The Story of Maps: Mesoamerica in North America by Roberto Rodrigez & Patricia Gonzalez

"About the Aztlanahuac exhibit"

The Story of Maps: Mesoamerica in North America

By Roberto Rodriguez & Patrisia Gonzales

Introduction: Origins/Migrations

Our investigation of historic and ancient maps of the continent began several years

ago, when counselor/instructor Frank Gutierrez at East L.A. College passed on to us

a small section of the 1847 Disturnell Map (1)). We initially did not ask him where

he obtained it, though later, when we decided to investigate, he told us that a Hopi

elder, Thomas Banyacya (2), had passed it on to him a generation ago at a gathering

where native peoples were examining the importance of the Treaty of Guadalupe to

native peoples of the continent. The map contained a type-written note on the map

highlighting two sites. One notes that the "Moquis (Hopi) have been independent

since 1680." (3) The other one points to the "Antigua Residencia de los Aztecas" or

ancient homeland/residence of the Aztecs -- located north of the Hopi. (4) The map

intimated -- in a typewritten note -- that this location was in Arizona.

There is much history regarding both these citations, the history of that map

and the events of that gathering. For here, suffice to say that it led us on a

journey, initially, simply to find out why an 1847 map maker would place such

information on that map. This led us to begin to look for and eventually find

older maps, chronicles and codices with the same or similar information. (5)

Many people assumed that we were looking for Aztlan, "the legendary home of the

Aztecs," (6) though truthfully, we were not. What we were intent on doing is a

research investigation, thus, we could not begin with a conclusion. What we

were simply and initially looking for was an explanation as to why the Aztec

notation appeared on the map. In reality, there are three notations on the map

that allude to a southward migration. (7) This search, which took us to many of

the sites on these maps, actually led us to a broader origins/migrations search

of Uto-Azteca or Uto-Nahuatl peoples. (8) It later even included a broader

origins/migrations search (connections) of peoples from Canada, the United

States, Mexico and Central and South America -- from Alaska to Chile. (While

not our primary focus, in this search, we also came across and continue to come

across stories from the South Pacific Islands, from Asia and Africa. (9)

Peoples from many parts of the world have traditions and stories and even

documentation that either allude to or speak of contact or trade, purportedly

with pre-Columbian America.

What we initially found was quite extensive -- at least 100 maps with similar

or related references to an Aztec or ancient Mexican Indian migration. (10)

And unlike what we initially thought, these maps can be found at most major

libraries in the United States, such as the Library of Congress, the state

archives in Santa Fe, NM, the University of New Mexico, the University of Texas

at Arlington, the University of Texas at Austin and the Bancroft Library at

the University of California at Berkeley. One map, showing an Aztec Pass in

Arizona, was found in a Wisconsin Library (11).

In the process, we also examined many hundreds of books and chronicles from the

1800s-1500s (see bibliography), along with pre and post-Columbian codices on

the subject. Again, unlike what we initially thought, a great many of these

books and chronicles (in addition to the maps) specifically point to what is

today the Greater Southwest and to other points in the Americas. For example,

in Crónica Mexicayotl (1576), Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc, specifically

identifies New Mexico as the point of origin of his ancestors. (12)

Yet, during this search, we came to realize that the subject of origins and

migrations is a deeply philosophical/spiritual subject. As such, that's why the

search broadened. Perhaps what we found is the opposite of what we was expecting.

Rather than an obscure subject, it's been studied by many hundreds of scholars

throughout the centuries. Additionally, this search became not simply about

north-south connections, but of connections between all the peoples of the Americas.

This is what necessarily made this search broader than one point of origin, ie, the

“Antigua residencia de los Aztecas” site on the 1847 Disturnell map. (The

research here, similar to the UCLA exhibit, presents only a small part of these

findings). While a large and major exhibit, the actual findings can easily fill a

wing of a museum, if not an entire museum itself.) In truth, we learned much more

when we began to conduct interviews of elders from the north & south -- some our own

relatives and relations. (13) Much of what we've learned is deeply embedded in

memory, in stories, song, dance, ceremony, on petroglyphs and even in the foods we

eat. Especially in the foods we eat.

(We will deal with this more in the future, but our research has taken us (RR)

in this direction... not in search of more maps, but on the trail of maize and

other related crops, such as beans and squash (The Three Sisters). We consider

that (as arbitrary as though it may be) the origins of the Uto-Nahuatl peoples

and the origin of all the corn-based cultures of the continent.)

About the Map. Chronicles & Codex Research

Initially, in doing the research, the intent was not to draw conclusions or to

interpret the maps & writings related to the subject of origins/migrations.

That would necessarily have to come much later. However, even at this stage,

it’s difficult not to come to some conclusions. Much of this material has

generally not been available to the average library-goer, though it is readily

available at most major universities nationwide, probably any institution that

specializes in the Americas. Never did we assume that the citation was alluding

to Aztlan -- the oft-cited "legendary homeland of the Aztecs," though it was

neither discounted either. If anything, what we started with were lots of

questions, such as:

* Why is this citation "Antigua Residenia de los Aztecas") seemingly unknown to most

people, including researchers, even those that specialize in Chicano Studies and the

Treaty of Guadalupe? (14)

* To what is the citation pointing to and is it still there? (15)

* Why don't most people know about this map, considering that it is attached to the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

* Is there other related information on this same map? (16)

* Where did the mid-19th century mapmaker get his information?

* Are there other maps with similar information? (see bibliography)

* Are there old books, chronicles or ancient codices that contain this information?

