Taos Indians it must have been at a remote period; in fact there seems
to be no tradition of it now among them.

From here we went next to the pueblo of San Juan, situated on the left
bank of the Rio Grande, about 50 miles south of Taos. At this pueblo a
collection was made of stone implements, articles of clay, &c. These
specimens are not quite so representative as those from some of the
more southern pueblos, the village being situated on one of the military
wagon roads, over which many Europeans pass, and hence frequently
visited; many of the most valuable specimens of implements and pottery
have been bartered away; however, those we obtained display quite
fully all the industries of the people of this pueblo. This collection
consists of a number of fine stone mortars, pestles, arrow and spear
heads, also several polishing stones. Quite a number of small animal
forms carved out of stone were also secured. At this pueblo many
specimens of the black polished ware peculiar to a few of the tribes
in the Rio Grande Valley were collected.

From San Juan we proceeded to Santa Clara, situated a few miles below
on the right bank of the Rio Grande. This pueblo proved to be so
interesting in its surroundings that some time was spent here in
making investigations. We found the people extensively engaged in the
manufacture of that black polished pottery of which so little has been
known heretofore, especially in regard to the process of baking and
coloring it, which is fully described in the text accompanying the
catalogue of last year in this volume. The larger portion of the
specimens of earthenware obtained here was of this kind, though several
specimens of the red and some few of the ornamented class were also
secured.