Submitted to:
New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
Historic Preservation Division
228 E. Palace Ave.
Santa Fe, NM 87501

Submitted by:
Carol J. Ellick
SRI Foundation
333 Rio Rancho Dr. NE, Suite 103
Rio Rancho, NM 87124
USA

September 2003

THE GRAND ADVENTURE!
Welcome Travelers
Welcome to the grand adventure! Lessons on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro will lead all involved ina traveling experience unlike any other. The four lessons take the traveler from the present to the past andfrom Mexico City to Santa Fe. Travel through time on highways, back roads, and trails. Discover what
was bought, sold, and traded. Learn how a time of exploration shaped our lives today.
Project Goals
The principal goal of this project was to create a set of four lessons relating to the history of travel andtrade on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the 1,550-mile road that linked Mexico City to Santa Fe
during Spanish colonial and later times. The lessons have been designed to be used in both New Mexicoand Mexico, in English-only, English-as-a-second-language, bilingual, and Spanish-only classrooms.
Much has been written about El Camino Real, a rugged, often dangerous trail that served foralmost three centuries as the major trade route north from Mexico City. Documentary sources that wehave used in preparing the lessons include journals, maps, official and informal lists of items carried on
the road, and descriptions of events that took place along the way. The journals are an especiallyinteresting source and include private diaries, official military accounts, and the observations ofprofessional merchants.
Most of the people traveling El Camino Real were men, and it is primarily from their accounts
that we know the history of the road. But other perspectives are also represented, and there are otherhistories to be told. A secondary goal of these lessons is to introduce students to the idea that history
often extends beyond what a textbook might provide, and that alternative perspectives on events andpeople sometimes exist side-by-side with the conventional understanding. Where possible, thesealternative perspectives have been incorporated into the background materials and activities.
Using These Lessons
The lessons in this unit relate to New Mexico history, U.S. history, and world history. They can be usedas stand-alone activities, or to supplement traditional classroom texts and existing units. Each lesson istied to a set of concepts and can be used by itself, in relation to other topics, or as part of a larger unit on
El Camino Real. A minimum of additional materials are required, and all are either inexpensive or
already available in the classroom. The goal is to make these lessons as flexible and easy to use as
possible.
Relation to Project Archaeology Materials
The lessons included in this unit relate to many of the lessons in both Intrigue of the Past: A Teacher’s
Activity Guide for Fourth through Seventh Grades and Discovering Archaeology in New Mexico.
Intrigue of the Past contains 28 lessons relating to archaeology and archaeological ethics. Discovering
Archaeology in New Mexico contains essays covering 12,000 years of cultural history, written at the
fifth-grade level. El Camino Real is only superficially covered in the latter text. The essays presented
here are specific to the topic, and the activities relate directly to it.
Relation to Educational Standards
For a lesson to be useful in a classroom, it must relate to state educational standards and benchmarks.
The subjects covered in each of the lessons presented here have been correlated with the New Mexico
Content Standards and Benchmarks for grades 5–8. Learning objectives are also linked to Bloom’s
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The student reading material supplied with this unit has beencorrelated to the Edward Fry Readability Graph. The graph offers a determination of approximate gradelevel for the materials based on the number of sentences per 100 words and the number of syllables peri100 words. All student materials fall between fifth- and seventh-grade reading levels.
Initiating the Unit and Evaluating Student Progress
Students should begin the unit by creating a journal. Journals were kept by a only a small portion of thepeople who traveled El Camino Real, but some of what we know about the road comes from the varietyof perspectives from which these diaries were written. As part of the unit, students will write down the
day’s events, including their own observations and thoughts. They are responsible for organizing theinformation that they gather and for the progress of their own learning. For the teacher, the journal willserve as a portfolio of each student’s work and a tool for evaluating the student’s progress. Prior to thefirst lesson, each student should be provided with the materials necessary to create their own journal.
This process may be as basic as providing students with construction paper and lined writing paper orsomething more intricate such as designing cloth-covered journals. The journaling process introduces
students to the basics of observing and recording, processes that are essential to historical archaeology,
the documentation of the past, and to understanding how historical accounts become “history.”
SponsorshipThis project was sponsored by a grant from the New Mexico Office of the Bureau of Land Management,
administered by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, Historic Preservation Division. All
materials may be copied for classroom use. For all other uses, please contact the author for permission.
Acknowledgments
The greatest thanks go to Glenna Dean, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, HistoricPreservation Division, and Stephen Fosberg, New Mexico Bureau of Land Management, for sponsoring
this project. They are to be commended again for their continued support for the development ofarchaeological and historical education materials. Scott O’ Mack, Statistical Research, Inc., conductedbackground research and wrote the teachers’ background section on which all materials are based.
Thanks to those who granted permissions for the use of photos and images, and to Chris Dore, Statistical
Research, Inc. for creating the student worksheet maps from actual satellite images. Several colleagues
read the manuscript and offered helpful suggestions. Thanks to Joe Watkins, Department of
Anthropology, University of New Mexico, and to Terry Klein and Lynne Sebastian, SRI Foundation, fortheir assistance and enthusiastic support. June-el Piper did a superb editing job. Thanks to Sherry
Fletcher, Truth or Consequences Public Schools, for reviewing the materials from the perspective of an
educator and an administrator. Carole Nagengast, Department of Anthropology, University of New
Mexico assisted by locating a translator in Mexico. Thanks to Aurora Muñez, Mexico City, Mexico fortranslating the unit into Spanish, thereby expanding its usability. And lastly, thanks to you, the teachers
who use these lessons in your classrooms. Through your efforts, your students receive a unique view into
the past.

ii

Table of Contents
Lesson 1: Blazing the Trail. Chronology: Cause and Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Travel along the Camino RealLet the Adventure Begin! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Spanish Colonial Period (1600–1821) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Mexican Period (1821–1848) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
U.S. Period (1848–present) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Teacher’s Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Coronado's Report to the King of Spain Sent from Tiguex on October 20, 1541 . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Lesson 2: Travel through Time on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Travel along the Camino Real: The Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Lesson 3: What to Take, What to Trade? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Letter 1: Juan de Oñate: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Letter 2: Señor Baca: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Letter 3: Mayordomo: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Letter 4: Mr. Baca: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Lesson 4: Family Stories. Those Who Arrived, Those Who Stayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
A Colonial Family: Don Fernando Durán y Chavez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Families of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century (1598–1693) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Appendix A: Teachers’ Background Information by Scott O’Mack
Appendix B: Map Worksheets, Maps, Photos, and Illustrations
Appendix C: Resources and References
Appendix D: Sample Rubric
Appendix E: Correlation to New Mexico Content Standards and Benchmarksiii

Lesson 1
BLAZING THE TRAIL
Chronology: Cause and EffectSubje cts: Social studies (history, ge ography, go vernm ent and civics), language arts
New M exico Sta ndar ds and Ben chma rks: See Appe ndix E
Skills: Kno wledge, comprehension, ap plication, analysis
Duration: Making journals–1 class period ; Map work–1 class period; C hronolo gy work–2 classperiods; Journal writing–1 class period
Instructional Group ings: individual and small group

Objectives:
Students will gain an understanding of the historical events that led to the founding of New Mexico. To
accomplish this objective, students will read and research information on historical events relating to El
Camino Real Tierra Adentro. They will organize information on a chart. Using their findings, they will
determine some of the possible causes and effects of those events, discuss and summarize their findings.
Materials:
Provided in kit: Teacher’s background information, essay for students, maps, cause-and-effect worksheet;
Coronado’s letter
Other: World map and or globe, maps of Mexico and New Mexico; pencils, pens, highlighter markers;
journals
Key events, concepts, and vocabulary:
Anglo-American