(see bibliography)

* What do native peoples of the region and of (Mexico/Central & South America) have

to say about this? (see footnote 13)

We started with these questions, but as we proceeded, the questions multiplied

amid voluminous and conflicting and sometimes confusing information. Whatever

we've concluded was not on the basis of the map research alone. That doesn’t

mean that we’re unable to draw some conclusions about the research here. For

example, based on the research presented here, one can conclude that:

* While the 1847 Disturnell Map and the other earlier maps allude to an "Ancient

Homeland of the Aztecs" or the point of origin or departure of the Aztecs/Mexica --

we were only able to turn up one modern U.S. scholar who has ever used the map or

these other maps for such a discussion. The one scholar (Joseph P. Sanchez,

University of New Mexico, see bibliography) who used them, generally utilized them

in a discussion of mythical places in the U.S. Southwest.

* In Chicano/Chicana Studies, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo is central to the

discipline, yet in at least 35 years of scholarship, we did not turn up a published

discussion by academic scholars of the Disturnell Map relative to the "Antigua

residencia de los Aztecas." The same is true of a lack of discussion of any other

maps relative to similar information on them. That's not to say they don't exist.

(17)

* In a perusal of modern Mexican literature, there is also an absence of a

discussion of the Disturnell Map or any other maps relative to the

origins/migrations of the Aztec/Mexica peoples. Most modern Mexican scholars point

to the state of Nayarit (see attached maps) as the possible location of the

historic/mythic Aztlan, though in reality, many do not discount an earlier point of

departure.

* In books prior to the 1950s, relative to this subject, there are references to

maps, but rare are those that name the maps relative to origins/migrations.

* There was much discussion between the 16th-19th centuries about the point of

origin of "American Indians" generally, and the Aztec/Mexica in particular. However,

maps are rarely if ever invoked into the discussion. (18) (The absence of a

discussion involving maps is not to suggest that the maps are accurate or the final

arbiters of that discussion.) What it simply suggests is that those engaged in these

debates historically have done so as if these maps were nonexistent.)

*Virtually all early chroniclers and modern researchers seemed to agree that the

point of departure of the Aztec/Mexica (relative to the migration story as depicted

on the Mexican flag) was somewhere north of Mexico City-Tenochtitlan. What most

seemed to disagree with was how far north? A few did believe that the point of

origin of Anahuac or Mesoamerican civilizations was Mesoamerica itself. Some of

these, similar to many modern researchers, believe that the Aztlan migration story

was purely a mythical/symbolic interpretation of their own history. As proof, they

cite the similarity of Aztlan with Tenochtitlan. Aztlan purportedly was an island,

with seven caves in the middle of a lake, somewhere in the north. (19)

* Virtually all early chroniclers agreed that the Aztec/Mexica were the last in a

series of migrating waves of nations/tribes to migrate from somewhere in the north.

Most allude to three major waves; first the Toltecas, then the Chichimecas, then the

Azteca/Mexica nations, which purportedly migrated with seven other peoples. Of note,

many chroniclers do cite an earlier migration of the Nahuatl-speaking peoples as

having come from across the ocean, landing in what is today the Panuco River. Half

the people purportedly went north, the other half went south. Those that went north,

eventually migrated south, purportedly reuniting with those that had initially gone

south.

* Virtually all early chroniclers (mostly priests) were convinced that prior to the

arrival of native people to the North American continent, all native people of the

Americas were descendants of Adam and Eve and that they had migrated to the American

continent after the "Great Flood" and/or after the "Tower of Babel." As such, the

early chroniclers (Joseph Acosta, Diego Duran, Bernardo de Sahagun, etc) debated as

to how the ancestors of the American Indians came to the Western Hemisphere. There

was no shortage of theories at that time, including being part of the Lost Tribes of

Israel, Atlantis, etc.

* Many of the early chroniclers -- particularly those attached to military

expeditions -- apparently believed that a land of riches to the north (oftentimes

referred to as "the seven cities of gold") and the point of origin of the

Aztec/Mexica and other Nahuatl speaking peoples were one and the same place. And it

appears that once it was ascertained that there was no gold in "Cibola" (a Zuni

pueblo) -- that the early explorers/chroniclers also relegated the discussion of the

point of origin into the realm of legend or "myth" -- as in "not real." Truthfully,

it appears few explorers were interested in locating a point of origin/departure --

just for the sake of locating it. They were of course more interested in finding

gold and silver and their source mines. (This also explains the pursuit of El Dorado

-- Golden City -- in South America and also other legends.)

* Many explorers/chroniclers who lived or passed through present-day northern Mexico

or the present-day U.S. Southwest were pointed northwards toward a lake as the point

of origin of many Nahuatl-speaking peoples. The lake that shows up in many of the

early maps, as the point of origin appears to be Salt Lake. (The 1804 Humboldt Map,

The 1768 Alzate Map & The 1729 Barreiro Map all point to what is today Salt Lake --

or possibly Utah Lake). Most codices (Tira de Peregrinacion, Codex Aubin) appear to

depict an island within a lake. Historically, this lake has been known by various

names, including Copala, Teguayo, Timpanogo and several others. (Most codices also

depict a migration coming from seven caves -- interpreted by many to signify seven

nations or lineages.)

* Several native writers writing post-Columbian codices (Alvaro Tezozomoc, Cronica

Mexicayotl), specifically point to "New Mexico" as the point of origins/departure of

their ancestors.

* The Vagoundy & Zatta maps from the 1700s connect Teguayo with TOLM, a region in

the same vicinity. TOLM appears in maps from the 1500s to the 1700s, yet there is

less than scant literature on the subject of TOLM. (20)

The 1531 Oronce Fine map possibly connects TOLM, or rather, a site called Toloma

near Mongolia. The same map possibly also cites the spiritual origin of the

Aztecs/Mexica of "Tamuanchan" near the Panuco River in what is now the Gulf of

Mexico. This map depicts America as part of Asia, as was the belief at that time.

* Some oral traditions (in the 1500s -1700s) of the peoples of present-day northern

Mexico or present-day U.S. Southwest do not necessarily speak of islands, but

definitely a lake.

