heir village, and the older men and
governors heard his story and took steps to find out the reason he had
come to that country. The account which the Negro gave them of two
white men who were following him, sent by a great lord, who knew about
the things in the sky, and how these were coming to instruct them in
divine matters, made them think that he must be a spy or a guide from
some nations who wished to come and conquer them, because it seemed to
them unreasonable to say that the people were white in the country
from which he came and that he was sent by them, he being black.
Besides these other reasons, they thought it was hard of him to ask
them for turquoises and women, and so they decided to kill him. They
did this, but they did not kill any of those who went with him...."[9]

From this and other contemporary sources, Lowery[10] has constructed a
more complete and lively picture of Estevan's last days. Lowery says
that "he travelled with savage magnificence, gaily dressed with bells
and feathers fastened about his arms and legs. He carried with him a
gourd decorated with bells and two feathers, one white and the other
red. This gourd he sent before him by messengers as a symbol of
authority and to command obedience, as he had seen successfully done
in the western part of Texas, when in company with Cabeza de Vaca....
As soon as they had delivered the gourd to the chief [of the pueblo]
and he had observed the bells he became very angry," and ordered
Estevan and his party to depart at once. But the Negro was persistent.
He and his retinue lodged just outside the walls of the Pueblo of
Hawaikuh. Early the next morning they were attacked by a large band of
warriors from the Pueblo and Estevan was killed while attempting to
make his escape.

There has been preserved among the legends of the Zuni Pueblos of New
Mexico one which apparently dates back to the coming of Estevan, the
Black Mexican from the south. The scene of his death is placed at
Kiakima, and the single Black Mexican has been magnified into many,
but the legend is nevertheless interesting and significant.

"It is to be believed that a long time ago, when roofs lay over the
walls of Kya-ki-me, when smoke hung over the housetops, and the ladder
rounds were still unbroken in Kya-ki-me, then the Black Mexicans came
from their abodes in Everlasting Summerland. One day, unexpectedly,
out of Hemlock Canon they came, and descended to Kya-ki-me. But when
they