One of the very earliest records of these people has been left us by Spanish explorers.  A writer who accompanied one of the earliest expeditions from Spain, says:  “We found a great town called Acoma, containing about 5,000 people, and situated upon a rock about fifty paces high, with no other entrance but by a pair of stairs hewn in the rock, whereat our people marveled not a little.  The chief men of this town came peaceably to visit us, bringing many mantles and chamois skins, excellently dressed, and great plenty of victuals.  Their corn-fields were two leagues distant, and they fetched water out of a small river to water the same, on the brinks whereof there were great banks of roses like those of Castile.  There were many mountains full of metals.  Our men remained in the place three days, upon one of which the inhabitants made before them a very solemn dance, coming forth in the same gallant apparel, using very witty sports, wherewith our men were exceedingly delighted.”

Among the ruins found here, the early use of stone for architectural purposes is clearly manifested, and there are innumerable relics of ingenuity in periods upon which we are apt to look with great contempt.  Arrow-heads made of flint, quartz, agate and jaspar, can easily be found by the relic hunter.  Hatchets made of stone, and sharpened in a most unique manner, are also common, and the ancestors of the Pueblos undoubtedly used knives made of stone hundreds of years ago.

One of the most interesting of the ancient houses is in the Chaco Canon.  This edifice was probably at one time 300 feet long, about half as wide and three stories high.  From the nature of the rooms, it is evident that the walls were built in terrace-form out of sandstone.  There were about 150 rooms, and judging from the present habits of the people, at least 500 human beings lived in this mammoth boarding-house.  Another very interesting structure of a similar character is found on the Upper Grande River, about two hours’ drive from Santa Fe.  It was about 300 feet square originally, and most of the foundations are still in fairly good condition, though much of the exposed portion of the stone has yielded by degrees to the friction caused by continual sandstorms.  It is believed that more than 1,000 people lived in this one house.

Of recent years a good deal has been written concerning the possibilities of the future in regard to saving expense by large numbers of families occupying one house.  Most of these ideas have been ridiculed, because experience has proved that families seldom reside comfortably in crowded quarters.  The tribes of which we are writing, while they destroy the originality of the communistic ideas of the Nineteenth Century, also disprove the arguments which are principally brought against them.  In these singular houses or colonies, several families live together in perfect harmony.  There are no instances on record of disputes such as are met with in boarding-houses patronized