* Virtually all modern researchers agree that the peoples of what is today the U.S.

Southwest/northern Mexico did in fact have connections with peoples from the south,

even prior to the Aztec/Mexica. Connections included trade and/or cultural

influences. The debate, generally, has to do with whether it was direct.

* The Aztec/Mexica peoples are part of the Uto-Azteca or Uto-Nahuatl language

family. Virtually all linguists agree that this language family extended from Canada

to Central America at the time of Spanish contact. Not all linguists and

archaeologists agree that it means that all the peoples of this language family were

related. Some say it may simply mean contact/interaction between the peoples.

* As a result of the wholesale destruction of pre-Columbian codices, there are very

few primary written sources regarding the subject of origins/migrations. Yet, as if

unaware of these wholesale destructions, many modern historians wrongly view the

works of European chroniclers as primary sources. It can be reasonably argued that

the primary objective of the chroniclers was not trying to write accurate history,

but rather, evangelization Bishop Landa at Mani, Yucatan exepmplifies how after

burning all the Mayan books he could find, he then proceeded to write a history of

the Mayans.

* The first language of the early chroniclers was not Nahuatl, nor were they trained

in reading codices. Some scholars also argue that many of the "Indian informants"

were Christianized and Hispanicized and not trained as tlacuilos or writers of the

pre-Columbian codices. As such, these scholars argue, post-Colombian codices are

"contaminated" by Western views.

* Given that "Nuevo Mexico or New Mexico figures prominently in several hundred

years of literature regarding origins/migrations, it is reasonable to see why the

idea of Aztec/Mexica origins in the U.S. Southwest persists to this day. (New Mexico

-- first named, as such in the mid-1500s -- was a name generally given to all the

lands west of the Rockies, which are today is the greater U.S. Southwest. The land

to the east was named Florida. (See Map Bibliography, Sanson)

* Given that the vast majority of archeologists posit that most native people

(including the Aztec/Mexica) came through the Bering Strait, few disagree that the

ancestors of present day Mexicans/Central Americans at one point most likely either

passed through or lived in the present day United States. Not all native peoples

agree with this Bering migration story.

* Many archaeologists agree that if an Aztlan (or by whatever name it may have gone

by) existed, that that was not necessarily their original point of origin on the

American continent.

* The early chroniclers treated oral traditions not simply as unreliable (and "works

of the devil") but remanded them to the realm of legend -- this even when many of

the migration stories were but a few hundred years old. Most modern researchers have

followed suit.

* Whereas mapmakers generally stopped noting the "Antigua residencia de los Aztecas"

on their maps in the U.S. Southwest after the mid-19th century (1858 version of

Disturnell Map), historians did not follow suit. They continued to invoke (through

the 20th century) the present-day Southwest as the possible point of origin or

presence of the Toltecs, Chichimecas and Azteca/Mexica peoples. Many maps also

indicate other possible locations throughout the rest if the United States.

* Between Zacatecas and New Mexico lies a huge desert, thus it can be safely assumed

that the countless chroniclers from Northern Mexico and the present-day Southwest --

who received their information from native sources -- knew the difference between

south of the desert vs. north of the desert. It is many of these chroniclers who

consistently pointed north of the desert for the point of origin of Nahuatl speaking

peoples -- regardless of its name(s). This doesn’t preclude a later "point of

origin/departure" south of the desert.

* There is incontrovertible evidence of ancient contacts/influence and trade between

the peoples of “Mesoamerica” and the peoples of the present day U.S. Southwest,

Northwest, Southeast and Midwest. There is also evidence of Mesoamerican

contact/influence with peoples of the Caribbean and South America, particularly

Peru. Paul Kirchoff coined the term Mesoamerica, pointing to the corn-growing

regions of Mexico (though it was also being grown from Canada to Peru at time of

European contact.)

* Place names associated with the point of origin of Toltecas-Chichimecas

(Huehuetlapallan) and the Aztec/Mexica peoples include Amaquemeca, Aztlan,

Teoculhuacan and Chicomoztoc.

* When examining old maps, one immediately notices huge inconsistencies. University

of Texas at Arlington historian, Dennis Reinhartz (The Mapping of the Entradas into

the Greater Southwest), argues that this was deliberately done by the Spanish

government to protect its riches: "What geographic knowledge the Spanish had about

the northern interior or elsewhere in their empire also was closely guarded and

rationed for dissemination. Sometimes it was issued incorrectly or altered for the

purposes of disinformation in this first period of European competition for

empire.”

Conclusion

This preliminary cartographical examination only includes perhaps several

hundred maps. This is but a scratch as there are no doubt tens of thousands of

more maps of the Americas. Just the same, maps are not the first or last word

on the subject of origins/migrations or of the subject of connections between

peoples of the north and south. Chronicles and codices add to the discussion,

as does artwork, petroglyphs, oral traditions and food. In fact, all of these

sources has convinced me that just as maiz was eaten by virtually all peoples

of the continent -- which in itself points to another "point of origin" -- the

evidence is clear that the continent has always been one.

FOOTNOTES

1) The Disturnell Map was commissioned by the government of Mexico. It was published

in 1847 and attached to the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848. The treaty is what ended

the U.S. war against Mexico 1846-1848, with Mexico ceding approximately half of its

territory.

2) Thomas Banyacya passed away in 1999 at the age of 89. Prior to his passing, we

visited his house, though by then, he was already in a near comatose state.

3) To this day, the Hopi proudly affirm that they have never signed a treaty with

anyone, as such, proof that they have never surrendered their sovereignty to anyone.

4) Most Mexican scholars have long believed that the ancient homeland of the Aztecs

-- as depicted on the Mexican flag -- is in the state of Nayarit, Mexico.

