THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 93 



declare that these devoted parish priests induced 

 an idleness not natural to the industrious Pueblos 

 and their tribal connections. History proves that 

 at the first coming- of the Spaniards the Pueblos were 

 engaged in tilling the soil. They were also expert 

 workers in silver and gold and other and various 

 handicrafts, besides being accomplished builders in 

 stone and wood, as the Friars discovered somewhat 

 to their cost. 



For even the harsh lot of the intrepid Franciscans 

 is not without its touch of humor, and the story 

 of Fray Marcios de Nica in search of the fabulously 

 rich city of Cibola — represented at this date by 

 the town of Caquinico on the Zuni Mesa — evokes 

 a smile, for the reason that his negro companion, 

 Estevanico of the sixteenth centurv, bears an amus- 

 ing resemblance to the negro of the twentieth. It 

 may be mentioned in passing that Cibola proved to 

 be no "hidden treasure" city, but simply an impos- 

 ing and admirably built pueblo of rock and timber, 

 inlaid with turquoises and other native precious 

 stones. The Pueblos, to which tribe the Zunis be- 

 long, still assert that the Emperor Montezuma was 

 born at Acoma, north of Albuquerque, and that 

 they are his descendants; furthermore that before 

 going south he taught them how to build their great 

 stone houses and estufas and to kindle their sacred 

 fires, which were kept alight by priests appointed 

 to guard them. 



Estevanico, therefore, being sent ahead by the 

 Friar in command of three hundred Indians, and 

 receiving en route liberal gifts from hospitably in- 