eighteenth century

profitblazedEl Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

province

caravans

expedition

pueblocolonization

Franciscan friars

Pueblo Revolt

commerce

merchants

saturationconquest

Mexican-American War

thirty-fourth parallel

convertNew Spain

thoroughfare

Background:
Teachers’ background “Travel along the Camino Real: Chronology” section, pages 31–34. The
information is essentially the same as in the students’ essay in this lesson, but with additional detail.
Setting the Stage:
In preparation for the lesson, students should create their journals. Ask students if anyone keeps ajournal. Even day planners and calendars are journals of a sort. Journals are kept for personal andprofessional reasons. Some people keep journals that track daily events and happenings. Artists keep
journals that contain drawings, concepts, and ideas. Some people use a journal as a place to write
personal items and thoughts. Discuss the reasons for keeping a personal diary or journal. In designing the1layout, the first few pages of the journal should be set up for the front matter—title page and the table ofcontents. The title page should include the title (something relating to traveling on El Camino Real deTierra Adentro); the student’s name, and the start date of the trip. The end date will be filled in uponcompletion of the unit. Two to four pages should be left blank for the table of contents. The table ofcontents will be filled in as students complete their work. Students may wish to keep a page toward thefront of their journal for creating a map of the trail. Journals should have the flexibility of adding pages
as maps and worksheets are completed.
Begin this lesson with an exploration of a globe or world map. Have students locate Madrid,
Spain; Mexico City, Mexico; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The maps provided with this unit will also be
helpful in orienting students to distances and places at this time.
Procedure:
After introducing students to the geographic relationship of Spain, Mexico, and New Mexico, distributethe essay for students. Have students underline important dates and events with a highlighter marker orwith a pen or pencil. They should also use the marker to highlight the information suggesting the causes
for the event and the effects of the event. If students have access to three colors, one can be used for thedates, a second color can be used for highlighting causes, and a third can be used for the effects. Students
should read the essay individually, and then work together in groups. You may want to post a list ofwords and terms and their definitions for the entire class, and have students maintain a list in theirjournals.
Divide the class into groups of 4–6 students. Distribute one Chronology Worksheet per student.
Each student in the group records their findings as well as that of other members of the group. Students
should work together to check their work against key words and new vocabulary have been bolded in the
text and also check that all of the dates and events. Beginning with the introductory paragraph, students
should list dates and events in chronological order in their journals and on the worksheet. After all of thedates and events have been listed, students should look for information relating to the cause for each
event, and discuss why it may have come about. Next they should look at the effect of the event—whatchanges occurred historically. An extension of this task would be to consider how subsequent eventsmight have been different if the prior event never took place. For example, what might the consequences
have been if, after the Mexican-American War, Mexico retained the territory that is now New Mexico?
Journal: The Journal Entry, “The Letter Home”:
A creative writing exercise is included at this point. This activity is included after the research phase ofeach lesson. For this activity, students should pick an event connected with the Camino Real. Using maps
and the information provided in the essay or through minimal research, they should examine where theevent took place. They then select the identity of an individual connected with the event, for example, afriar, soldier, trader, or colonist. Based on the information they have collected, students write their first
letter back to Spain. The letter may be directed to a family member or perhaps the King of Spain. An
example of a letter sent by Coronado to the King of Spain is attached (seehttp://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/corona9.htm).
Closure:Discuss as a class the events, and the causes and effects of events relating to the Camino Real and thecolonization of New Mexico. Also discuss who was in Mexico and New Mexico before the Spanish.
How did the events related to the establishment of the Camino Real and colonization affect their lives?
List some possible scenarios, for example if another country had colonized the area instead of Spain.
Evaluation:
Evaluation for this lesson is based on independent reading of the essay, identifying key information,2

working cooperatively with other students on key information and the completion of the worksheet,writing a letter, journal entries, and participating in class discussions.
A rubric has been designed for the evaluation of the student journals. If desired, it can be adapted
for the evaluation of each product in each lesson in this unit (Appendix D).
Link to Project Archaeology Lessons:Intrigue of the Past: A Teacher’s Activity Guide for Fourth through Seventh Grades: Chronology: The
Time of My Life, p. 22; Stratigraphy and Cross-dating, p. 49; Discovering Archaeology in New Mexico:
The Spanish Entrada and the Early Spanish Colonial Period (A.D. 1540–1700), chapter 7 andaccompanying lesson, Mission Artifacts in appendix 1-32.

3

Name: ________________________________Class/Period: ________________________

Travel along the Camino RealLet the Adventure Begin!

