There is a legend that speaks of Aztec treasure that were secretly carried away by Aztec people just before Cortez and his Spanish conquered the Aztecs. Where is this treasure hiding today? Some people believe the treasure was taken back to the Aztecs Homeland of Aztlan. A land that they knew before they relocated their people to Mexico City in the 1300s. 

 

THE SPANISH DEFEATED THE MIGHTY AZTECS

Spanish conquistadors entered the Aztec city called Tenochtitlan in 1519 A.D. with some help from others that knew the Aztec language and location of their city. After some time, the Spanish decided to conquer the Aztecs.  Montezuma knew of the desires and intentions of the Spanish and wanted to protect their history, documents, and treasures safe from the plundering. During the battle, Montezuma entrusted some of his people to remove their treasure from the city without the Spanish noticing that riches were being removed. 

 

WHAT IS MONTEZUMA’S TREASURE WORTH?

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – Chapter 1

During my several years of research on this story, It has helped paint a picture for me that shows that the Aztecs had a very vast treasure. The Aztecs were not gold miners and they did not learn the method of making gold objects but the Mixtec culture was.  The Aztecs paid for and traded with the Mixtec for valuables and they were experts in melting down gold and silver and records suggest that they made many treasures of gold for the Aztecs. 

Here’s another thing to think about. The Aztec historical documents, where are those? The Aztecs had their own written language, but yet today, there’s not much out there to study. Did the Spanish destroy all of the Aztecs’ written documents or did those documents disappear with their treasures and valuables? 

Some scholars believe that the Aztec treasure, also known as Montezuma’s treasure, would be worth over 1 billion dollars in today’s money. I would say that could be very true, but what if it is hidden in a safe location somewhere with gold, silver, documents, and more? Could it be worth more if found? The answer is yes! It could be worth so much that a price tag could be huge and with a price we can only imagine!

 

THE BACKSTORY OF THE AZTEC CULTURE AND THEIR HOMELAND

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – Chapter 2

The Aztec empire did not live in Tenochtitlan (currently known as Mexico City) for very long. In fact, they lived in Mexico for no more than 225 years before Cortez and the Spanish plundered and destroyed their city. The Aztec culture arrived in Mexico to start building their new city sometime in the year of 1300 A.D. 

It’s amazing to think about the pyramid structure and city that they built in that short amount of time. This knowledge couldn’t have come from a new civilization. The Aztecs were not a new culture in the 1300’s.  They were a sophisticated group of people that relocated from their homeland and brought their knowledge and it was gradually mixed with the surrounding cultures of Mexico, lIke the Maya and Mixtec people. But where did they come from? 

Aztlan is the name of their homeland. Some historians believe that the Aztec people lived in Aztlan for thousands of years before relocating to Mexico. If that was true, they would have known this land very well. Perhaps they knew it well enough to possibly know a secret hiding place where they could lock their treasure away forever. There’s many theories out there, but I like to focus more on local information and legends. 

 

MEET THE TREASURE HUNTING TEAM

 

MEXICO CITY AND ITS LEGENDS OF THE AZTEC CIVILIZATION

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – Chapter 3

Antonio Mendez, Treasures in America partner and team member, grew up in the surrounding area of Mexico City until he was 18 years old. In all the years that I’ve known Antonio, I would say that he is a very hard worker, a great partner and friend, and an honest man. He has told me that Mexico has many stories of the Maya, Aztecs, and more. He has told me many things that I haven’t heard before. My research has given me knowledge including what the local people say about their history. It is not information that is tweaked and intertwined with their own narratives. 

Antonio has taught me much about the Mexican culture and the Aztec story is an interesting one. It is said by Mexicans that the Aztecs did in fact, come from their homeland. They were once a part of a great civilization that lived North of Mexico. This thriving culture lived as one, for thousands of years, until one day, it separated into seven civilizations. For a while, these seven cultures started growing apart from each other and away from their original homeland. One day, the Mexican Aztecs were told by one of their Gods to find a new promised land.

The Aztec people traveled South of their homeland, at that time, trying to find a new place to live. For 200 years they tried to settle in a new home, again and again, only to be driven out by native cultures in the area. After a long journey, the Aztec people settled in the place where modern day Mexico City is now located. 

