Colonel Meline, after noting the execution of two men accused of witchcraft and sacrificing children, says of the Pueblos generally “that they are more than suspected of clinging to and practising many of their ancient heathen rites. The estufa is frequently spoken of as their heathen temple.”[1] Footnote 1: Meline, _Two Thousand Miles on Horseback_, pp. 225-226. A report addressed to the Cortes in Spain by Don Pedro Bautista Pino in 1812 says: “All the pueblos have their estufas—so the natives call subterranean rooms with only a single door, where they assemble to perform their dances, to celebrate feasts, and hold meetings; these are impenetrable temples where they gather to discuss mysteriously their good or evil fortunes, and the doors are always closed on the Spaniards. “All these pueblos, in spite of the sway which religion has had over them, cannot forget a part of the beliefs which have been transmitted to them, and which they are careful to transmit to their descendants. Hence come the adoration they render the sun and moon, and other heavenly bodies, the respect they entertain for fire, etc.”[2] Footnote 2: _Noticias._, pp. 15, 16. “The Pueblo chiefs seem to be at the same time priests; they perform various simple rites by which the power of the sun and of Montezuma is recognized, as well as the power (according to some accounts) of the Great Snake, to whom, by order of Montezuma, they are to look for life. They also officiate in certain ceremonies with which they pray for rain. There are painted representations of the Great Snake, together with that of a misshapen, red-haired man declared to stand for Montezuma. Of this last there was also in the year 1845, in the pueblo of Laguna, a rude effigy or idol, intended, apparently, to represent only the head of the deity.”[3] Footnote 3: Bancroft, _Native Races_, iii. 173, 174. Others portray their setting up of idols or mementos of their national deities, and surrounding them with circles of stones, repairing to the spot regularly to pray. The Pueblos thus show, after nearly three centuries of Catholic instruction, almost ineradicable elements of heathenism. Of the real interior life of other tribes we know comparatively little: but by the example of so-called prophets who arise from time to time in one part or another, giving new life to the old heathenism, borrowing some idea from Christianity, and using their new creed as a means to excite a great national feeling, we see clearly that in the Indian mind the old worship, though dormant and concealed, has still a power and mastery. To this deep-rooted feeling the Mormons have appealed, and succeeded in drawing large numbers within the circle of their influence. Almost all the Indian wars are stimulated by some prophet promising victory and the triumph of the old Indian beliefs.