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, “The Royal Road of the Interior Lands,” or simply “the Camino
Real,” was a rugged, often dangerous route. It was approximately 1,600 miles long, starting in Mexico
City and ending in the small Spanish town of Santa Fe. Santa Fe was founded in 1610, and it has served
has the capital of New Mexico ever since. During its first two centuries, the Camino Real brought settlers,
goods, and information to the province. It carried crops, livestock, and crafts to the markets of greater
Mexico. When Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, its northern frontier was opened toforeign trade. New Mexico soon became the destination of a steady stream of Anglo-American traders
carrying goods along the newly blazed Santa Fe Trail from Missouri. The Camino Real connected with the
Santa Fe Trail at Santa Fe. When this took place, Santa Fe became the important link between the growing
U.S. economy and the long-established Mexican economy. For the next 60 years, the Camino Real served
as the principal route for both Mexican and Anglo-American traders traveling into the interior of Mexico.
Spanish Colonial Period (1600–1821)
When it was first blazed in 1598, the Camino Real was based on early Native American trails. These earlytrails connected water sources, river crossings, camp sites, and villages. There is no way to know for sure,but there may have been interconnecting Native American trails following most or all of the Río Grande.
It is, however, unlikely that the Native Americans ever walked the entire route of the Río Grande. The
Camino Real was unique. It was created for Spanish exploration and colonization. It allowed the Spanish
crown to expand its land holdings to the outer limit of the explored territory.
Northern New Mexico was first visited by Spaniards in 1540 when Francisco Vásquez deCoronado led a large expedition to the area of Zuni pueblo. The expedition spent the next two years
exploring both New Mexico and adjacent regions. Coronado’s main purpose was exploration, notsettlement. The first serious attempt at colonization was not made until almost 60 years later. In 1598,
Juan de Oñate led 130 men and their families, 83 wagon loads of arms and supplies, and more than 7,000
head of livestock up the trail. They traveled north from Santa Bárbara, Mexico, to the Tewa pueblo of
San Juan on the upper Río Grande. Oñate founded the Spanish town of San Gabriel across the Río
Grande from the pueblo. San Gabriel was the first successful Spanish settlement in New Mexico. It served
as the capitol of the new province of New Mexico until about 1610 when Santa Fe became the capital.
Other Spanish expeditions came before Oñate up the Río Grande, but his expedition made it thefurthest. It extended the colonial frontier by 700 miles. Oñate’s route became the Camino Real, the royalroad. It is named this because it served as the official road between the colonial capital in Mexico City andthe capitol of the new province. There were other royal roads in New Spain, but the royal road to New
Mexico was the longest. It remained almost the only route to the far northern provinces for over 200 years.
Traveling with the settlers in Oñate’s first expedition was a group of Franciscan friars. The jobof the friars was to set up missions and convert the native Pueblo peoples to Christianity. For the first 80
years after Oñate’s expedition, the Franciscans were the main reason for the success of the colony. Oñate
abandoned the province shortly after opening it. The settlers he left behind found life on the distantfrontier to be extremely difficult. The colony survived only because the Franciscans were able to convince
the officials in Mexico City to support the colony.
Supply caravans began traveling on the Camino Real in 1609. Caravans were to take place once
every three years. Missions counted on the basic supplies brought by the caravans for their survival. The
trip from Mexico City to Santa Fe took about six months. It took another six months to get the supplies tothe scattered missions, and another six months for the trip back to Mexico City. Going three yearsbetween arrivals of food and news was hard enough for the people living in New Mexico, but the caravan
had an unreliable schedule. Sometimes it took six or seven years between caravans! Sometimes the
supplies that were meant for the missions were sold to others. Many times, only part of the supplies wasdelivered. Sometimes, supplies were delivered to the wrong places. And even though the rules forbade it,
the caravan also became a form of public transportation. It carried friars, colonial officials, and private
individuals along the Camino Real.
The missions and the New Mexico colony suffered a major setback in 1680 when the Native
American Pueblos rose in revolt against the Spaniards. The Pueblo Revolt killed 400 Spaniards and drove
the remaining 2,200 people out of northern New Mexico. The survivors traveled down the Camino Real to
El Paso del Norte, a town where El Paso, Texas, now stands. As a result of the rebellion, El Paso delNorte thrived. The northern colony was completely abandoned for thirteen years before it was finallyreoccupied. The settlers who returned to the area in about 1693 included many of the families that had
fled during the Pueblo Revolt. Once all was safe, the supply caravan from Mexico City resumed transport
on the Camino Real. The colony grew in area and population and the schedule of supply caravans became
more regular. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the caravan made the trip to the colony every
year. The caravan shifted from Franciscan to direct control by the King of Spain. This shift of power
happened as the power of the local colonial government increased.
Mexican Period (1821–1848)
Rules for trading under the Spanish colonial system were very strict. The merchants of Santa Fe were notallowed to trade with anyone other than those approved by the government. The occasional French or
Anglo-American trader who ventured into New Mexico in the late colonial period was removed from thearea or jailed by the colonial government. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, thesebarriers disappeared. By that time, Anglo-American towns and communities had reached as far west as
Missouri. This was the same year that Missouri became a state. The immediate result was the opening of
the Santa Fe Trail from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe. A whole new source of goods andmaterials for the people of New Mexico became available. Anglo-American traders were soon leading
heavy caravans to Santa Fe. The caravans brought a wide range of goods never before available in New
Mexico. People could now buy newly made materials from the eastern United States and imports from
northern Europe.
The quantity of trade and sale items flowing from Missouri to Santa Fe grew so quickly that by1825 there was a saturation of goods in New Mexico. In 1825, Santa Fe was still a small town of 5,000,
and in all of New Mexico there were only around 40,000 people. This meant that the trading caravans
from Missouri soon ran out of customers. In response, the merchants of Santa Fe began buying more U.S.
goods than they needed for local use. They carried them down the Camino Real to Chihuahua where theyfound a ready market. Anglo-American traders followed the idea, taking advantage of the relaxed trade
rules of newly independent Mexico. They carried their loads of goods to eager buyers in Chihuahua andother mining centers farther down the Camino Real. Not only was the hold that the Chihuahua merchants
had on the Santa Fe trade broken by Anglo-American traders, but the relationship between Santa Fe andChihuahua was suddenly reversed. Santa Fe held excess goods and Chihuahua was in need. The new
imbalance of trade would remain in place for the rest of the Mexican period.
The rise in trade coming out of Santa Fe marked the beginning of a different type of relationshipbetween the people and governments of Mexico and the United States. This interaction eventually led to
the Mexican-American War. In the years prior to the war, relations between Anglo-American traders and
Mexican officials in New Mexico had become strained. The Mexican government wanted to control who
was trading and what was being traded. The government also was upset because they wanted to makemoney from the goods brought into its territory.
The Anglo-Americans didn’t like being forced to pay a fee for bringing merchandise into Mexico.
The Mexicans didn’t like the Anglo-Americans because the U.S. supported Texas when it declared its
independence from Mexico in 1836. When the United States formally annexed Texas in 1845, it basicallydeclared a portion of New Mexico to be U.S. territory. This situation, combined with the problems withtrade, led to the outbreak of war in 1846
Colonel Stephen W. Kearny’s Army of the West occupied Santa Fe in August 1846. There was nobattle. New Mexico’s governor Manuel Armijo chose to avoid an armed conflict. An American force led
by Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan marched down the Camino Real in late 1846. They met a retreating
Mexican force first near Rancho del Bracito, just north of El Paso del Norte, and later at Hacienda de
Sacramento, just north of Chihuahua. The Mexican force was soundly defeated at both locations, andChihuahua was captured by Doniphan on March 1, 1847. Interestingly, Anglo-American trading caravans
that had started from Missouri just prior to the outbreak of the war continued their travel down the
Camino Real, intent on selling their goods in Mexico regardless of the circumstances. Many managed aprofit despite the conflict.
U.S. Period (1848–present)
It was the opening of the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri immediately after Mexico won its independence
from Spain that made the Camino Real a genuine thoroughfare for commerce. When the MexicanAmerican War broke out in 1846, traffic along the Camino Real was at its peak. The amount of goods
traveling in either direction was many times what it had been in the colonial period. When the war ended
in 1848, the portion of the Camino Real north of El Paso del Norte suddenly fell in U.S. territory. Insteadof becoming an even busier route for Anglo-American trade, it quickly declined in importance as new,shorter routes to the Mexican interior were opened. The most important of these was the road leadingfrom Galveston Bay through San Antonio to El Paso del Norte, which had replaced Santa Fe as the portof entry into Mexico.
The Camino Real played a limited but significant role in the Civil War. In 1861, Texas secededfrom the Union and became a part of the Confederacy. Fort Bliss, an Army post near El Paso, wasabandoned by the Union and occupied by a force of Texans the same year. From Fort Bliss, Confederate
troops were sent north along the Camino Real to attempt to capture Union positions and gain control of
the western supply route. Fort Fillmore, near Las Cruces, was captured easily, and the victory prompted
the commanding officer to declare all of New Mexico Territory south of the thirty-fourth parallel the
Confederate Territory of Arizona. This new status for the region was short-lived. The Confederacy hoped
to gain control of New Mexico Territory in its entirety and did advance along the Camino Real as far as
Albuquerque, and then on to Glorieta outside Santa Fe, but by May 1862 the Union had forced it toretreat. Fort Bliss was itself reoccupied by the Union later that year. The Camino Real was the scene ofseveral skirmishes between Union and Confederate troops, as well as a pitched battle at Valverde, one of
the stops along the road in use since the sixteenth century.
The final blow to the role of the Camino Real as an important trade and travel route came with thearrival of the railroad to New Mexico. In 1880, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad wascompleted from Chicago to the Río Grande (actually ending somewhat south of Santa Fe), and the next
year (June 1881) the line was extended south to El Paso. Crossing the Río Grande at El Paso, it connectedwith the Mexican Central Railroad, recently completed from Mexico City and closely following the routeof the Camino Real. The route of the railroad from Santa Fe to El Paso was basically the same as the
Camino Real, with a number of relatively minor changes. The speed and efficiency of rail transport
quickly made the wagon caravans of the Camino Real obsolete. More recently, major highways have also
been built along much the same route as the Camino Real, both in New Mexico and Mexico. The railroads
are still important routes for carrying goods, but their role has been reduced in turn by the rise inimportance of truck transport.

Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
EventsNAME _________________________________

DATE

EVENT

DATE ________________________

WHAT CAUSED THISEVENT TO TAKE PLACE?

WHAT WAS THE EFFECTOF THIS EVENT?

Teacher’s Key
1540–1598 Exploration
1540 Northern New Mexico was first visited by the Spanish.
1598 New Spain was officially declared Spanish territory and administered from Mexico City.
Camino Real was first blazed, based on original trails of the Native Americans.
Juan de Oñate led the first successful colonization attempt into New Mexico and founded
the town of San Gabriel.
1600–1821 The Spanish Colonial Period
1609 The Franciscan mission supply caravan was established.
1610 Santa Fe was founded.
1680 The Pueblo Indians revolted, killing 400 Spaniards and driving the remaining 2,200 colonists outof northern New Mexico.
1821 Mexico gained independence from Spain, and the Santa Fe Trail was opened.
1821–1848 The Mexican Period
1825 Saturation of goods in New Mexico.
1836 Texas declared its independence from Mexico.
1845 The U.S. formally annexed Texas.
1846 Outbreak of Mexican-American war.
Colonel Stephen E. Kearny occupied Santa Fe, unopposed. (August)An American force led by Colonel Alexander E. Doniphan marched down the Camino
Real. (Late in 1846)
1847 Colonel Alexander E. Doniphan captured Chihuahua, Mexico. (March 1)
1848 Mexican-American war ended.
1848–present
1861 Texas seceded from the Union and became part of the Confederacy.
1862 Union troops forced the Confederacy to retreat to Fort Bliss. (May)1862 Fort Bliss was reoccupied by the Union.
1880 The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad was completed from Chicago to the Rio Grande.