After careful consideration of the Mexico City area, the Mexica (Aztec) people decided to build a floating island in a lake and that’s where the great city of Tenochtitlan layed. This island was massive and the engineering of its structures, water source, and upkeep was no elementary planning or endeavor. We are talking about a great city. So great that the Spanish were heading towards the Aztecs and carefully planning their own tactics for their victory. At this time of Cortez, there were many great cities in Central and Southern America. The Aztec city must have been a grand place for all of Mexico to compare to others when the Spanish inquired about other thriving cultures and cities.

 

CLUES ABOUT AZTLAN’S LOCATION – HOMELAND TO THE AZTECS

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – Chapter 4

Some people say the flag of Mexico holds a couple of good clues as to where the Aztecs homeland once was located. The cactus is a clue to their homeland, or some think it is. According to some of my friends that grew up in the Mexico City area, the Mexico flag was inspired by the Aztecs and a couple of symbols were placed as reminders and pride of the Aztec culture. The rattlesnake is another clue. 

I have lived in the Western states of North America all of my life. I can think of a couple of locations where cactus and rattlesnakes are a symbolization of the state.  They are Arizona, New Mexico, and southern Utah. This does go along with the story of the Aztecs traveling South from their homelands. Let’s look at a few more clues left by the Aztecs. 

 

This picture has many clues, I believe!  If someone could only unlock the mysteries to it! Again you can see the cactus that resembles closely to the Saguaro cactus from Arizona and some parts of New Mexico. The next clue, I believe, is that the Mexican people believe that the Aztecs were once a part of a grander and much larger group of people, and in time that culture became seven different tribes (or cultures). 

One more interesting clue is that this picture represents a cave of 7 chambers or 7 tribes living together in a specific area. It shows water and some native Indian symbolizations of the Native Indians of North America. At the same time, it shows hints to what we would think of Central America cultures like the Maya, Aztecs, Toltecs, and more. 

This seems strange to me and reminds me of the research I have done on the Lost Egyptian City of the Grand Canyon. Could there be more to the story of the North American Indian tribes? It’s also interesting to learn about Egyptian like pyramids found North of Mexico City, like Teotihuacan. These were not built by the Aztecs. Their story tells us that this city was long abandoned by the time they reached Mexico City in the 1300s. In my mind, clearly, there’s more to ancient American history than we were taught in schools. 

 

AZTEC BUILDING METHODS AND ENGINEERING

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – Chapter 5

One thing that my studies have taught me to realize is that different cultures had different building methods, although many can say that cultures inherited similar building methods, language, written words, and symbols, I know for a fact that Rome wasn’t built in a day. The mighty Maya did not learn how to build their pyramids overnight. All cultures learned how to build better, bigger, and more efficient buildings over time. 

So my question is, how did the Aztecs end up in Mexico city and build a floating island so sophisticated that it lasted with this group of people for over 200 years before Cortez and the Conquistadors conquered them? They had to have learned about building such great structures from those who had lived where they came from. Or did they team up with another culture that taught them the building methods? I tend to lean more towards they had the knowledge from the past building. 

So now that leaves us looking for ancient ruins in Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Utah. The thing is, I have already done this. Arizona has many great cliff dwellings and they are magnificent but they don’t seem to have the same engineering as the Aztec city in Mexico City. One obvious place in Arizona could be Montezuma’s Castle near Camp Verde. It has the name but again, it doesn’t feel Aztec. I visited Montezuma’s Castle and it feels very much like North American Indians. I’m not saying the possibility is zero but, how did the Aztecs go from clay structures in a cliff to a man-made island and pyramids in Mexico City? If someone reaches out to the local Indian tribes surrounding the Grand Canyon, I bet they will find more to the story than we now know.

Mesa Verde National Park and Ruins in Colorado are beautiful, but I think they aren’t Aztec engineering either. They are very great structures but it doesn’t feel Aztec made, but again more like Northern American Indian tribes. So where does that leave us in the hunt? 

 

ANCIENT RUINS OF NORTHERN AMERICA

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – Chapter 6

Now, I ask you as the reader, what great ruins does North America have? I have been pondering on this for a while. When I travel to Mexico, I can spend all day traveling and visiting ancient ruins but in America, that is harder to do. Why do you think that is so?

At first, I figured it had something to do with the ice age and global warming from thousands of years ago, but after some research, places like Utah, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and many more were not affected like the northern states. So why is it hard to find grand structures and ruins in North America? It makes me wonder if the great civilizations of North America did it differently. I have read many reports of civilizations living in caves, even Grand cities under the ground. 

