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The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 5, Primitive History, Volume 5

Note VI-2 — Chapter VI · THE CHICHIMEC PERIOD.—CONTINUED.

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I give here as compactly as possible the course of the Aztec migration as given by the leading authorities:—Leave Aztlan 1 Tecpatl, 1064 A.D., and travel 104 years to Chicomoztoc, where they remain 9 years; thence to Cohuatlicamac, 3 years, Matlahuacallan, 6, Apanco, 5, Chimalco, 6, Pipiolcomic, 3, Tollan, 6, Cohuactepec (Coatepec), 3, Atlitlalacayan, 2, Atotonilco, 1, Tepexic, 5, Apasco, 3, Tzonpanco, 7, Tizayocan, 1, Ecatepec, 1, Tolpetlac, 3, Chimalpan, 4, Cohuatitlan, 2, Huexachtitlan, 3, Tecpayocan, 3, Tepeyacac (Guadalupe), 3, Pantitlan, 2 years, and thence to Chapultepec, arriving in 1298, after a migration of 185 years, which necessitates an addition of 49 years for their stay in Michoacan. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 91-8. According to Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 77-82, they reached Huey Culhuacan one year after their start; the time consumed in reaching Chicomoztoc is not given, and no dates are mentioned. Otherwise the account agrees exactly with Veytia's, except that an unnamed station is represented as having occupied 3 of the 6 years' stay at Matlahuacallan; there are also a few slight differences in orthography. Tezozomoc's account is as follows:—Aztlan, Culhuacan, Jalisco, Mechoacan, Malinalco (Lake Patzcuaro), Ocopipilla, Acahualcingo, Coatepec (in Tonalan), Atlitlanquian or Atitalaquia, Tequisquiac, Atengo, Tzompan, Cuachilgo, Xaltocan and Lake Chinamitl, Eycoac, Ecatepc, Aculhuacan, Tultepetlac, Huixachtitlan, Tecpayuca (in 2 Calli), Atepetlac, Coatlayauhcan, Tetepanco, Acolnahuac, Popotla (Tacuba), Chapultepec (Techcatepec and Techcatitlan) in 2 Tochtli. Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 5-8. Following Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 156-63, the Aztecs left Aztlan in 1160, crossed the Colorado River, stayed 3 years at Hueicolhuacan, went east to Chicomoztoc, where they separated from the Nahuatlaca tribes, then to Coatlicamac, and reached Tula in 1196, remaining 9 years; then spent 11 years in different places, reached Zumpanco in 1216, remaining 7 years, then Tizajocan, Tolpetlac, Tepejacac, and Chapultepec in 1245 during Nopaltzin's reign. Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 124-9, merely makes some remarks on Clavigero's account, fixing the departure, however, in 1064, and noting the completion of the first cycle in 1090 at Tlalixco. Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., pp. 19-20, makes them leave Aztlan in 1 Tecpatl, 1064, and arrive at Tlalixco, or Acahualtzinco, in 1087, where they completed their first cycle in 1091, and remained 9 years. Acosta, pp. 454-62, says that 6 Nahuatlaca tribes left Aztlan in 820, and were 80 years in reaching Mexico. The Aztecs started in 1122, passed through Michoacan, and halted at Malinalco and Coatepec before reaching Chapultepec. Herrera, dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. x-xi, agrees with Acosta. Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. i, ii, iii, says they left Aztlan in Chicomoztoc, giving dates as by Acosta; but he also gives as stations, Patzcuaro, Malinalco, Ocipila, Acahualcingo, Coatepec, Tulla, Atlitlalacpan, Tequixquiac, Tzumpanco, Xaltocan, Ecatepec, Tulpetlac, Tepaneca, and Chapultepec. Sahagun, tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 145-6, vaguely states that the Mexicans went westward from the Seven Caves to a province called Culhuacan Mexico, whence they were ordered by their god to return, and passed through Tulla, Ichpuchco, Chiquiuhio near Ecatepec, to Chapultepec. According to Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 290-308, the other Nahuatlaca tribes left Aztlan from 1062 to 1068, but the Aztecs in 1 Tochtli, 1090. They pass through Téo-Culhuacan, Quahuitl-Icacan, 1091, Quinehuayan-Oztotl or Quinehuayan-Chicomoztoc, 1116, stay 11 years, Acahualtzinco or Tlalixco (now S. Juan del Rio), 1st cycle in 1143, stay 9 years, Tonalan, Lake Patzcuaro, Malinalco, Cohuatlycamac or Coatepec, 1174, stay 9 years, Apazco, Tzompanco, Tizayocan, Tepeyacac, Pantitlan, Popotlan, and arrive at Chapultepec in 1194, having been several times broken up into different bands on the way. Humboldt's—Vues, tom. ii., p. 176, et seq.