9Coronado's Report to the King of Spain
Sent from Tiguex on October 20, 1541
(Letters from Francisco Vazquez de Coronado to His Majesty,
in which he gives an Account of the Discovery of the Province of Tiguex.)
HOLY CATHOLIC CAESARIAN MAJESTY:On April 20 of this year I wrote to Your Majesty from this province of Tiguex, in reply to a letterfrom Your Majesty dated in Madrid, June 11 a year ago. I gave a detailed account of this expedition,
which the viceroy of New Spain ordered me to undertake in Your Majesty's name to this country which
was discovered by Friar Marcos de Niza, the provincial of the order of Holy Saint Francis. I described it
all, and the sort of force I have, as Your Majesty had ordered me to relate in my letters; and stated thatwhile I was engaged in the conquest and pacification of the natives of this province, some Indians who
were natives of other provinces beyond these had told me that in their country there were much larger
villages and better houses than those of the natives of this country, and that they had lords who ruled
them, who were served with dishes of gold, and other very magnificent things; and although, as I wrote
Your Majesty, I did not believe it before I had set eyes on it, because it was the report of Indians andgiven for the most part by means of signs, yet as the report appeared to me to be very fine and that it was
important that it should be investigated for Your Majesty's service, I determined to go and see it with themen I have here. I started from this province on the 23d of last April, for the place where the Indians
wanted to guide me.
After nine days' march I reached some plains, so vast that I did not find their limit anywhere that
I went, although I traveled over them for more than 300 leagues. And I found such a quantity of cows inthese, of the kind that I wrote Your Majesty about, which they have in this country, that it is impossible
to number them, for while I was journeying through these plains, until I returned to where I first foundthem, there was not a day that I lost sight of them. And after seventeen days' march I came to a settlementof Indians who are called Querechos, who travel around with these cows, who do not plant, and who eat
the raw flesh and drink the blood of the cows they kill, and they tan the skins of the cows, with which all
the people of this country dress themselves here. They have little field tents made of the hides of thecows, tanned and greased, very well made, in which they live while they travel around near the cows,
moving with these. They have dogs which they load, which carry their tents and poles and belongings.
These people have the best figures of any that I have seen in the Indies. They could not give me any
account of the country where the guides were taking me. I traveled five days more as the guides wished
to lead me, until I reached some plains, with no more landmarks than as if we had been swallowed up in
the sea, where they strayed about, because there was not a stone, nor a bit of rising ground, nor a tree, nor
a shrub, nor anything to go by. There is much very fine pasture land, with good grass. And while we werelost in these plains, some horsemen who went off to hunt cows fell in with some Indians who also wereout hunting, who are enemies of those that I had seen in the last settlement, and of another sort of people
who are called Teyas; they have their bodies and faces all painted, are a large people like the others, of avery good build; they eat the raw flesh just like the Querechos, and live and travel round with the cows in
the same way as these. I obtained from these an account of the country where the guides were taking me,which was not like what they had told me, because these made out that the houses there were not built ofstones, with stories, as my guides had described it, but of straw and skins, and a small supply of corn
there.
This news troubled me greatly, to find myself on these limitless plains, where I was in great needof water, and often had to drink it so poor that it was more mud than water. Here the guides confessed tome that they had not told the truth in regard to the size of the houses, because these were of straw, butthat they had done so regarding the large number of inhabitants and the other things about their habits.
The Teyas disagreed with this, and on account of this division between some of the Indians and theothers, and also because many of the men I had with me had not eaten anything except meat for somedays, because we had reached the end of the corn which we carried from this province, and because they

made it out more than forty days' journey from where I fell in with the Teyas to the country where theguides were taking me, although I appreciated the trouble and danger there would be in the journeyowing to the lack of water and corn, it seemed to me best, in order to see if there was anything there ofservice to Your Majesty, to go forward with only 30 horsemen until I should be able to see the country,
so as to give Your Majesty a true account of what was to be found in it. I sent all the rest of the force I
had with me to this province, with Don Tristan de Arellano in command, because it would have been
impossible to prevent the loss of many men, if all had gone on, owing to the lack of water and because
they also had to kill bulls and cows on which to sustain themselves. And with only the 30 horsemen
whom I took for my escort, I traveled forty-two days after I left the force, living all this while solely on
the flesh of the bulls and cows which we killed, at the cost of several of our horses which they killed,because, as I wrote Your Majesty, they are very brave and fierce animals; and going many days withoutwater, and cooking the food with cow dung, because there is not any kind of wood in all these plains,away from the gullies and rivers, which are very few.
It was the Lord's pleasure that, after having journeyed across these deserts seventy-seven days, I
arrived at the province they call Quivira, to which the guides were conducting me, and where they had
described to me houses of stone, with many stories; and not only are they not of stone, but of straw, but
the people in them are as barbarous as all those whom I have seen and passed before this; they do nothave cloaks, nor cotton of which to make these, but use the skins of the cattle they kill, which they tan,because they are settled among these on a very large river. They eat the raw flesh like the Querechos andTeyas; they are enemies of one another, but are all of the same sort of people, and these at Quivira havethe advantage in the houses they build and in planting corn. In this province of which the guides whobrought me are natives, they received me peaceably, and although they told me when I set out for it that I
could not succeed in seeing it all in two months, there are not more than 25 villages of straw houses there& in all the rest of the country that I saw & learned about, which gave their obedience to Your Majesty
and placed themselves under your royal overlordship.
The people here are large. I had several Indians measured, and found that they were 10 palms inheight; the women are well proportioned and their features are more like Moorish women than Indians.
The natives here gave me a piece of copper which a chief Indian wore hung around his neck; I sent it to
the viceroy of New Spain, because I have not seen any other metal in these parts except this and somelittle copper bells which I sent him, and a bit of metal which looks like gold. I do not know where thiscame from, although I believe that the Indians who gave it to me obtained it from those whom I brought
here in my service, because I cannot find any other origin for it nor where it came from. The diversity oflanguages which exists in this country and my not having anyone who understood them, because they
speak their own language in each village, has hindered me, because I have been forced to send captains
and men in many directions to find out whether there was anything in this country which could be ofservice to Your Majesty. And although I have searched with all diligence I have not found or heard ofanything, unless it be these provinces, which are a very small affair.
The province of Quivira is 950 leagues from Mexico. Where I reached it, it is in the fortiethdegree. The country itself is the best I have ever seen for producing all the products of Spain, for besides
the land itself being very fat and black and being very well watered by the rivulets and springs and rivers,
I found prunes like those of Spain [or I found everything they have in Spain] & nuts and very good sweet
grapes and mulberries. I have treated the natives of this province, and all the others whom I foundwherever I went, as well as was possible, agreeably to what Your Majesty had commanded, and they
have received no harm in any way from me or from those who went in my company. I remained twentyfive days in this province of Quivira, so as to see and explore the country and also to find out whether
there was anything beyond which could be of service to Your Majesty, because the guides who hadbrought me had given me an account of other provinces beyond this. And what I am sure of is that there
is not any gold nor any other metal in all that country, and the other things of which they had told me arenothing but little villages, and in many of these they do not plant anything and do not have any houses
except of skins and sticks, and they wander around with the cows; so that the account they gave me wasfalse, because they wanted to persuade me to go there with the whole force, believing that as the way wasthrough such uninhabited deserts, and from the lack of water, they would get us where we and our horses
would die of hunger. And the guides confessed this, and said they had done it by the advice and orders of
the natives of these provinces. At this, after having heard the account of what was beyond, which I havegiven above, I returned to these provinces to provide for the force I had sent back here and to give Your
Majesty an account of what this country amounts to, because I wrote Your Majesty that I would do sowhen I went there.
I have done all that I possibly could to serve Your Majesty and to discover a country where God
Our Lord might be served and the royal patrimony of Your Majesty increased, as your loyal servant andvassal. For since I reached the province of Cibola, to which the viceroy of New Spain sent me in thename of Your Majesty, seeing that there were none of the things there of which Friar Marcos had told, I
have managed to explore this country for 200 leagues and more around Cibola, and the best place I havefound is this river of Tiguex where I am now, and the settlements here. It would not be possible toestablish a settlement here, for besides being 400 leagues from the North Sea and more than 200 from theSouth Sea, with which it is impossible to have any sort of communication, the country is so cold, as I
have written to Your Majesty, that apparently the winter could not possibly be spent here, because there
is no wood, nor cloth with which to protect the men, except the skins which the natives wear and somesmall amount of cotton cloaks. I send the viceroy of New Spain an account of everything I have seen in
the countries where I have been, and as Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas is going to kiss Your Majesty's
hands, who has done much and has served Your Majesty very well on this expedition, and he will giveYour Majesty an account of everything here, as one who has seen it himself, I give way to him. And may
Our Lord protect the Holy Imperial Catholic person of Your Majesty, with increase of greater kingdoms
and powers, as your loyal servants and vassals desire. From this province of Tiguex, October 20, in theyear 1541.
Your Majesty's humble servant and vassal, who would kiss the royal feet and hands:
FRANCISCO VAZQUEZ DE CORONADO

Lesson 2
TRAVEL THROUGH TIME ON
EL CAMINO REAL DE TIERRA ADENTRO
Subje cts: social studies (history, geograp hy, government and civics), science, language arts,
mathematics
New M exico Sta ndar ds and Ben chma rks: See Appe ndix E
Skills: Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation
Dura tion: Math and map work–1 class period; Calculating distances– 1 class perio d; Historicresearch–2–3 class periods; Journal writing–1 class period
Instructional Group ings: individual and small group