5) a major exhibit of this map research is currently on display from April-June 30

at the Young Research Library at UCLA.

6) What we have found is that the ancient homeland of the Aztecs is generally

referred to as Aztlan, though there are several other names associated with their

migration. In the Florentine Codex, Sahagun tells of the ancestors of the

Atecs/Mexica as coming from across the ocean, Landing in the Gulf of Mexico with

half the population going South and the other half going North. Those that went

North, settled in a place called Aztlan, eventually migrating in waves, southward.

(7) The first notation related to migration is: Antigua Residencia de los Aztecas,

located near the present-day confluence of the Colorado and Green rivers in Utah. It

may allude to either Aztec, New Mexico, or Mesa Verde, Colorado. Ret. Professor

Cecilio Orozco, at California State University, Fresno, posits that it may even be

Chaco, New Mexico. Ruinas de las Casas 2das de los Aztecas and Casas terceras de los

Aztecas correspond to present-day Casa Grande near Tucson, Arizona, and Paquime

(Casas Grandes) in Chihuahua, Mexico.

8) The Uto-Azteca language family group purportedly stretches from Canada to Central

America -- from the Shoshones, Utes, Paiutes, Hopi, Yaquis, Tarahumaras, the

Nahuatl-speaking peoples of Mexico all the way down to the Pipil of El Salvador.

(9) The work of Ivan Van Sertima is well known (They Came Before Columbus. His work

posits that Africans visited the Americas at various points of Pre-Columbian

history. Less well-known are works that explore an Asian connection (Influencias

Asiaticas en las Culturas de la America Antigua, Wolfgang Marschall., 1979,

Ediciones Euroamericans.

10) The name of ancient Mexicans is Mexica. Aztec is derived from Aztlan, the

assumed homeland of the ancient Mexicans.

11) "United States" map, Wisconsin Historical Society, D GX81 1862 S). This map is

currently part of the UCLA Aztlanahuac: Mesoamerica in North America Map exhibit.

12) In the 16th century, New Mexico was the name given to the land we today call the

Greater Southwest United States.

13) Thirty nine of the interviews were edited and prepared on DVD for the UCLA map

exhibit.

14) Many within the field of Chicano studies posit that Chicano history begins in

1848. As such, it is a mystery why no academic had stumbled upon this and the

earlier maps, given the importance of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo to Chicano

history.

15) The second and third sites on the Disturnell actually correspond to actual

archeological sites. It is for that reason that some believe that the map is either

wrong and that it is actually pointing to Aztec, NM, or Mesa Verde, Colo. or even

Chaco Canyon in NM.

16) In addition to the three migration sites, there is a Tule lake in California.

Tule, similar to Tula, is associated with Tula and the Toltecs, a group much lder

than the Aztec/Mexica.

17) We’re actually convinced that perhaps several graduate students during the

1960s-1990s have done dissertations on the topic, but have not yet surfaced.

18) Prior to the work we embarked on, for example, prior to the year 2000, there in

effect, is no published discussion, no literature in the field of Chicano studies on

the subject of maps relative to origins/migrations in relationship the American

continent. There are references in Atlases (The Mapping of the Transmississipi West)

that do briefly touch upon the subject, but only in a very minor way.

19) In our search -- based on the map research -- we actually wound up on Antelope

Island in Salt Lake in Utah. The island does in fact have seven caves. Others have

pinpointed the Gila Cliffs in Arizona, a place that also has seven caves.

20) Famed 19th century Historian George Bancroft dedicated a search to TOLM, but

found no references, including the knowledge that its fuller spelling is Tolman (See

Camocio map in map bibliography).

Partial (and annotated) Bibliography from the Map, Chronicle, codex exhibit. Part of

these notes & research is in collaboration with Irene Vasquez, ELAC.

Anderson, Arthur J.O. and Susan Schroeder, editors and translators Codex

Chimalpahin:Society and Politics in Mexico Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco,

Culhuacan, and other Nahua altepetl in central Mexico: the Nahuatl and Spanish

annals and accounts collected and recorded by don Domingo de San Antón Muñón

Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin Norman,Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997

Volume One.

Camarillo, Cecilio, Rodriguez, Roberto & Gonzales Patrisia, editors, Cantos Al

Sexto Sol: An Anthology of Aztlanahuac Writing, Wings Press, 2002. The book is a

compilation of more than 100 writers commenting on the topic of “Go Back to Where

We Came From.” The book includes two of the maps in this paper (Disturnell &

Alzate).

Castillo, Cristobal del (1526-1606) Historia de la venida de los mexicanos y otros

pueblos;e, Historia de la conquista Mexico City:Instituto Nacional de Antropología

e Historia,1991 Federico Navarrete Linares, translation and introduction.

Chávez, John R. “Aztlán, Cibola, and Frontier New Spain” In Aztlán:Essays on

the Chicano Homeland Rudolfo A.Anaya and Francisco A.Lomelí, editors Albuquerque:

Academica/El Norte Publications,1989. Chávez’s essay on the origins and

migrations of the Mexica peoples concludes that it is difficult to know the exact

locations because early Spanish chroniclers mentioned various places, including

California,New Mexico,and Florida.

Cohen, Paul E.Mapping the West:America’s Westward Movement, 1524-1890 , New

York:Rizzoli,

Dibble, Charles E., editor and translator “Historia de la Nacion Mexicana”

Historia de la nación mexicana;reproducción a todo color del Códice de 1576

(Códice Aubin) Madrid:Ediciones Jose Porrúa Turanzas,1963

Duran, Diego (d.1588?) Historia de las Indias de Nueva España y isles de tierra

firme Jose F.Ramírez,editor México:Imprenta de J.M.Andrade y F.Escalante,1867-80

Volume One

Figueroa, Alfredo Ancient Footprints of the Colorado River:La Cuna de Aztlan

National City,California:Aztec Printing,Co.,2002 Private library of Roberto

Rodríguez and Patrisia Gonzales Figueroa,a community scholar and activist,posits

that the Aztec/Mexica originated in the lower Colorado basin.

