San Ildefonso has gained fame throughout the world because of the excellence of its pottery. The high quality and general acceptance of this commodity has made the village prosperous. It boasts some of the most famous Indian artists and artisans in the United States, among them Julian and Maria Martinez, perhaps the best-known potters in the world. San Ildefonso participated in the Pueblo Revolt but did not contest the reconquest, at least not at first. In 1694, when de Vargas began to wage war on the northern pueblos, San Ildefonso did take part. The people fortified themselves on Black Mesa, a high, steep mesa of volcanic origin near the pueblo. There they successfully withstood Spanish efforts to dislodge them. Notwithstanding their initial success, they were ultimately conquered and brought into the Spanish system. Today there are several hundred people living in the village, and they are among the friendliest of the pueblo peoples. San Ildefonso is easily accessible from Santa Fe. The mission church dates back to the 1890’s, although earlier churches at the pueblo played an important role in bringing Christianity to the Pueblo Indian world. The older churches are long since gone. San Juan Pueblo San Juan Pueblo is best noted for its close association with the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico in 1598. Oñate, colonizer of New Mexico, selected a site for his first headquarters which was a part of the ancient Pueblo of San Juan. The natives living in that part of the village willingly gave up their homes to the Spaniards and were taken in by the remainder of the people of San Juan. Oñate, in appreciation for this hospitality, bestowed upon the pueblo the name _San Juan de los Caballeros_, a name which the pueblo is still proud to bear. Yet this same friendly people also contributed Po-pé, the great leader of the Pueblo Revolt, to the history of New Mexico. While Po-pé shared with many other pueblo leaders a hatred of the Spanish conqueror, he was the spiritual force and the organizer of the rebellion that broke the control of the Spaniard for twelve years and returned New Mexico to the Indian. This great rebellion stands as one of the significant efforts in the history of the world of a people to cast off the bonds of foreign control. San Juan cannot claim a church dating back to the _conquistadores_, but it does have one of the great landmark churches in the Southwest. In 1890, the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes was dedicated at San Juan. It was constructed of red volcanic rock found west of the Rio Grande. This beautiful structure is an architectural jewel set in desert surroundings. The nearly 700 people of San Juan welcome visitors to their homes; their undecorated burnished black pottery is particularly distinctive and popular. The pueblo’s annual festival is held in June. Santa Ana Pueblo