Is it possible that these cities underground have not been found or that history is being suppressed? I would say yes and yes to both. Another thought is dams and man-made lakes in North America. It is not the first time I have researched an old legend and my tracks stop where water and man-made lakes begin. We have all heard of Lake Powell, right? Did you know that at the bottom of Lake Powell, some of the best native Indians structures and artifacts can still be found? On one, before the dam was finished, 3 people were allowed to study the Glen Canyon area before it was flooded forever.  

Is it possible that Aztlan could be sitting at the bottom of a man-made lake? I would say let’s not discard that at this point. 

 

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ANCIENT LAKES OF NORTHERN AMERICA

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – Chapter 7

Since the Aztecs had the knowledge of building a great floating island city in Mexico, it could be safe to say that they might have done this same building in Aztlan. That leads me to ponder on possibilities that Aztlan could be a buried city in North America somewhere. It’s not the first time this has happened. I’ve been working with a tribe in South Mexico that built their modern day city on top of an ancient buried city without knowing they did so. If you can’t imagine how that happened read this blog I wrote, Ancient Lost City in Mexico. 

Many people believe that there are great lakes in North America that can’t be seen today. Many people have studied these areas and are convinced that many great lakes once existed. Is it possible that Aztlan could be buried underground with time? Our planet is a magnificent place and it still intrigues me today. Our planet has pushed the reset buttons many times and each time it has, many new things change geologically and more. So where does this leave us? I would say with many questions, and not enough answers, only possibilities. 

Modern day technology can change this. With tech devices, like LiDar and GPR, we could scan areas to see if man-made structures are hidden in vegetation or buried under the ground. The millions dollar question is where to start the search? 

 

MODERN DAY TREASURE HUNTING & RESEARCHING

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – Chapter 8

Montezuma’s Treasure in Kanab Utah or the Uinta Mountains in Utah

I can think of some legends in Utah that could help with a starting point. Back in the 1800s, a man traveled to Kanab, Utah, on his bicycle, from Salt Lake City. He showed the townspeople an ancient map that he believed was Aztec. He also believed that this old map pointed to Kanab and that the great Monetuzma’s treasure was hidden in a cave system a few miles out of town. Within a short time, he convinced 85% of the town to help him look for the treasure. For a couple of months, Kanab’s stores, hotels, and many other businesses had closed signs on their storefronts,  because the whole town was hoping to find this lost treasure. 

The treasure was never located on record but a cave system, strange rock carving symbols, and more were found in the area. Could this be the great city of the Aztecs? The search has started and ended many times. Modern day treasure hunters in the 1990s worked with a landowner because they believed the treasure was hidden on his property. A few bad things happened during their hunt and even the man lost his life. The landowners suddenly had a stroke of bad luck. The hunt was abandoned and the landowners will not allow treasure hunting on their lands today. 

There are many stories of curses and bad energy in Utah surrounding these legends and ancient people and treasures.   

There is another large group of people that believe Montezuma’s treasure is stored and hidden from man in the Uinta Mountains, in the northeast section of Utah’s largest mountain range. The Uinta Mountains have so many legends and they all revolve around secrets, mysteries, curses, ancient cultures, and the Spanish. If a man spent his whole life studying these mysteries, he would not be able to conduct 50% of these legends in his lifetime. There are many mysteries in the Uinta Mountains. Ute Indians, Navajo Indians, and other tribes have lived in this mountain range for thousands of years. Their stories could really gain the attention of an explorer today. 

Strange pictographs can be found very near Vernal, Utah. The locals call this the 3 Kings Panel. The panel is very magnificent and scholars and professionals have tried to unlock the mystery of these ancient people and who they were. Because of the stories of the Spanish explorers in the Uinta Mountains, from the 1600s to the 1800s, researchers are lead to believe they were not only there to mine gold and silver, but they were looking for something significant, something of value. That’s what the Spanish did back then. They were plunderers and conquerors.

• I have only scratched the surface of the legends but I hope that I have opened your mind to possibilities that we can still learn much about the real history in North, Central, and South America. I have given you some tools to start your journey. See where it takes you. Read some of my other blogs!  They are of different stories similar to this one. Discoveries are made all the time!   Maybe you are someone that has what it takes to make a discovery!  Give it a try! You may learn something that stays with you forever. 

 

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Good luck!  Be Safe!  Find Your Adventures!

 

Written by Timothy C. Draper

Edited by Brenda Dopp

 

THE SEARCH FOR AZTEC TREASURE & AZTLAN – MONTEZUMA’S TREASURE – 2021

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