ithout fail,
and he did not wish to expose himself to such a fate.

About the social organization of the Pecos Indians, it has not been
possible, of course, to ascertain anything as yet. That they lived on
the communal plan is plainly shown by the construction of their houses.
That they were originally, at least, organized into clans or _gentes_,
can be inferred; but here I must remark that it may be difficult to
trace those clusters among the Rio Grande pueblos, on account of their
weakness in numbers, and of the intermixture of the Tehua, Tanos, and
Queres stocks resulting from the convulsion of 1680. It may be possible,
however, to find them at Jemez. They exist at Laguna and among the
Moquis, according to Mr. Morgan, and I do not doubt but that Mr.
Cushing, who is so thoroughly studying the Zuni Indians, has by this
time settled the question for that tribe. One fact, however, I consider
to be ascertained; namely, that there were neither castes nor classes
among the pueblos, therefore not at Pecos. At the head of their communal
government were the usual three officers,--the _gobernador_, the
_capitan de la guerra_, and the _cacique_. I am not quite clear yet as
to the proper functions of each, except that the first two are both
warriors ("ambos son guerreros," Ruiz); that the _capitan_ has also the
supervision of the lands of the tribe; and that the _cacique_ is more or
less a religious functionary. Mr. D. J. Miller states that the latter
very seldom leaves the pueblo. It was therefore an unusual act when the
_cacique_ of Jemez came to Pecos in 1840, and I presume it was brought
about through his connection with the holy fire. I asked Sr. Ruiz very
distinctly as to whether these three officers were elective or not, and
he promptly affirmed that they were ("son elegidos por el pueblo"). I
then inquired if the sons succeeded to the fathers in office, and his
reply was that there was no objection to their being elected thereto if
they were qualified ("si son buenos"). This disposes of the question of
heredity in office, rank, and title, and it is almost identical with the
customs found by Alonzo de Zuevita among the Indians of Mexico in the
middle of the sixteenth century. How the presumable "gentes" of the
Pecos might have localized for dwelling in the great communal houses I
am, of course, unable to conjecture.

In regard to their marriage customs, their mode of naming children,
etc., I have not been able to gather m