—interpretation of Gemelli Careri's map—see vol. ii., pp. 543-7, of this work—gives the stations in the following order: From Colhuacan, the Mexican Ararat, 15 chiefs or tribes reach Aztlan, 'land of flamingoes,' north of 42°, which they leave in 1038, passing through Tocolco, 'humiliation,' Oztotlan, 'place of grottoes,' Mizquiahuala, Teotzapotlan, 'place of divine fruit,' Ilhuicatepec, Papantla, 'large-leaved grass,' Tzompanco, 'place of human bones,' Apazco, 'clay vessel,' Atlicalaguian, 'crevice in which rivulet escapes,' Quauhtitlan, 'eagle grove,' Atzcapotzalco, 'ant-hill,' Chalco, 'place of precious stones,' Pantitlan, 'spinning-place,' Tolpetlac, 'rush mat,' Quauhtepec, 'eagle mountain,' Tetepanco, 'wall of many small stones,' Chicomoztoc, 'seven caves,' Huitzquilocan, 'place of thistles,' Xaltepozauhcan, 'place where the sand issues,' Cozcaquauhco, 'a vulture', Techcatitlan, 'place of obsidian mirrors,' Azcaxochitl, 'ant flower,' Tepetlapan, 'place of tepetate,' Apan, 'place of water,' Teozomaco, 'place of divine apes,' Chapoltepec, 'grasshopper hill.' Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. iii., pp. 5-7, repeats this interpretation. Ramirez, in García y Cubas, Atlas, justly ridicules the 'Ararat' or deluge theory, and confines the wanderings of the Aztecs to the regions about the lakes; 15 chiefs leave their home in Chalco Lake after tying 1st cycle. The stations are mostly adopted from Humboldt, without any opinion expressed of their accuracy, but there are a few additions and corrections in definitions, as follows:—Aztlan, where 2d and 3d cycle are tied, Cincotlan, 10 years, Tocolco, 4th cycle, Oztotlan, 5 years, Mizquiahuala, 5th cycle, Xalpan, 15 years, Tetepanco, 'wall of many stones,' 5 years, Oxitlipan, 10 years, Teotzapatlan, 4 years, Ilhuicatepec, 4 years, Papantla, meaning doubtful, 2 years, Tzonpanco, 'place of skulls or bones,' 5 years, Apazco, 4 years, Atlicalaquian, 'where water collects,' 2 years, Cauhtitlan, 'near the eagle,' 3 years, Azcapotzalco, 'in the ant-hill,' 6th cycle, 7 years, 1 year to Chalco, Pantitlan, 'place of tiers,' 'place of departure,' neither quite correct; Tolpetlac, 2 years, Epcohuac, 'serpent,' Cuauhtepec, 2 years, Chicomoztoc, 8 years, Huitzquilocal, 3 years, Xaltepozauhcan, doubtful, 4 years, Cozcacuauhco, 4 years, Techcatitlan, 5 years, Azcaxochic, 4 years, Tepetlapa, 5 years, Apan, 'on the water,' Teozomaco, 'in the monkey of stone,' 6 years, Chapoltepec, 4 years. The same author from the Boturini map—see vol. ii., pp. 547-50—derives the following: Left their island home, passed through Coloacan, stayed 5 days in a place not named, thence to Cuextecatlichocayan, Coatlicamac, 28 years, Tollan, 19, Atlicalaquiam, 10, Tlemaco, 5, Atotonilco, 5, Apazco, 12, Tzonpanco, 4, Xaltocan, 4, Acalhuacan, 4, Ehecatepec, 4, Tolpetlac, 8, Coatitlan, 20, Huixachtitlan, 4, Tecpayocan, 4, ——, Amalinalpan, 8, Pantitlan, 4, Acolnahuac, 4, Popotla, 4, ——, Atlacuihuayan or Tacubaya, 4, Chapoltepec, 20 years. Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. iii., pp. 23-30, interprets the Boturini map as follows:—Leave Aztlan 1168, pass through Colhuacan, Cuatlicamaca, 1216-25, Apanco, 1226-9, Tlamaco, 1230-4, Tzompango, 1246, Azcapotzalco, 1250, Jaltocan, 1251-4, Colhuacan, 1258, Tolpetlac, 1262, Ecatepetl, 1270, Cuautitlan, Chalco, Tecpayocan, 1295, Pantitlan, Atotonilco, 1303, Azcapotzalco, 1311, Apan, 1315, Acaxochitl, 1319, Tlacuihuallan, 1327, Chapoltepetl, 1331-51.

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