As the general approached Santa Fé it was Tupatú, the third firebrand of 1680, who, dressed in Spanish clothes, rode to meet Vargas upon a Spanish horse. The chieftain brought promise of submission from his own tribe, the Tewas, but warned the General that the Keres, Pecos, Jémez and Taos people were rebellious and prepared to resist. From Santa Fé, Vargas proceeded westward to Isleta. On the third of November, 1692, he and his little army marched along a “bad bit of road” from a watering place called El Pozo (The Well) where they had camped, to a spot from which the hill of Ácoma was pointed out to him. Shortly afterward he writes, “We descried the smoke made by those traitors, enemies, treacherous rebels and apostates of the Queres tribe.” These epithets suggest that Ácoma had given evidence once more of peculiarly recalcitrant behavior. From this time on the Peñol appears to be the hotbed of sedition until its complete subjugation was achieved. Five squadrons of soldiers were called up while Vargas halted “in view of the other great Rock, on the right side of the road and slope which appears to be higher.” Could this be Katzímo? Arrived within musket-shot of the Crag, the cry of “Hail” was exchanged between the Spaniards and the Indians on the mesa. Through an interpreter Vargas endeavored to persuade the Ácomas that he had come for no other purpose than to pardon them for past offences. But they were unconvinced, though friendly Indians were sent to tell the Keres how genuinely their forgiveness had already been granted to other pueblos. At length the Spaniards were permitted to mount the sandy slope, only to find at the top that the entrance to the village was barricaded and made impassable. [Illustration: EL MORRO, OR INSCRIPTION ROCK SOUTH SIDE, LOOKING EAST _Bolton_] [Illustration: THE INSCRIPTION OF DE VARGAS ON EL MORRO Aquí estaba el Genl Dn. Do. de Vargas quien conquisto a nuestra Santa Fé y la real corona todo el Nuevo, Mexico, a su costa de año de 1692 “Here was the General Don Diego de Vargas who conquered for our Holy Faith and for the Royal Crown all New Mexico at his own expense [in the] year of 1692.” _Courtesy of the A. T. and Santa Fé Railroad_] After long delay the messengers of peace returned to the point where the Spaniards were impatiently awaiting news. One of them, a Zuñi, named Ventura, and called “the Wolf,” brought as gifts watermelon, cooked pumpkin and cakes, but also the unwelcome message that the Ácomas would hold council that night and send their answer next morning. In vain Vargas used arguments to hasten affairs. The Ácomas warned him that the Apaches were lying in wait to kill him and all his force. There was nothing for it but to camp that night at the watering place, a league distant.