was received by Governor Armijo and sent back with a message of defiance; and here, five days later, General Kearney formally took possession of the city, and slept, after his long and weary march, on the carpeted earthen floor of the palace.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: WAGON-WHEEL GAP.—Wagon-Wheel Gap is in Rio Grande County, Col., in the southern part of the State and near the head of the Rio Grande River. Hot Springs, famous for their curative qualities, are located here. The scenery is exceedingly picturesque, and the place has become a favorite resort for health and pleasure seekers. It is said to be the best place for trout fishing in the West, and this fact largely increases its popularity with tourists. It is 310 miles south of Denver, and is reached by the Creede branch of the Denver and Rio Grande road. The elevation is 8448 feet. ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: SPANISH PEAKS, FROM LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO.] Santa Fe now has many things that belong to the present age: street cars, electric lights, etc., but she is, nevertheless, still a place of adobe houses, before which there is ever a varied commingling of Americans, Mexicans and Indians. She is also the center of archæological interest, for besides the ancient objects which are to be found within her urban limits, there are villages near-by which present all the aspects of the aborigines, practically as they appeared to Cortes and Coronado. These adobe places and their inhabitants are called pueblos, because that is the old Indian name signifying _town_. The pueblos in New Mexico are nineteen in number, and while varying in size, they are very similar in appearance, showing, as they do, no variation of architecture. The houses were built to accommodate from one hundred to several hundred persons, as the Pueblo Indians were communistic in their manner of living. Instead of being one or two-story structures, like the present style of Mexican and the old Spanish adobes, the houses were built one upon another, in a succession of terraces, sometimes five or more in number, the upper stories being accessible only by means of ladders. The most noted of these pueblos are Taos, Laguna, Acoma, Santa Clara, Zuni and Santo Domingo. Albuquerque was also originally an Indian pueblo, built upon a slight elevation of rock, and the place still contains several clusters of square, flat-roofed adobe houses, arranged in terraces, as before described. The walls of these strange dwellings are very thick, and the interior is gained, not through doors, but by entrance-ways cut in the roof, which is reached only by ladders. The Pueblo Indians have been pronounced by many ethnologists to be the oldest race now living on the continent, though many others regard them as being the descendants of the Aztecs, whose ancient kingdom of Cibola