Joan Mary Horvath, age 12, of Allentown, Penna., for her question:

Where were the Seven Cities of Cibola?

We must go back to the 16th Century to the land which is now New Mexico. This was a favorite haunt of the buffalos and of the Zuni Indians who loved to fight them. The Zunis were proud and skillful men. They built permanent dwellings of stone and adobe. In what is now western New Mexico, the Zunis lived happily in seven villages, or pueblos.

The story of these proud pueblos spread far and wide. Like most stories, it grew with telling. By the time it reached the Spanish in Mexico, it was a tall tale. The Spaniards had found gold and treasure in the new world, and they wanted more. They were willing to believe any tall tale concerning treasure and track down any rumor.

In their dreams they saw the simple pueblos as seven cities of riches. Maybe the streets wore paved with gold and studded with jewels. They called the fabulous places the Seven Cities of Cibola and many an expedition set out to find them. The legend continued long after it was known that the fabulous cities were merely seven pueblos.