[546] When Antonio de Espejo visited Cibola, or Zuñi, in 1583, he found three Indians, natives of Mexico, who had been left by Coronado but who had forgotten their mother tongue. He also found crosses that had been erected by Coronado.
[547] There were two settlements in Sonora bearing this name, one occupied by the Eudeve and the other by the Tegui division of the Opata. The latter village, which was probably the one referred to by Castañeda, was situated on the Rio de Oposura, a western tributary of the Yaqui, eight leagues east of San José Matape. It became the seat of the Jesuit mission of Santa María in 1629.
[548] See pp. 346, 347. Petatlan is an Aztec word signifying "place of the petates," or mats, referring to the character of the native dwellings.
[549] June 24, 1542.
[550] See p. 360, note 2.
[551] The Indians of this vicinity had a similar regard for Cabeza de Vaca and his companions. See the narrative in the present volume.
[552] The kersey, or coarse woollen cloth out of which the habits of the Franciscan friars were made. Hence the name Grey Friars. (Winship.) Various attempts were made to manufacture the hair into garments, especially stockings, but the ventures did not prove profitable. See Hornaday, "The Extinction of the American Bison," Report of the United States National Museum for 1886-1887.
[553] The cross is common to the Indians and always has been. It often is symbolic of the morning and the evening stars. Those referred to as having been seen by Coronado's men at Acoma were characteristic prayer-sticks, the downy feathers representing the breath of life. Such are still in common use by the Pueblo Indians.
[554] Probably dried corn-husk.
[555] The northeastern province of New Spain.