This much is, to say the least, reasonable conjecture. It is probably a thousand years since the Mound Builders left our country; a previous thousand years of settlement and occupation; and a thousand years for the precedent civilization to develop. Or, beginning in Mexico, we have a thousand years of Spaniard and Aztec; a previous thousand years for Toltec immigration and settlement, and a thousand years before that for the Colhuas to develop, flourish and decline. This carries us back near to the time when the same course of events was inaugurated in the Eastern Hemisphere. We know that it has required so long to produce the civilization of Europe and Asia; all reasoning by analogy goes to show that at least as long a time has been required to produce equally as great civilization in America.
Indeed it is not a stretch of the imagination to conclude that within a few centuries of the same period when the Northern Barbarians were sweeping down on Southern Europe and smiting its civilization with the besom of destruction, that history was repeating itself on this continent in the expulsion of our civilized Mound Builders, and the destruction of everything perishable by our Northern Barbarians, the wild Indian tribes, the American Tartars, who also came from northern Asia, and who were, broadly speaking, the same race.
These are my views on this much mooted question. I do not pretend to have settled the matter, and still look for more light. But, "what I have written, I have written," after much investigation and careful thought. I send this book forth on its mission, and through its printed pages have endeavored to "speak as to wise men;" and to that class will only add, "judge ye what I say."
Just as we were about to publish this work, our attention was called to an illustrated article in the Cosmopolitan giving an account of the expedition sent out by Morris K. Jesup, president of the American Museum of Natural History, of New York.
Mr. Jesup has spent a large sum of money, and eight years' time, in a minute study of the aboriginal tribes of northwest America and Siberia, the results of which will soon be published in twelve volumes.
The principal object of this expedition was to find an answer to the question, How was this continent peopled? It was believed by Mr. Jesup and his advisers that by studying tribal customs, characteristics, traditions and languages of the oldest remaining tribes of northeastern Asia and northwestern America, the mooted question could be settled.
This was accordingly done, but, strange to say, their conclusions are, that instead of America being peopled by tribes from northeastern Asia, "it seems most probable that the emigration has been from the interior of America westward to the Pacific coast, and thence on to Asia."
There is not a hint in the article under consideration of anything like proof (whatever there may be in the twelve volumes), and even if it were established, which is not claimed, it would still fail of an answer to the question as to how America was peopled.
The world cares but little for a fine-spun theory as to how Asia was peopled, and if this is the principal result of the millions of money, eight years of time and twelve quarto volumes, then it would almost seem that "the mountain has labored and brought forth a mouse."
But we believe the twelve volumes will throw very much more light on the subject, and concede that it would be an injustice to judge of the results of the expedition by a brief magazine article, and await the complete report with intense interest.