Objectives:
Students will list modern-day towns and original stops along the Camino Real, identify distances
between parajes, collect information on the age and origins of towns along the Camino Real, anddetermine travel time between Mexico City and Santa Fe based on travel in the 1800s. They will predict
travel distances, speculate on the locations of parajes, and infer from the data the locations ofarchaeological sites.
Materials:
Provided in kit: Students’ essay, maps from this unit
Other: Paper, student journals, current maps for New Mexico and Mexico, and The Place Names of New
Mexico by Robert Hixson Julyan, University of New Mexico Press, 1996, 1998
Key events, concepts, and vocabulary:
aerial photography

historic preservation planningparajesarid

inlandriverinebasinslog-and-caisson bridges

semiarid

careening

middlementerminus

documentaryon-the-ground survey

watershed

fords (vados in Spanish)
Background:
Today, in the United States, we think very little of climbing into the car and driving 10 miles to work, or
taking a weekend road trip that may cover 200 miles. For many, even the idea of taking a family trip
across country, enjoying the sites along the way, is not unreasonable. Trips like this can cover 5,000
miles from beginning to end, and can be accomplished in a few weeks’ time. All this is possible becauseof technology. Cars, trains, and buses have changed how we travel and the distances we cover. But thecar, invented in 1886, is a fairly recent mode of transportation. The first train used in the United States
was brought over from England in 1829. It hauled coal from a mine to the Delaware-Hudson canal, adistance of only about 3–4 miles. The first passenger train appeared in 1831. Before the invention of
steam- and gasoline-powered engines, travel and the transportation of goods had to be accomplished onfoot, by horse, or on a wagon. Distances traveled were dependent on basic things like the availability ofwater and the ability of the animals hauling the goods.
13

In this lesson, students will look at modern maps, learn place names along roads paralleling El
Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, and trace the age of towns. They will locate the original parajes—stops
or camps along El Camino Real—estimate the distances between parajes, and calculate the time it would
take to travel from Mexico City to Santa Fe today on highways and in the past as part of a wagon
caravan.
Teachers’ background information for this section begins on page 35.
Setting the Stage:
Begin with a discussion on travel. Where do your students travel? How far have they been from theirhome or community? Some students may have been on trains, planes, boats, or cars. Some students may
have been backpacking. How far did they walk in a day? How far do they live from school? Do theywalk, ride a bicycle, ride a bus, or get a ride in a car? How long does it take to walk a mile or akilometer? Select your town on a map and a second town that is 12 miles or approximately 20 km away.
What is the speed limit on the road between the two towns? How long does it take to drive the distance?
How long would it take to walk, with nothing extra to worry about? Now, consider how long it would
take if you were pulling a wagon and your younger brothers and sisters were sometimes riding in thewagon and sometimes walking alongside. Now think about the drinks and snacks you would have to pullin the wagon because there were no stores back then.
After a general discussion, and depending on the availability of resources, you may want to use
the essay provided for students in this lesson or you may want your students to do original research on
this topic. If you choose original research projects, topics might be assigned to individual groups basedon a segment of the map or perhaps environmental zones and geography. Each group would then be able
to contribute their knowledge to the general knowledge of the entire class for the purpose of completingthe lesson.
Procedure:
Students begin this lesson by locating the most direct route of travel by car on roads and highways on themodern maps of Mexico and the United States. The route should be charted from Mexico City to Santa
Fe. They will then need to measure the distance in miles and kilometers since Mexico uses kilometers
and in New Mexico distances will be listed in miles. Students will need to research the speed limits on
the roads and calculate the distance they could travel in a day.
1 kilometer (km) = 1,000 m = 0.6214 miles
1 mile = 5,280 ft = 1.6093 km
For example, 8 hours at an average speed of 50 mph is 400 miles/643.72 km. Lower speed limits orlonger stops will result in less miles traveled in a day. Stops should be planned in convenient towns andcities where gas, food, and lodging are available.
The second part of this activity involves calculating the distance traveled by caravans on the
Camino Real. How far could a caravan of wagons, animals, and people travel in a day? While the current
roads do not always follow the route of the Camino Real exactly, many sections are on top of sections of
the trail or close to them. Students should look at the maps again and calculate stops along the Camino
Real for distances of 6–10 miles a day, depending on harsh conditions and terrain. How many days would
it take to travel the Camino Real using this schedule?
The third part of the lesson involves historic research. Have students look at the modern maps
and the distances between the exits on highways or between towns along the roadways. What is theaverage distance between towns? (They can use estimation and then check calculations mathematically.)
Where are they closer and where are they farther apart? What might be some reasons behind thedifferences? Next, have students compare modern towns with the names of the stops on the Camino Real.
Which towns are still in existence today? Which towns grew from parajes? An excellent reference forthis information is The Place Names of New Mexico by Robert Hixson Julyan, University of New Mexico
14

Press, 1996, 1998. Students should compile information in their journals. Individual towns may beresearched and short essays written in draft and final formats. Writing can be taken through self-, peer,
and teacher edits prior to producing the final copy. All stages should be represented in the students’journals to show progress.
Journal: The Journal Entry, “A Day on the Trail”:
The creative writing assignment for this activity is a journal entry that describes a day on the trail.
Students should each pick two adjoining parajes and describe the day’s trek from one paraje to the next.
Their journal entry should include information about the type of day it was, what the weather was like,what the terrain was like, and if there were any mishaps along the way. Factual information may begleaned from the research they have done so far. They may want to provide illustrations of plants fromthat area or perhaps a sketch of what their camp looked like.
Closure:Have students share journal entries. Discuss the difficulties in traveling the 1,600 miles from Mexico
City to Santa Fe and the differences between taking the route today and traveling the Camino Real in the
1700s. What towns grew out of parajes? What evidence of parajes could you still find today, and how
would you go about looking for them? How would you find and identify the trail?
Evaluation:
Evaluation for this lesson is based on independent research and/or reading of the essay, identifying key
information, map work, calculation of distances, working cooperatively with other students on key
information and the completion of journal entries, and participating in class discussions.
Link to Project Archaeology Lessons:This lesson links to Intrigue of the Past: A Teacher’s Activity Guide for Fourth through Seventh Grades:
Culture Everywhere, p.11; State Place Names, p.127; Discovering Archaeology in New Mexico: The
Spanish Entrada and the Early Spanish Colonial Period (A.D. 1540–1700), chapter 7.

15

Name: ________________________________Class/Period: ________________________

Travel along the Camino Real: The Places
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was an inland route, connecting Mexico City and the town of Santa
Fe. Both are located at an elevation of around 7,000 feet above sea level, both are surrounded by
mountainous terrain, and both are a considerable distance from the sea routes that connected New Spain
to its mother country. Mexico City, the capital of New Spain, was linked by another royal road to thecoastal city of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. Veracruz was the principal port for all ships arrivingfrom Spain or from the Spanish colonies of the Carribean. Santa Fe, a small provincial capital, was morethan 1,000 miles from the sea by any route, and it was linked to Spain only by the Camino Real leading
to Mexico City.
Between the similar highland locations of Mexico City and Santa Fe lay a large area withrelatively few people. Most of it can be described as arid or semiarid, but the Camino Real actuallycrossed a variety of environmental zones along its 1,600-mile length, all of which presented challenges totravel. The most imposing challenge of all was the Chihuahuan Desert, especially the portion of it lying
between Chihuahua and El Paso del Norte, a journey of just under 200 miles. The Chihuahuan Desert
consists of a series of basins and valleys separated by low, rugged mountains. It lies between Mexico’s
two principal mountain chains, the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental. Annual
rainfall is very low, although summer storms occasionally bring heavy rains. There is little vegetation.
Plants include mesquite, creosote bush, acacia, agave, yucca, and ocotillo. Game animals, an importantsource of food for travelers, include jackrabbit, cottontail, pronghorn, mule deer, bighorn sheep, andquail. The elevation of the desert floor ranges from 3,700 to 4,700 feet above sea level, making for awide range of temperatures, including scorching summer days and cold winter nights. Permanent sourcesof water between Chihuahua and El Paso are limited to a few, widely spaced springs.
The Chihuahua Desert continues north of El Paso for another 200 miles, but for most of thisstretch the Camino Real followed the Río Grande, a reliable source of water. The Río Grande Valley
supported riverine vegetation, including cottonwood and willow trees, and grasses for livestock. It wasalso a generally level and unobstructed route. Near Socorro, or about 75 miles south of modern
Albuquerque, the route of the Camino Real left the desert and entered a more mountainous region ofhigher elevation, following the Río Grande Valley northward. About 40 miles north of Albuquerque, theroad headed northeastward out of the valley and onto the high plateau of Santa Fe. At Santa Fe, its
northern terminus, the Camino Real returned to the upland pine forest it had left behind near Mexico
City.
The most important factors determining the route of the Camino Real were ground conditions
suitable for wagons and livestock (not too steep, not too soft), and the availability of water. Steep groundwas easily avoided, but soft ground, such as mud or deep sand, could be a seasonal problem brought onby rain and wind. A substantial section of the Río Grande Valley north of El Paso del Norte wasregularly bypassed by travelers on the Camino Real in part because the firmness of the ground was
unpredictable. Travelers generally chose to take the Jornada del Muerto, a 90-mile route across a barren
stretch of desert with only marginal water sources, rather than risk being stuck in muddy or sandy soil
found in that section of the valley.
The locations of water sources on the Camino Real determined the length of a typical day’s
travel. Travelers generally had no choice but to stop at the same sources used by everyone else. Most
water sources outside the Río Grande Valley were springs. More than likely, all of the springs had
probably been discovered and used by Native Americans long before the Spanish arrived. The typical
day’s travel, from one water source to the next, was called in Spanish a jornada, and the places wheretravelers stopped and camped were called parajes. Many parajes were used repeatedly throughout thehistory of the Camino Real, and some later became the locations of permanent settlements.

