266 AZTALAN. 



being gradually obliterated by the plough. Under these cir- 

 cumstances, we read with pleasure that " the Directors of the 

 Ohio Land Company, when they took possession of the country 

 at the mouth of the Muskingum Eiver, in 1788, adopted 

 immediate measures for the preservation of these monuments. 

 To their credit be it said, one of their earliest official acts was 

 the passage of a resolution, which is entered upon the Journal 

 of their proceedings, reserving the two truncated pyramids 

 and the great mound, with a few acres attached to each, as 

 public squares." Such enlightened conduct deserves the 

 thanks of archaeologists, and I sincerely hope that the Com- 

 pany has prospered. 



Both as being the only example of an enclosure yet observed 

 in Wisconsin, and also as having in many respects a great 

 resemblance to a fortified town, the ruins of Aztalan are well 

 worthy of attention. They are situated on the west branch 

 of Eock Eiver, and were discovered in 1836 by 1ST. F. Hyer, 

 Esq., who surveyed them roughly, and published a brief 

 description, with a figure, in the "Milwaukie Advertiser." 

 In " Silliman's American Journal," No. XLIV., is a paper on 

 the subject by Mr. Taylor, from which was derived the plan 

 and the short account given by Messrs. Squier and Davis.* 

 The most complete description is contained in Mr. Lapham's 

 "Antiquities of Wisconsin." ) The name "Aztalan" was given 

 to this place by Mr. Hyer, because the Aztecs had a tradition 

 that they originally came from a country to the north, which 

 they called Aztalan. It is said to be derived from two Mexi- 

 can words, Atl, ' water,' and An, ' near.' " The main feature 

 of these works is an enclosure of earth (not brick, as has been 

 erroneously stated), extending around three sides of an irregu- 

 lar parallelogram ;" the river " forming the fourth side on the 

 east. The space thus enclosed contains seventeen acres and 



two-thirds. The corners are not rectangular, and the embank- 



<-/ ' 



* 1. c. p. 131. t P. 41. 



