El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Act of 1998

Summary: El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Act of 1998 - Amends the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``El Camino Real de los Tejas National 
Historic Trail Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) El Camino Real de los Tejas (the Royal Road to the 
        Tejas), served as the primary route between the Spanish 
        viceregal capital of Mexico City and the Spanish provincial 
        capital of Tejas at Los Adaes (1721-1773) and San Antonio 
        (1773-1821);
            (2) the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth 
        century rivalries among the European colonial powers of Spain, 
        France, and England and after their independence, Mexico and 
        the United States, for dominion over lands fronting the Gulf of 
        Mexico, were played out along the evolving travel routes in 
        this immense area;
            (3) the future of several American Indian nations, whose 
        prehistoric trails were later used by the Spaniards for 
        exploration and colonization, was tied to these larger forces 
        and events and the nations were fully involved in and affected 
        by the complex cultural interactions that ensued;
            (4) the Old San Antonio Road was a series of routes 
        established in the early 19th century sharing the same corridor 
        and some routes of El Camino Real, and carried American 
        immigrants from the east, contributing to the formation of the 
        Republic of Texas, and its annexation to the United States;
            (5) the exploration, conquest, colonization, settlement, 
        migration, military occupation, religious conversion, and 
        cultural exchange that occurred in a large area of the 
        borderland was facilitated by El Camino Real de los Tejas as it 
        carried Spanish and Mexican influences northeastward, and by 
        its successor, the Old San Antonio Road, which carried American 
        influence westward, during a historic period which extended 
        from 1689 to 1850; and
            (6) the portions of El Camino Real de los Tejas in what is 
        now the United States extended from the Rio Grande near Eagle 
        Pass and Laredo, Texas and involved routes that changed through 
        time, that total almost 2,600 miles in combined length, 
        generally coursing northeasterly through San Antonio, Bastrop, 
        Nacogdoches, and San Augustine in Texas to Natchitoches, 
        Louisiana, a general corridor distance of 550 miles.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

    Section 5(a) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a) 
is amended--
            (1) by designating the paragraphs relating to the 
        California National Historic Trail, the Pony Express National 
        Historic Trail, and the Selma to Montgomery National Historic 
        Trail as paragraphs (18), (19), and (20), respectively; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(22) El camino real de los tejas.--
                    ``(A) In general.--El Camino Real de los Tejas (The 
                Royal Road to the Tejas) National Historic Trail, a 
                combination of routes totaling 2,580 miles in length 
                from the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and Laredo, Texas 
                to Natchitoches, Louisiana, and including the Old San 
                Antonio Road, as generally depicted on the maps 
                entitled `El Camino Real de los Tejas', contained in 
                the report prepared pursuant to subsection (b) entitled 
                `National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and 
                Environmental Assessment: El Camino Real de los Tejas, 
                Texas-Louisiana', dated ____ July 1998. A map generally 
                depicting the trail shall be on file and available for 
                public inspection in the Office of the National Park 
                Service, Department of the Interior. The trail shall be 
                administered by the Secretary of the Interior. No land 
                or interest in land outside the exterior boundaries of 
                any federally administered area may be acquired by the 
                United States for the trail except with the consent of 
                the owner of the land or interest in land.
                    ``(B) Coordination of activities.--The Secretary of 
                the Interior may coordinate with United States and 
                Mexican public and non-governmental organizations, 
                academic institutions, and, in consultation with the 
                Secretary of State, the government of Mexico and its 
                political subdivisions, for the purpose of exchanging 
                trail information and research, fostering trail 
                preservation and educational programs, providing 
                technical assistance, and working to establish an 
                international historic trail with complementary 
                preservation and education programs in each nation.''.

            Passed the Senate October 14 (legislative day, October 2), 
      1998.

            Attest:

                                                    GARY SISCO,

                                                             Secretary.