The overall route of the Camino Real was fairly constant through time, but minor variations in
the route were common along certain stretches of the road. The route along the Río Grande was
especially subject to change because of natural alterations in the course of the river. Prior to the buildingof modern dams and reservoirs on the Río Grande in the twentieth century, it frequently flooded,
especially during the spring when snowmelt in the upper reaches of the watershed swelled the river.
Flooding often caused the river to shift its course, wiping out adjacent sections of the road or requiring
new crossings to be established.
The locations of crossings or fords (vados in Spanish) had to be chosen carefully, because thecurrent of the river, even when the water was shallow, was often enough to send wagon or mule loads
careening downstream. Also, the river bottom at a crossing might be too soft to support the weight ofwagons or livestock. Simple log-and-caisson bridges were built at various places on the Río Grande, but
few stood for more than a year or two before being washed away by seasonal flooding. At the major ford
just upstream from El Paso del Norte, a bridge measuring 500 feet long by 17 feet wide was built in
1797–1798 from large cottonwood timbers. It washed away the same year that it opened, andreplacement bridges built at the same location suffered similar fates. By 1815, the effort to maintain abridge there was abandoned. Crossing the river with wagons, livestock, and cargo, and without theconvenience of a bridge, was an unavoidable part of travel on the Camino Real throughout its history.
South of Chihuahua, mining settlements were the reason for the original route taken by the
Camino Real, as well as the primary cause of later variations in its route. From Mexico City to
Chihuahua, the Camino Real ran from one mining center to the next, reflecting the expansion of thesilver mining frontier during the early colonial period. Among the larger settlements, in order of theirdevelopment, were Querétaro, Celaya, León, Aguas Calientes, Zacatecas, Durango, and finally
Chihuahua itself. The emergence of other settlements between these locations but removed from theexisting route of the Camino Real would prompt a detour to service the new settlement. Sometimes thisprompted a realignment of the main route.
North of El Paso del Norte, the pueblos of the Río Grande Valley were the first settlements
connected by the Camino Real, but there were soon Spanish settlements (or mixed Spanish/Native
American settlements) in the valley as well, most of which have modern counterparts. On the east bankof the river, where the Camino Real originally ran, the settlements included San Antonio, San Pedro, La
Joya, Tomé, Albuquerque, Bernalillo, San Felipe, Cochiti, and San Juan. Settlements later sprang up
on the west bank of the river, which led to the establishment of a parallel branch of the road runningalong that bank. The settlements on the west bank included Socorro, Alamillo, Sabinal, Belén, andAtrisco. There was also, of course, Santa Fe, the northern terminus of the road, located 25 miles
northeast of Santo Domingo, the northernmost paraje on the Río Grande.
Throughout most of the history of the Camino Real, four locations played especially importantroles in determining how the road was used. Mexico City, the center of economic and cultural life in
New Spain and later in independent Mexico, was the source—or at least the necessary way station—for
all goods and ideas flowing northward along the Camino Real. It was also the largest market for goods
flowing southward from New Mexico. Santa Fe was the distribution point for goods entering New
Mexico, and the gathering point for trade goods produced within the province. It was also theadministrative and cultural center of the province. Chihuahua, because of the control its middlemen
exercised over the trade to Santa Fe, became a center of economic power in the eighteenth century. When
the Santa Fe Trail opened and the flow of goods along the Camino Real was largely reversed, theimportance of Chihuahua changed but did not decline, as the city became the main destination of AngloAmerican traders traveling south from Santa Fe. El Paso del Norte, the predecessor of the modern cities
of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, was always important for two geographical reasons. First, it was theriverine oasis at the end of the dry stretch of desert separating it from Chihuahua. And second, it was thesite of the most important crossing of the Río Grande. El Paso del Norte was also important as the refugeof the Spanish colonists driven from New Mexico by the Pueblo rebellion of 1680, the place where theyregrouped and from which they eventually reoccupied the province.
The Camino Real was basically abandoned by 1880. Its role as a trade and travel route lessenedthrough time as railroads and later modern highways were built. Today, much of the Camino Real in both
Mexico and the United States has been destroyed by development of various kinds, including agriculture,urban expansion, and construction of the rail and highway corridors that replaced the road. Nonetheless,portions of the road remain intact, especially in the areas between Chihuahua and Santa Fe that haveremained sparsely populated. Many of the surviving segments of the road have been traced using a
combination of documentary research, aerial photography, on-the-ground survey, and archaeology.
Several parajes have also been identified in the state of Chihuahua and linked to the names of parajes
that appear in historical accounts.
In New Mexico, the route of the Camino Real has recently been the focus of historicpreservation planning by both state and federal agencies, and efforts have been made to identify intact
segments of the road and associated parajes. This work focused primarily on three areas: La Jornada delMuerto, the 90-mile bypass of the Río Grande that began not far north of modern Las Cruces; El Bosquedel Apache, now a National Wildlife Refuge, centered on a stretch of the Río Grande just south ofSocorro; and the area at the northern end of the Camino Real near La Bajada and Santa Fe. This work
has been part of an effort to designate the U.S. portion of the Camino Real a National Historic Trail,
which would help facilitate efforts to preserve and interpret the former route of the road. A related effort
by both U.S. and Mexican agencies has led to a proposal for El Camino Real International Heritage
Center, to be located at a site about 35 miles south of Socorro, overlooking the Río Grande Valley andthe former route of the Camino Real.

Lesson 3
WHAT TO TAKE, WHAT TO TRADE?
Subje cts: Social studies (history, geography, government and civics), language arts, mathem atics
New M exico Sta ndar ds and Ben chma rks: See Appe ndix E
Skills: Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
Duration: 3–5 class periods, depending on depth of researchInstructional Group ings: individual, small group , whole class

Objectives:
In relation to the Camino Real, students will look at how travel and trade—the movement of goods fromone country to the next—has changed through time and how it stayed the same. Students will researchmeans of transport and trade items based on specific time periods. They will list items taken on trade
expeditions, including those necessities for travel and those for trade. They will explain the purpose of
their expedition, compare and contrast the differences between the process and purpose of each type of
expedition, hypothesize the reasons for the changes based on knowledge from previous lessons, andinterpret the results.
Materials:
Provided in kit: Letters to expedition leaders
Other: (1 per student) a box, sack, or piece of paper measuring 18" x 24" ( 45 cm x 60 cm); student
journals
Key events, concepts, and vocabulary:Conestoga wagons

muleteers

residencedrove

pastureman

territory

destination

provisions

Supply lists contain many words that are uncommon in today’s language. If you handout the supply lists,
students will have to research terms and supplies to determine their meaning and use.
Background:
Teachers’ background including the supply lists can be found beginning on page 38.
Setting the Stage:
The trader makes money on the goods transported. The more space there is for saleable and tradeable
materials, the more profit there is to be made. The trader must pack personal items in a small space andmake do with what is on hand. What would you take on a trip that might have you away from home for ayear at a time?
Students begin conceptualizing space and materials by packing a “trunk.” Each student receives abox or a bag representing the available space on their wagon for their personal items. Produce boxes fromthe grocery store, melon crates, milk crates, or large paper sacks would work well for this introduction. If
possible, send students home with a container. It becomes the standard unit of measure for thisintroduction. If this is not an option, using butcher paper, make rectangles that measure 18" × 24" ( 45 cm
x 60 cm) They may stack their belongings 18" high (45 cm) on the paper to approximate available space.
They must consider their belongings and what they must take with themselves for travel. How many pairs
19

