S. 366

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,

the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

An Act

To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de Tierra

Adentro as a National Historic Trail.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

National Historic Trail Act’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal Road

of the Interior), served as the primary route between the colonial Spanish capital of Mexico City and the Spanish provincial

capitals at San Juan de Los Caballeros (1598–1600), San

Gabriel (1600–1609) and then Santa Fe (1610–1821).

(2) The portion of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro that

resided in what is now the United States extended between

El Paso, Texas and present San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico,

a distance of 404 miles;

(3) El Camino Real is a symbol of the cultural interaction

between nations and ethnic groups and of the commercial

exchange that made possible the development and growth of

the borderland;

(4) American Indian groups, especially the Pueblo Indians

of the Rio Grande, developed trails for trade long before Europeans arrived;

(5) In 1598, Juan de On ̃ate led a Spanish military expedition along those trails to establish the northern portion of

El Camino Real;

(6) During the Mexican National Period and part of the

United States Territorial Period, El Camino Real de Tierra

Adentro facilitated the emigration of people to New Mexico

and other areas that would become the United States;

(7) The exploration, conquest, colonization, settlement, religious conversion, and military occupation of a large area of

the borderlands was made possible by this route, whose historical period extended from 1598 to 1882;
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(8) American Indians, European emigrants, miners,

ranchers, soldiers, and missionaries used El Camino Real

during the historic development of the borderlands. These travelers promoted cultural interaction among Spaniards, other

Europeans, American Indians, Mexicans, and Americans;

(9) El Camino Real fostered the spread of Catholicism,

mining, an extensive network of commerce, and ethnic and

cultural traditions including music, folklore, medicine, foods,

architecture, language, place names, irrigation systems, and

Spanish law.

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:

‘‘(21) EL CAMINO REAL DE TIERRA ADENTRO.—

‘‘(A) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal

Road of the Interior) National Historic Trail, a 404 mile

long trail from the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas to

San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, as generally depicted on

the maps entitled ‘United States Route: El Camino Real

de Tierra Adentro’, contained in the report prepared pursuant to subsection (b) entitled ‘National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and Environmental Assessment: El Camino

Real de Tierra Adentro, Texas-New Mexico’, dated March

1997.

‘‘(B) MAP.—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.

‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.—The Trail shall be administered

by the Secretary of the Interior.

‘‘(D) LAND ACQUISITION.—No lands or interests therein

outside the exterior boundaries of any federally administered area may be acquired by the Federal Government

for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro except with the

consent of the owner thereof.

‘‘(E) VOLUNTEER GROUPS; CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of the Interior shall—

‘‘(i) encourage volunteer trail groups to participate

in the development and maintenance of the trail; and

‘‘(ii) consult with other affected Federal, State,

local governmental, and tribal agencies in the administration of the trail.
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‘‘(F) 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.’’.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.