although the creek still had a fillet
of clear water running, and the pond in the old field was filled nearly
to its brim; they still preferred th