The architecture of all the buildings except the churches was all the same, being built of the sun dried adobes or bricks made by mixing up a clay mud with tough grass and letting it get dry and hard.

We saw the same kind of roof material as before, a sort of mineral tar which I supposed they must find somewhere about.
I could imagine why the houses were built in this way, for when the Jesuit missionaries first came in they found the country occupied by Indians who used their arrows to good effect, as they were jealous of all outside occupation.

The early settlers evidently made the walls of their dwellings thick and strong enough to resist all kinds of weapons used by Indians.

They could not set fire to them for they were fire proof and arrow proof, and the hostile Indian could dance on the roof without being able to get in or do any injury.

Thus the poor Indian was fairly beat and eventually became a better Indian.
The Indians of what is now Nevada and Arizona used to come over into these rich valleys and clandestinely capture a band of a hundred or more head of cattle or horses and make their escape.