[8]. See Mormon 6.
[9]. Very naturally there is much confusion on the subject of migratory movements among the ancient native inhabitants of America, and this owing to the confounding of migrations from the old world with later intercontinental movements. Also there is a great division of opinion among authorities upon the subject, some alleging, for instance, that the tribes who established the civilization, found in Mexico by the Spaniards, came from the north—some from the northeast, others from the northwest while others insist that the movement was from Central America northward. The controversy waged on this subject is too extensive to be introduced into this note or even into this work. But I may here say that the disagreement among so many writers worthy of our respect grows out of the fact that there were movements both north and south which leads to their confusion. We know from the Book of Mormon that the general migratory movement of the Nephites at an early date—55 B. C.—was from the south northward; while during the period of peace which followed Messiah's advent, there was unrestricted movements of population north and south. Then came the period of gathering in the north, south of the great lakes, ending in the disaster about Cumorah; then the movement of the people from the north southward to the old centers of population, and the reviving of partially civilized conditions. One class of writers seized upon the fragmentary tradition concerning this northward movement for their conclusions, while another class seizes upon the tradition of the southward movement for their authority, and hence the conflict. Of the traditions of the northern origin of the Aztecs, Prescott remarks: "Traditions of the western, or northwestern, origin were found among the more barbarous tribes, and by the Mexicans were preserved both orally and in their hieroglyphical maps, where the different stages of their migrations are carefully noted. But who, at this day, shall read them? They are admitted to agree, however, in representing the populous north as the prolific hive of the American races. In this quarter were placed their Aztlan, and their Huehuetapallan, the bright abode of their ancestors, whose warlike exploits rivalled those which the Teutonic nations have recorded of Odin and the mythic heroes of Scandanavia. From this quarter the Toltecs, the Chichemecs, and the kindred races of the Nahuatlacs, came successively up the great plateau of the Andes, spreading over its hills and valleys, down to the Gulf of Mexico." (Conquest of Mexico, vol. II, pp. 397, 398, Burt & Co., N. Y.) Also Nadaillac speaking of the invaders of the valley of Mexico says: "All these men, whether Toltecs, Chichimecs, or Aztecs, believed that their people came from the north, and migrated southward, seeking more fertile lands, more genial climates, or perhaps driven before a more warlike race; one wave of emigration succeeding another. We must, according to this tradition, seek in more northern regions the cradle of the Nahuatl race." (Pre-Historic America, p. 13.) Baldwin, quoting Brasseus de Bourbourg and Sahagun allows a northeast migration for the Toltecs (Ancient America, pp. 200, 202), but insists that the Aztecs who succeeded these races in the occupation of the valley of Mexico came from the south (pp. 217, 218). This view of the southern origin for the Aztecs is also maintained at some length and by an extensive citation of authorities by Bancroft. (Native Races, vol. V, ch. 3.)
[10]. Intellectual Development of Europe, vol. II. pp. 166-167.
[11]. Pre-Historic America, p. 386.
[12]. Conquest of Mexico, vol. I, pp. 57, 58.
[13]. Native Races, vol. II, pp. 804, 805.
[14]. Ancient America, (Baldwin) p. 215.
[15]. Conquest of Mexico, (Prescott) vol. I, p. 39.
[16]. Conquest of Mexico, (Prescott) vol. I, p. 354.
[17]. Peru, Incidents of Travel and Exploration of the Land of the Incas, E. George Squier, M. A. F. S. A.