in the 1300s. The 1500s formed over 1,200 rooms in buildings up to four stories high. Entrance was through the roof of these adobe homes. They were used as storage areas, kitchens, and general living quarters. The building were built around open courtyards, in which were sunken kivas. The kivas served as ceremonial chambers, almost like sweathouses. Here the men could have visions and dreams. Some of the kivas were round and others square. They were decorated with many pictographs, painting on the walls, depicting the life of the people and their dependence upon the elements, especially rain. Some of these pictographs can be seen in the visitor center.
The Kuauans were both hunter-gatherers and farmers raising the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash). Located by the Rio Grande River, the site was perfect for irrigation.
In 1540 and event happened which changed the life of the Kuaua people. An army of Spanish soldiers, led by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, encamped near Kuaua. Their purpose was to find the seven cities of gold, of which rumors abounded. Instead they commandeered the pueblo and made the Kuaua pay tribute to the Spanish Government. They had to give fifty percent of their produce to the government. The friars reeducated the natives and demanded labor from them, and eventually took the children to be raised as good Spanish Citizens. They undermined the stability of the pueblo and essentially destroyed its function.
In 1680s the Natives revolted from 100 years of oppression. Natives from many of the Pueblos in New Mexico rose up and attacked the settlers, the churches, and the soldier garrisons. They drove the Spanish back to El Paso. The settlers and ranchers did