of trousers do they need? How many shirts? What will they sleep in? (A bedroll is separate from thepersonal items in the sack.) What will they need for summer? What might they need for winter? Is there
room for a small trinket or remembrance from home?
Students should make a list of the items that they would bring on the trip and that fit in theavailable space. (It is not required that they bring the actual materials.) Divide the class into working
groups and let them compare lists; some may have thought of items that others forgot. Some may haveextraneous items. Once a single list is agreed upon, raise the question of what else would need to be in
the wagon, simply for survival. Food? Water and water containers? Materials to fix the wagon? Shoes forthe horses, oxen, or mules? Weapons? Students should take into consideration the lack of electricity,
batteries, or even ballpoint pens.
Procedure:
Divide the class into four or eight groups, depending on the number of students in the class. Each groupwill prepare for an expedition. The first group is the Oñate Expedition of 1598, the second group is a
Mission Supply Caravan of 1609, the third is a Pack Mule Train of 1693, and the fourth is a Conestoga
wagon train of 1830. Each group is assigned one time period of travel and trade. As an introduction totheir adventure, give each group the letter that corresponds to their time period. Students will have to:1.
select a leader for their journey,2.
research the supplies needed for the trip,
3.
organize their travel plans and submit the travel plan to their governmental officials, and4.
research the time period and the materials that would be traded.
Students should be prepared to discuss the purpose of the supplies, what was needed to sustain the trip
and what was traded. They should also be prepared to discuss the direction that their caravan traveled,
and the political reasons for their missions. Information gathered as a group will be discussed in theclosure so the entire class can gain an understanding of the changes through time.
Journal: The Journal Entry, “The End of the Trip”
At the completion of their research, students will write a letter to the government official who requested
the expedition. They will describe the trip, the people they traded with, any unexpected problems thatwere encountered along the trail, and their plans for future expeditions.
Closure:Students explain their expedition—the route, the time period, the method of travel, the materials taken
for basic survival and those taken for trade. After group sharing, have students discuss the differencesamong the various expeditions. How did travel on the Camino Real change through time? How did tradechange? How were the changes related to the causes and effects recorded in Lesson 1?
Evaluation:
Evaluation for this lesson is based on independent and group research, identification of materials
necessary to their expedition, working cooperatively with other students on key information, thecompletion of journal entries, and participating in class discussions and presentations.
Link to Project Archaeology Lessons:Context, p. 19; Stratigraphy and Cross-dating, p.49; Discovering Archaeology in New Mexico: The
Spanish Entrada and the Early Spanish Colonial Period (A.D. 1540–1700), chapter 7 and accompanying
lesson, Mission Artifacts in appendix 1-32.

20

LETTER 1

Juan de Oñate:You are hereby commanded to lead an expedition in the year 1598. The
purpose of the expedition is to expand the northern limits of theterritory. You are to aid in setting up a settlement along the colonial
frontier. This expedition will require a great number of people tosucceed.
It is the recommendation of the government that you proceed with morethan one hundred men. Since it is to be a settlement the men should
bring their wives and children with them. You will need adequate
provisions for the trip, including tools and weapons. The livestock you
take will serve as food along the way and as breeding stock for the newsettlement. Traveling with you will also be a group of Franciscan friars.
It will be their job to set up missions and convert the native people. You
must be prepared for any situation.
Regular reports will be required. The first report will list the supplies
and materials required for your trip. The second report will list the trade
items that you will carry with you for use in your new home. The third
report will tell of your progress along the trail. The final report will bemade upon arrival at your destination.
Signed,The Governor of México
on behalf of the King of Spain

LETTER 2

Señor Baca:
You are commanded by the government to organize and lead the Mission
Supply Caravan of 1631. Your travels will take you to the far northernreaches of the colonies. With you will travel 20 friars who will join the
46 friars already in residence. For every two friars, one wagon will be
provided that will contain their supplies and equipment. Twenty-two
additional wagons will be provided to carry the supplies for the friars
already in the colonial territory. To ensure the safety of the friars, yourcaravan will be escorted by a company of 12 solders under thesupervision of a captain.
Regular reports will be required. The first report will list the supplies
and materials required for your trip. The second report will list the trade
items that you will carry with you to supply the missions. The third
report will tell of your progress along the trail. The final report will bemade upon arrival at your destination.
Go with God (Vaya con Dios). Signed,
The Head of the Church in Mexico City

LETTER 3

Mayordomo:
The Spanish Colonial Government requests that you organize a drove ofmules for hauling cargo to the capitol, Santa Fe. For this trip, you willneed 100 mules, a dozen or so muleteers (arrieros), and an experienced
driver (atajador), a pastureman (sabaneros), a scout to ride at the headof your train and serve as an overseer, and a cook (la madre). Your
muleteers will ride horses, and you will need la mulera, a female horsewhose job is to lead the mule train, carrying nothing but wearing a belltied around her neck.
Mules are important animals. If treated well, they will be able to carry
up to 400 pounds of supplies.
Regular reports will be required. The first report will list the supplies
and materials required for your trip. The second report will list the trade
items that you will carry with you. The third report will tell of yourprogress along the trail. The final report will be made upon arrival atyour destination.
Signed,The Royal Governor

LETTER 4

Mr. Baca:
A wagon train consisting of 38 Conestoga wagons will be arriving in
Santa Fe in late September 1846 from Independence, Missouri. The
wagon train leader will need to return immediately to Independence.
Your services are requested to lead the mule train on its final journeyfrom Santa Fe to San Juan de los Lagos, an important early mining
settlement along the Camino Real south of Chihuahua. The goal is to get
the trade items to Dan Juan de los Lagos in time for the annual trade fairheld during the first two weeks of December. The Conestoga wagons arewell used. This is to be their final journey for our company. Since there
seems to be a market for these wagons in Mexico, sell what you can andreturn with a lighter load on the mules themselves.
Regular reports will be required. The first report will list the supplies
and materials required for your trip. The second report will list the trade
items that you will carry with you. The third report will tell of yourprogress along the trail. The final report will be made upon arrival atyour destination.
Signed,Owner and Manager, Santa Fe Trading Company

Lesson 4
FAMILY STORIES
Those Who Arrived, Those Who Stayed
Subje cts: Social studies (history, geography), mathem atics, language arts
New M exico Sta ndar ds and Ben chma rks: See Appe ndix E
Skills: Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
Duration: Part 1: Fam ily Histories: 3–5 class periods; Pa rt 2: Place N ames: 3– 5 class period s.
Instructional Group ings: Individual and small group

Objectives: Students will learn about the original colonists who ventured into New Mexico with Oñate.
They will conduct personal research relating to family names and discover locations named after specificindividuals or events relating to the Camino Real. Students will begin by solving a mathematical story
problem and reading an essay. They will develop a research instrument and conduct interviews. They
will speculate as to how histories are different based on the perspectives from which they are written.
Materials:
Provided in kit: Students’ essay, list of families on the Oñate expedition.
Other: Paper, student journals, current maps for New Mexico and Mexico, and The Place Names of New
Mexico by Robert Hixson Julyan, University of New Mexico Press, 1996, 1998
Key events, concepts, and vocabulary:
No new vocabulary introduced in the student essay.
Background:
The root of history is histÇr, meaning “knowing” in Greek. When looking at the past, it should be notedthat there is more than one “history.” History is written from a specific perspective. Generally, theperspective is that of the winner, the literate, the rich, the male. The story is “fact” based on theindividual’s cultural perspective, life experiences, and view of the witnessed events. One person cannot
witness all the details. Even if the event is recorded from multiple perspectives, the perspectives rarely
include the children, the women, the illiterate, or the enslaved.
In class, issues may arise that spark controversy and discussion relating to colonization andsettlement. A discussion of how history is recorded may help students through the process. Allow all
voices in an intellectual process. Compare and contrast personal histories. What is similar and what isdifferent? What might account for the differences?
Setting the Stage:
Students begin this fourth lesson with two activities. The first is a story problem that personalizes thepassage of time by thinking in terms of generations. The second is a short essay about Don Fernando
Durán y Chavez.
A story problem
Counting back in generations
If your ancestors came to New Mexico with Oñate in 1598 at the age of 20, married andhad a family that year, and each generation married and had children at the age of 20,
how many generations of your family have passed before you in New Mexico?

25

Answer:
20 generations. Your parents would be one generation, grandparents a second generation,etc. Refer back to the chronology created in Lesson 1.
Procedure:
Students work individually on family genealogies and timelines and will work together to discover towns
named after the Spanish explorers and settlers. Begin by distributing the list of families who came to
New Mexico during the sixteenth and seventeenth century (1598–1693). Are any of these names thefamily names of students in the classroom? Do any students have family stories that connect them tothese colonial families or the Camino Real?
Part One
Students begin by developing a page for recording a family history. It can be used to record written
documents, photographs, or as a tool for interviewing family members. Students should begin withgeneral questions. The following interview questions should be used as a basis for developing more indepth questions.
CCC

How long has our family been in New Mexico?
Where did they live prior to moving here?
What brought our family here?

