Dowa Yalanne

  Dowa Yalanne, also known as Corn Mountain, is sacred to the Zuni Tribe and the centerpiece of the Zuni Reservation. It is a flat topped mesa and its highest point is 7,235 feet above sea level . Although its summit is only about 800 feet above the surrounded high desert floor, it is an imposing mountain nevertheless.
  When Spanish explorer Coronado attacked the Zuni people in the 1500s, the residents of the pueblo took refuge on top of Dowa Yalanne. Today, the Zuni people maintain shrines on the mesa's flat top and a Zuni legend says that the mountain  is the "House of the Gods"  and rain, lightning and thunder are made here. For this reason, people sometimes call it Thunder Mountain. I have seen, on many occasions, a storm just sitting on this mountain, completely engulfing it, while blue skies dominated the surrounding area. It was a surreal scene. The name "Dowa Yalanne" is sometimes written as "Taaiyalone."
  The prinicpal town on the Zuni Reservation is Zuni Pueblo, which has about 6,800 people. A drive around Zuni Pueblo is definitely a step back in time to a simpler era. Most of the mud-brick houses have an "horno," or beehive-shaped adobe oven in the yard. Every time I am in Zuni Pueblo, I almost get the feeling that I am in South America. At least it is my perception of South America must be like.
  Although there is some modern development in Zuni Pueblo and on the Zuni Reservation, there is very little. The Zuni people are very traditional and have done a better job of preserving their culture than most indigenous tribes have done. That is one of the things I love about the Zuni Reservation.
  Just two miles east of Zuni Pueblo is Black Rock, which has about 1,000 people. It is a modern town with modern-looking housing developments. The houses all have a terra cotta exterior, however. The reservation hospital is located in Black Rock.  
  Many historians believe the Zuni Reservation to be the supposed location of the "Seven Cities of Cibola" or "Seven Cities of Gold," that enticed the 16th century Spanish explorers in their quixotic search for riches.