I want to tell you a story about a haunted place called Aztalan that I visited to do research for my second book of the series, The Library Kids The Serpent of Rock Lake.
Aztalan is a mysterious place near Rock Lake (Lake Mills, Wisconsin). The site was abandoned and no one knows why to this day. There are stories of fights between the inhabitants and Red Horn of the Ho-Chunk. Aztalan state park is Wisconsin's most important archaeological site. The remains are from a Mississippian peoples’ village that existed between A.D. 900 and 1300.
I decided to visit this mysterious place during the winter and see for myself what the place looked like. I went to the main park and got out to see the Crawfish River. I saw the large pyramid mounds, next. There were 3 of them as the brochure had mentioned. No one was there and the place was absolutely peaceful. It felt like home, to me.
I walked through the snow, to the large pyramid and walked up the steps. I walked to the top where the snow had melted and I looked around. I felt as if I had been there before. I noticed the stockade fence and wondered what it was like for the inhabitants who lived there.
Next I drove to the Princess Mound. The Princess Mound contained the body of a woman who was in her twenties when she died. She was buried with 3 shell belts that contained various shells. Some of them came from the Gulf of Mexico. It was an unusual burial and the woman was thought to be some one of importance or perhaps someone who had died under a unique condition because her burial was away from the other burial mounds and her belts were elaborate. Perhaps this woman was murdered.
I got out and again, no one was around. There were no animals and the museum was closed. There was some snow on the ground there as well. I began to take pictures of the princess mound and then I heard it.
Behind me was a rattling type noise that came from no where. I turned around, but could see no one or anything that was causing this noise. I turned back around and began to take another picture. And then the rattling noise came back, right behind me. I turned around, but nothing was there. I looked at the trees behind the grave to see if there were any animals. But there were none.
I looked all around, but there was nothing.
I turned again and took one more picture and then the noise came back again, right behind me.
Again for the 3rd time, I turned and could find nothing that had caused the sound. At this point, I decided it was time for me to go.
Perhaps that mound is haunted as others have said it is. And the sound I heard was from the shell belts of the Princess who didn’t want me to be alone at the mound.
She let me know that she was still there.