Forbes, Jack D. Aztecas del Norte:The Chicanos of Aztlán

Greenwich,Connecticut:Fawcett Publications,1973 Charles E.Young Research Library In

this pioneering work written in 1965 but not published until 1973,Forbes posited

that people of Mexican origin are anashinabe, or indigenous to the continent.One of

the country’s preeminent American Indian scholars,Forbes was part of the Native

American Movement in Southern California,which first put forth this position in

1961.Forbes referred to the U.S.Southwest as Aztlán and called the Nahuatl barrio

of Analco (in Santa Fe) the birthplace of the Chicano.

Graulich, Michel, (Intorduction) “Departure from Aztlán” In Codex Azcatítlan

Paris: Biblioteque Nationale de France,1995. Robert H. Barlow, commentary; Leonardo

López Luján, Spanish translation; Dominique Michelet, French translation Volume

Two. Codex Azcatítlan documents the history of the Mexica upon their departure from

Aztlán through the Spanish invasion. This is a facsimile of the original,which is

located in the National Library of France.

Kirchhoff, Paul Lina Odena Güemes, and Luis Reyes Garcia,editors Historia

Tolteca-Chichimeca México:Fondo de Cultura Económica,1989

Lekson, Stephen H., The Chaco Meridian:Centers of Political Power in the Ancient

Southwest Walnut Creek,California:AltaMira Press,1999 Lekson postulates that the

Anazasi people’s migrations to the pueblos of Chaco, Aztec, and Paquime followed

astronomical observations rather than the search for food and water. Although

unaware that the settlement of Culiacan figures in the Aztec/Mexica migration

stories, he notes that it is located on the same meridian and suggests that further

research be done on the significance of these geographical connections.

Marschall, Wolfgang. Influencias Asiaticas en las Culturas de la America Antigua,

1979, Ediciones Euroamericans.

Orozco, Cecilio, The Book of the Sun Tonatiuh Fresno, California: California State

University, Fresno,1983. For more than twenty years, Orozco has been researching

what he calls “El Camino de Aztlán.”This book presents petroglyph evidence in

Utah of what later became the Aztec calendar.

Quiroz, Bernardino de Jesús (Spanish translation) Códice Aubin: manuscrito azteca

de la Biblioteca Real de Berlin; anales en mexicano y geroglíficos desde la salida

de las tribus de Aztlán hasta la muerte de Cuauhtemoc Mexico City: Editorial

Innovacion,1980.

Sánchez, Joseph P. Explorers, Traders, and Slavers:Forging the Old Spanish Trail,

1678-1850 Salt Lake City:University of Utah Press,1997. The only modern U.S. scholar

who has utilized several of these maps in a discussion of mythical places and

homelands. Sánchez cites Alonso de Posada’s 1686 report: “By the same ancient

traditions it is said that from Teguayo comes not only the Mexican Indians, which

were the last, but all the other nations which in different times were inhabiting

these lands and kingdoms of New Spain. They say that Guatemala and all the other

kingdoms and provinces of Peru and those close by have their beginning there.”

(Pages 8-9) Sánchez also states that the “earliest known cartographic

reference”to Teguayo dates from a 1678 proposal to explore the area made by Diego

Dionisio de Penalosa (1624-87). However,there are chronicles dating from the 1500s

that record this connection, including that of Pedro Tovar of the 1540 Coronado

expedition,who was purportedly the first European to mention Teguayo, as told to him

by the Moquis, or Hopi,Indians.

Tezozomoc, Fernando Alvarado La pintura que tiene estas siete cuevas es en esta

forma [The painting which depicts the seven caves in this form] In Crónica Mexicana

(fl.1598) Manuel Orozco y Berra,editor México:Imprenta y Litografía de Ireneo

Paz,1878

Tlakaelel (Francisco Jímenez Sánchez) Nahui Mitl: The Journey of the Four Arrows

Chaplin,Connecticut:Mexicayotl Productions,1998. Tlakaele has dedicated his life to

finding evidence throughout the continent of an ancient Toltec migration known as

the Four Arrows for the fact that it went in four different directions.His theory

is supported by petroglyphs as well as place names such as Tulare and Tularosa,

which are Nahuatl in origin rather than Spanish or English.

Maps On Display at UCLA Exhibit

* John Disturnell (1801-77) Mapa de los estados unidos de Méjico, segun lo

organizado y definido por las varias actas del Congreso de dicha republica:y

construído por las mejores autoridades 1:4,600,000 New York:J.Disturnell,1847

Private library of Roberto Rodríguez and Patrisia Gonzales Although not an official

U.S.government publication,Disturnell’s map was used to determine the boundary

between the U.S.and Mexico as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended

the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. It apparently depicts several points on a

migration route. Antigua Residencia de los Aztecas, located near the present-day

confluence of the Colorado and Green rivers in Utah, may allude to either Aztec, New

Mexico or Mesa Verde, Colorado; Cecilio Orozco, emeritus faculty at California State

University, Fresno, posits that it may even be Chaco, New Mexico. Ruinas de las

Casas 2das de los Aztecas and Casas terceras de los Aztecas correspond to

present-day Casa Grande near Tucson, Arizona, and Paquime (Casas Grandes) in

Chihuahua, Mexico. Several place names on the map also reflect ancient connections:

the Mountains of Anahuac, near Guanajuato and Queretaro in central Mexico, which

utilizes the ancient name for Mexico, Anahuac; and Tule Lake in present-day

California,which uses a Nahuatl word for reed, tule/tula, associated with Toltecs

and other Nahuatl-speaking peoples. The fact that the map contains a notation about

the Hopi or Moquis – that they have been independent since 1680 – is also of

interest. It was brought to the attention of the exhibit organizers by Hopi elders

including the late David Monongye and Thomas Banyacya, who maintained that,

according to oral tradition, the Hopi and ancient Mexicans were related.

* Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) A map of New Spain from 16°to 38°North

latitude: reduced from the large map drawn from astronomical observations at Mexico

in the year 1804. This map depicts four points of the purported Aztec/Mexica

migration: the same three points that appear on Disturnell’s 1847 map, plus a more

northern point that appears to be Great Salt Lake, which includes the note:“...

perhaps the Teguayo lake, from the borders of which according to some Historians,

the Azteques removed to the river Gila.” The note for the migration point

Disturnell recorded as Antigua Residencia reads,“First abode of the Aztecs, came

from Aztlan in 1160.Tradition uncertain”; many of the codices put the date at

1064. Notes for the other two migration points read,“Ruins of Casas Grandes.

Second abode of the Azteques from whence they passed by Tarahumara to Hueicolhuacan

Culiacan”and “Casas Grandes:Third abode of the Azteques.” Also note the site

along the Rockies south of Salt Lake labeled Sierra de las Grullas. Grullas means

cranes, and the Aztecs/Mexica were known as the crane people and were also

associated with herons. It is thought by some that the corridor between Salt Lake

and the Rockies was an ancient migration route for peoples traveling south and

north.

* José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez (1737-99) Nuevo Mapa Geografico de la America

Septentrional 1768 Reproduction date and publisher unknown Charles E.Young Research

Library, Henry J.Bruman Map Collection. This precursor to the 1810 Humboldt map

contains four of the same migration points, beginning with Salt Lake, abeled Teguyo

[Teguayo]:“Desde los contornos de esta laguna, dicen haber salidos los Indios

Mexicanos a fundar su imperio” [The Mexican Indians are said to have departed from

the shores of this lake to found their empire].The other points are notated as

follows: “Primera mansion que hicieron los Yndios Mexicanos”;“2a.Mansion que

hicieron los Yndios Mexicanos”; and “3a.Mancion de los Mexicanos ”[First,

second, and third mansions built by the Mexican Yndios].

José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez (1737-99) Plano geografico de la mayor parte de

la America septentrional Española Scale not given 1772 In Atlas cartográfico

historico:Mexico Mexico:SPP:Instituto Nacional de Estadística,Geografía,e

Informática,1982 Charles E.Young Research Library Henry J.Bruman Map Collection

This map,which is similar to the 1768 Alzate map,though better illustrated, also

shows four migration steps,beginning with Lake Teguayo,or Salt Lake.

* Francisco Alvarez Barreiro Plano, corografico è hidrographico, de las provincias

de el Nuevo Mexico, Sonora, Ostimuri, Sinaloa, Culiacan, Nueba Vizcaya Najarit,

nuevo reino de Leon, Nueva estremadura á Coaguila, y la del nuevo reyno de

Philipinas, provincia de los Tejas Scale not given. 1728. Reproduced in Mapping the

West: America’s Westward Movement, 1524-1890, Paul E.Cohen New York:Rizzoli, 2002

Charles E.Young Research Library Photocopy. This appears to be the earliest map

containing direct references to the four migration points depicted in the Humboldt

and Alzate maps. The note for most northern point, presumably Salt Lake,

reads:“Laguna de Teguayo o Ostero Azul donde salieron los Indios Mexicanos con su

Principe para poblar a Mexico”[Teguayo Lake or Blue Lake from where the Mexican

Indians left with their Prince to found Mexico; “their Prince” no doubt refers

to Huitzilipochtli].The other three points also correspond to the Disturnell

map:“1a.Mancion de los Indios Mexicanos,”“2a.mancion que hicieron los Indios

Mexicanos,” “3a.Mansion de los Indios Mexicanos.” Note that the Aztecs are not

specifically mentioned; various oral traditions going back hundreds of years speak

of a common point of departure/origin for many of the peoples of Mexico.

* Giovanni Francesco Camocio Untitled Scale not given Venice:c.1569 Reproduced in

The Mapping of North America: A List of Printed Maps, 1511-1670 Philip D.Burden

Rickmansworth, England: Raleigh Publications,1996 Charles E.Young Research Library,

Henry J.Bruman Map Collection. This map gives Tolman as the full spelling for TOLM.

and indicates that it was thought to be a kingdom (regnum); it appears to be in the

northern part of the continent. In his own writings about the origins of the Mexica

(published in North America: A Sixteenth-Century View; Roger Schlesinger and Arthur

P.Stabler, editors and translators), the French royal historian and cosmographer

André Thevet (1502-90), who received the Codex Mendoza after the French stole it

from a Spanish flotilla, referred to what may be the same place: “They claim to

have come from a place called Echi (which is near the mountain of Tholman, which

those of Florida call Quivir and others Teucan, from which flow three rivers which

empty into the gulf of the red sea.) ....” The Chicano poet Alurista, among

others, speculates that this is a phonetic approximation for Tullum, Tollan, or

(Huehue)tlapallan – old, old colorful land – all of which are associated with

the Toltecs.

Abraham Ortelius (1527-98) Nova totius terrarium orbis iuxta neo tericorum

traditions description Scale not given 1564 Reprint, Washington, D.C.: Library of

Congress, Geography and Map Division, [n.d.] Private library of Roberto Rodríguez

and Patrisia Gonzales. This map contains the earliest mention of TOLM.in North

America.