Are there any Native American students in the class whose families antedate the arrival of the Spanish?
How might their history differ from the history of the descendants of the Spanish settlers?
Information should be recorded on the forms and transferred to the journals. Once students havecompleted their individual histories, they should be posted. Provide students time to read all of thestories. Students should record any similarities or differences in their journals and write a history basedon everyone’s story. Once the histories are written, they can be shared. How do they differ, and what is
the same?
Part Two
Using the listing of colonists, students should look at a map of New Mexico and locate towns andgeographic places that may have been named after the first colonists. Research may be conducted on thetowns using The Place Names of New Mexico by Robert Hixson Julyan (University of New Mexico
Press, 1996, 1998). Additional information is also available in reference materials, on maps, and on theinternet. Students may expand on their research by including information on the individual after whom
the town or place is named.
Journal—The Journal Entry, “Letter to the Past, Letter to the Future.”
Students write a letter for the closure of this unit. Some may write a letter from the present to the original
travelers or colonists who traveled on the Camino Real. The letters should include what was learned by
the student on their personal journey in this unit and inform the travelers about where they live today andhow the Camino Real impacted this place.
The other option is to write a letter as one of the original colonists. These students select a place
along the Camino Real that they have learned about. The letter should be addressed to someone in thepresent, answering the question “What would you want your descendant to know about you and your lifeon the Camino Real?” As with the previous journal entries, the letters should be a creative writing
exercise that incorporates the facts learned as a result of student research.

26

Closure:
Consider who the founding families were and the impact that colonization in New Mexico had on thosearriving and those already in residence from the various cultural perspectives (Spanish and indigenous
populations of Mexico and New Mexico). Consider how many generations families represented in theclass have been in residence in this country. When is someone considered “native?” How many
generations does it take to be native? If the colonists were to think 20 generations into the future, whatmight they have imagined for this place? What is the future of the Camino Real? What is the future of the“history” of the Camino Real? Considering what you have learned, how might you rewrite the history oftravel and trade on the Camino Real?
Evaluation:
Evaluation for this lesson is based on independent and group research, working cooperatively with otherstudents on key information, the completion of journal entries, and participating in class discussions andpresentations.
Link to Project Archaeology Lessons:This lesson links to Intrigue of the Past: A Teacher’s Activity Guide for Fourth through Seventh Grades:
Archaeology and Ethnographic Analogy: The Anasazi and the Hopi, p. 73; State Place Names, p.127;
Discovering Archaeology in New Mexico: The Spanish Entrada and the Early Spanish Colonial Period(A.D. 1540–1700), chapter 7.

27

Name: ________________________________Class/Period: ________________________A Colonial Family
Don Fernando Durán y Chavez
More than 400 years ago, the first members of the Chavez family traveled into New Mexico with Juan deOñate. Historical records list the first mention of the Chavez name in an official government record in
1631 stating that Don Pedro [Gómez] Durán y Chavez was responsible for collecting money for thegovernor. During the Pueblo Revolt Don Pedro Durán y Chavez’s grandson, Don Fernando Durán yChavez; his wife, Lucía Hurtado de Salas; and their four children escaped with the other survivingcolonists down the Camino Real to Guadalupe del Paso (El Paso).
Many of the Chavez clan stayed in northern Mexico, the area that is now Chihuahua. Following
the Pueblo Revolt, Don Fernando Durán y Chavez and his family returned to New Mexico in 1693 with
the Vargas caravan. They moved back to their ancestral home in Bernalillo soon after returning to New
Mexico.
By 1707, the family moved to Atrisco, near what would become the modern city of Albuquerque.
The family continued to live in the Albuquerque area for the next century or so. By the early 1800s, one
of Don Fernando’s grandsons, Diego Antonio, had married and moved to Laguna, New Mexico. Therehis son Juan Bautista Chávez was born. Juan Bautista grew up and married María Manuela Romero of
Sabinal, New Mexico, in 1841. Sabinal was a town on the Río Grande south of Albuquerque, and thecouple moved there to raise their own family. They had four sons and a daughter. Once the four sons
were grown up, they left the Río Grande Valley together, probably in search of land to farm on their own.
By the 1880s, the four brothers had ended up in St. Johns, Arizona, where a new settlement of
Spanish-speaking people was forming. Around 1900, one of the brothers, Santiago Chávez, decided tohomestead land about 40 miles east of St. Johns, near the Zuni Salt Lake in New Mexico. Santiago lived
on his homestead with his wife and other members of his family for the next 30 years. The homestead
was abandoned in the mid-1930s and was never occupied again. Santiago and his wife had six children.
Their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren live in various places in New
Mexico and Arizona. The descendants of Santiago’s three brothers and one sister are likewise scatteredthroughout New Mexico and Arizona.
Ancestry of Santiago Chávez[Note: Chávez was originally spelled Chaves, but only the more recent spelling is used here]
Pedro Durán y Chávez, born before 1556, Valverde de Llerena, Estremadura, Spain
Fernando Durán y Chávez, born 1609, [unknown town], New Mexico
Fernando Durán y Chávez II, born 1651, Bernalillo, New Mexico
Pedro Durán y Chávez, born 1674, [unknown town], New Mexico
Diego Antonio Durán y Chávez, born 1724, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Pedro Antonio Durán y Chávez, born 1744, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Diego Antonio Durán y Chávez, born 1791, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Juan Bautista Chávez, born 1817, Laguna, New Mexico
José Santiago Chávez (better known as Santiago Chávez), born 1849, Sabinal, New Mexico

Families of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1598–1693)
Abendaño
Aguilar
AlbizuAliso
Anaya Almazán
ApodacaAragón (López de
Aragón)Arch uleta
Arratia
Arteaga
Ávila
Ayala
Baca
Barrios
BerbalBohórquez
Brito
Cabinillas
CadimoCampusano
Candelaria
Carvajal (V itoria
Carvajal)
CasausCastillo (López delCastillo)
Cedillo (Sedillo)
Chávez (Durán yChávez)
Cruz (Cruz Catalán)CuéllarDomínguez deMendozaDurán
Enríquez
Escallada
Escarramad
Fernández de laFuenteFonte
Fresqui
Gallegos
GamboaGarcíaGarcía Holgado
García M uerte
García de N oriega
Gómez BarragánGómez Robledo
Góm ez de Luna
(Luna)
Gómez Parra (Gómez
Barragán)Gómez de T orres(To rres)GonzálezGonzález Lobón
González Bernal
González de Apodaca(Apodaca)
GriegoGuadalajara
Guillén
Gutiérrez
Heras, de las
Hernández
HerreraHerrera Corrales
Hidalgo (Cab inillas)
Hinojos
Holguín (Olguín)
HurtadoJiménez
Jorge
Jurad o de Gracia
LedesmaLeón (Brito)
Leyva
López
Lóp ez de Gracia
Lóp ez H olguín(Olguín)López Mederos
Lóp ez de Ocanto
López Sam brano
Lucero de Godoy
Luis
Luján
Luna
MadridMaese
Márquez (Márquez
Sambrano)Martín Barba
Martín Serrano
MestasMirandaMizquia
Mo hedano
Mondragón
Mo ntaño
Montaño deSotomayer
Montoya
Monroy (Sánchez de
Mo nroy andMo ndragón)

Mo ragaMoránNaranjo
Nieto
Nuñez Bellido(Rodríguez Bellio)
Olguín (López
Holguín)OliveraOrtega
Ortiz
PachecoPad illa
Paredes
Parra
Pedraza
Peralta
Perea
Pérez
Pérez de Bustillo
Pérez G ranillo
Perram os (Ram os)
QuintanaRamírezRamos (Perramos)
RascónRiberaRío, delRobledoRodríguez
Rodríguez Bellido
Rodríguez de Salazar
Rodríguez deZevallosRomeroRuiz
Ruiz Cáceres
Ruiz de Hinojos(Hinojos)
Sáiz
Salas
SalazarSánchez
Sánchez de Monroy
Sandoval
Santa Cruz
Sedillo (Cedillo Ricode Ro jas)
Serna
Sisneros (C isneros)
Soto
Sosa
Suazo
Tapia

Telles Jirón
TorresTrujillo
Valencia
Varela Jaramillo
Varela de Losada
Vásquez
Vera
XavierXimenez (Jiménez)ZamoraZamorano