"Whilst the old still occupied the , they were attacked by the to avenge the supposed death of a priest who had been sent among them as a missionary many years before. The priest, feeling himself entirely forgotten by his own people, had identified himself with those among whom he had dwell so long. Apprised of the approach of the hostile Spaniards, the Indians prepared to defend themselves with huge stones to be hurled among the enemy should they attempt to scale the mesa by the only practicable pathway up the almost perpendicular face of the cliff. But when the cause of the hostile demonstration became known to the Indians, the priest in the absence of paper on which to write, scraped a smooth and wrote upon it a message to the attacking party. The skin was fastened to a large stone and thrown down into the valley. Upon this information of the safety of the priest, the Spaniards retired, leaving the Indians undisturbed. This tradition is very similar to the account given in ’ ”Conquest of Mexico,” of 's attack upon , and this author states that "beyond doubt ancient Zuñi and Cibola were the same Pueblo.""