Oronce Fine (1494-1555) Nova et integra vniversi orbis description

Amsterdam:A.Kroon,1531 Photocopy from a book in the private library of Roberto

Rodríguez and Patrisia Gonzales Created when cartographers believed that America

was connected to Asia, this map shows a Toloma near Mongolia. It also contains three

other sites of interest:Calco (Chalco? Chaco?), depicting a lake, which appears to

be in what is today U.S.Southwest but due to distortion may actually be in the area

of Mexico City;Tholoman,which is found further away from Toloma; and Tama-cho

(perhaps Tamoanchan?), near the Panuco River, where the ancestors of the

Aztec/Mexica purportedly came from. Most scholars do not ascribe a physical location

to Tamoanchan,or paradise. Various chroniclers, including Bernardino de Sahagún in

the Florentine Codex, recorded that when the ancestors of the Aztecs/Mexica first

came from the sea, they made their landfall in the Panuco River .From there, some of

the peoples went south and others north.

* Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco (b.1713) Plano geográphico, de la tierra descubierta,

nuevamente, à los Rumbos Norte, Noroeste y Oeste, del Nuevo Mexico 1:2,400,000

1778. Reproduced in Mapping the West: America’s Westward Movement, 1524-1890 Paul

E.Cohen New York: Rizzoli, 2002. Though several maps from the 1500s show what

appears to be Salt Lake, this map records the 1776 Domiguez-Escalante expedition,

the first reported visit to the region by Europeans. It contains a citation that may

refer to the same location John Disturnell noted as Antigua Residencia de los

Aztecas on his 1847 map: “Aqui se manifiestan las ruinas de grandes Poblaciones

de Yndios antiguos”[There is evidence here of large ruins of ancient Yndio

populations]. Here, however, it appears in a cartographically separate region, east

of the confluence of the Colorado and Nabajoa rivers and past the Animas River,

which seems to correspond to the same location as the 1845 map by Pedro Garcia Conde

and may be pointing to present-day Aztec, Mesa Verde, or perhaps even Chaco, NM.

Nicolás de Lafora (b.c.1730) Mapa de la Frontera del Vireinato de Nueva España

1:4,000,000 1771. Photocopy Charles E.Young Research Library Henry J.Bruman Map

Collection. This map,which predates the establishment of the United States, shows

Casas de Moctezuma near the confluence of the Gila and Rio Nabajoa rivers; this

most likely corresponds to the Ruinas de las Casas 2das de los Aztecas on John

Disturnell’s 1847 map, which is near Tucson, Arizona. It also shows Valle de

Casas Grandes, Casas de Montezuma, which is possibly Paquime, Chihuahua, depicted by

Disturnell as Casas terceras de los Aztecas. This and earlier maps definitively show

that evidence of Aztecs/Mexica in the southwestern U.S.was not conjured up by

19th-century U.S.archaeologists, as has been commonly assumed by present-day

archaeologists. In addition to the documentary record, this information has long

been transmitted orally by native peoples of the region.

Pedro Garcia Conde (1806-51) Carta geografica general de la Republica Mexicana Scale

not given London:1845 Reprint, [London?]:Military Intelligence Division General

Staff,[n.d.] Charles E.Young Research Library Henry J.Bruman Map Collection. There

are many maps that, similar to John Disturnell’s 1847 one, contain the same

ancient Mexican Indian migration route. However, on this map the “antigua

residencia”(Disturnell’s Antigua Residencia de los Aztecas; here, Grandes ruinas

de los Aztecas) is located in a place similar to Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco’s map

of the 1776 Domiguez-Escalante expedition. It may correspond to present-day

Aztec,Mesa Verde, or perhaps even Chaco, New Mexico. A second location directly

south of that is Ruinas de los Aztecas.

* Diego Gutiérrez (fl.1554-69) Americae sive qvartae orbis partis nova et

exactissima descriptio 1:17,500,000 Antwerp:H.Cock,1562 Reprint,Washington

D.C.:Library of Congress,1999 Charles E.Young Research Library Henry J.Bruman Map

Collections Perhaps the first fully illustrated map of North and South America, this

shows the site of Chicana at the mouth of the Colorado River, near present-day Yuma,

Arizona. Other sixteenth-century maps have Chicana in a nearby location, and an

early eighteenth-century map of Nayarit Missions places Xicana at the top/center of

the map, near the same place; this may be the oldest written reference to the word

Xicana. A little to the south is the site of Aztatlam, which may refer to a city of

that name, not necessarily to the mythic/historic Aztlán.

Corneille Wytfliet Norumbega et Virginia Scale not given 1597 Reproduced in The

mapping of North America: three centuries of mapmaking 1500-1860 John Goss

Seacaucus,N.J.:Wellfleet Press,1990. Charles E.Young Research Library. This map

shows Norumbega as south of New France on the East Coast, perhaps in the area of

Virginia. According to John Ogilby in America: being the latest and most accurate

description of the New World (1671):“In the American City Norumbega, live a people

that speak the same language and observe the same customs as the Mexicans.” No

such place, however, has been found, though the city and region appear on many maps

of the era.

John Arrowsmith British North America 1:8,500,000 London:J.Arrowsmith, 1834.

Reprint, Ottawa, Canada: Surveys and Mapping Branch,1967 Charles E.Young Research

Library Henry J.Bruman Map Collections. Many maps including this one, show the

Mountains of Anahuac, generally parallel to Salt Lake and apparently referring to

the Rockies. Anahuac is the name of the Aztec/Mexica peoples of Tenochtitlan (Mexico

City).

David H. Burr (1803-75) Map showing the extent of surveys in the territory of Utah,

1856 Scale not given In U.S. Congress, Senate, Executive Documents, 34th Congress,

3rd Session, 1856, number 5, volume 4, serial 877. Charles E.Young Research Library,

Henry J. Bruman Map Collection. This map depicts the Tuhla valley in the region of

Salt Lake. Tula is associated with the Toltecs. An 1883 map shows the city of Tooele

in the same vicinity.

Herman Ehrenberg (1816-66) Map of the Gadsden Purchase, Sonora, and portions of New

Mexico, Chihuahua, and California 1:2,100,000 San Francisco:Alex.Zakreski,1854.

Reprint, Berkeley, California: Bancroft Library,University of California,[n.d.].

Charles E.Young Research Library Henry J.Bruman Map Collection. This map shows the

“Ancient Ruins of Cibola.”A mythical place invented by the Europeans and the

site of the Seven Cities of Gold, Cibola was confused by some European explorers as

the point of origin of the Aztec/Mexica/Nahua peoples because their stories speak of

emerging from seven caves.

Joan Martines (Sixteenth century) Portolan of west coast of America Scale not given

1578 Reproduced in Mapping the West:America’s Westward Movement, 1524-1890, Paul

E.Cohen New York:Rizzoli,2002 Charles E.Young Research Library. This map shows the

prominence early mapmakers gave to the mythical Cibola,or Seven Cities of Gold,

erroneously confused with the point of origin/departure of the Aztec/Mexica

peoples.

* Nicolas Sanson (1600-67) Le Nouveau Mexique et la Floride:tirées de diverses

cartes, et relations Scale not given Paris: Chez Pierre Mariette,1656 Reproduced in

Mapping the West:America’s Westward Movement, 1524-1890, Paul E. Cohen New York:

Rizzoli ,2002 Charles E.Young Research Library. This map shows Tula, associated with

the Toltecs, near present-day Florida/Georgia. It also illustrates how Florida at

that time indicated all the land east of the Rockies, meaning the southeastern U.S.,

including present-day Florida, and New Mexico indicated all the land west of the

Rockies. In later centuries that broad region of New Mexico, corresponding to the

present-day southwest, came to be known as Alta California. Although some

researchers believe that the route of the Aztec/Mexica migration is not knowable

because early chroniclers pointed to California, New Mexico,and Florida, in fact,

only the sixteenth-century writer Diego Duran recorded that they came from the land

next to Florida (not Florida itself).

* Jean Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe (1683-1765) Carte nouvelle de la partie de

l’ouest de la Province de la Louisia: sur les observations et decouvertes su Sieur

Benard de la Harpe Scale not given. Reprint, Washington,D.C.:Library of Congress Map

Division,1913. Private library of Roberto Rodríguez and Patrisia Gonzales. This map

depicts “Provce de L Astekas”east of New Mexico and north of Louisiana.

* Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703-72) Carte de la Tartarie Occidentale, pour server a

l’histoire universelle Scale not given 1749 Reprint, Washington,D.C.: Library of

Congress Geography and Map Division,[n.d.] Private library of Roberto Rodríguez

and Patrisia Gonzales. Many early researchers believed that native peoples,

including ancestors of Mexicas, had at one time lived or passed through Asia. This

map locates a Tula River south of Lake Baikal (Lac Baykal) in Mongolia; further

south are the Altan mountains, and to the east is the Cholo River.

Robert Montgomery Martin and J.Rapkin Mexico, California, and Texas 1:13,305,600. In

The Illustrated Atlas and Modern History of the World Geographical, Political,

Commercial, and Statistical Robert Montgomery Martin,editor London:London Printing

and Publishing Company,1851 Charles E.Young Research Library Photocopy. This map

labels the Rockies in Colorado as Sierra de Anahuac; Anahuac is the pre-Columbian

name of Mexico. It also locates Las Casas Grandes Aztec Ruins near what is today

Tucson, Arizona.

* Cuadro historico – geroglificio de la peregrinacion de las tribus aztecas In

Atlas geográfico, estadístico, é histórico de la República Mexicana, Antonio

García Cubas Mexico: Miguel Angel Porrúa,1989 Charles E.Young Research Library

Henry J.Bruman Map Collections Facsimile of atlas originally published in 1858. * A

black & white key to this map is also included.

* Didier Robert de Vaugondy (1723-86) Carte de la Californie et des pays

nord-ouest:separés de l’Asie par le Détroit d’Anian, extraite de deux cartes

publiées au commencement du 17e siecle 1:19,500,000 1772 Charles E.Young Research

Library Henry J.Bruman Map Collection.

* Johannes Ruysch (d.1533) Universalior cogniti orbis tabula ex recentibus confecta

observationibus 1:54,000,000 Rome:Impressum per B.de Vitalibus,expesis E.Tosino,1508

Reprint,Washington,D.C.:Norris Peters Co.,19—? Charles E.Young Research Library

Henry J.Bruman Map Collections.

* Paolo Forlani Il designo del discoperto della Nova Franza ... Scale not given

[Venice:Paolo Forlani,1566?] State 1 Ascribed to Paolo Forlani as engraver and

publisher by David Woodward and Philip Burden. Previously attributed to Bolognino

Zaltieri. Facsimile In Historical Maps Canada = Canada Cartes Historiques

Ottawa:Association of Canadian Map Libraries,1980Charles E.Young Research Library

Henry J.Bruman Map Collections. Chicana and CIVOLA are shown on this map.

· Other maps included as part of this research

1536 Santa Cruz. Cites Nuevo Mexico near a lake, that may be Salt Lake, though it is

depicted in an area closer to the Great Lakes. Dennis Reinhartz cites as possibly

1566, though even that ddate would make it the earliest citation for the name of

Nuevo Mexico.

Richard Haklyut, 1587. This map depicts what appea4rs to be Salt Lake. This predates

the Miera Pacheco map by 2 centuries. Reinhartz postulates that later maps hid this

feature and others, possibly to protect mines, etc. This may explain why maps vary

greatly as he postulates that mapping was greatly guarded secrets.

Tallis, 1851. This map depicts Sierra de Anahuac in Colorado (the Rockies). It also

shows Las Casas Grandes Aztec Ruins, several tears after the Mexican American war.