106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 366

AN ACT

To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El

Camino Real de Tierra Adentro as a National Historic Trail.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail Act.’’
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the

4 Royal Road of the Interior), served as the primary

5 route between the colonial Spanish capital of Mexico

6 City and the Spanish provincial capitals at San Juan

7 de Los Caballeros (1598–1600), San Gabriel (1600–

8 1609) and then Santa Fe (1610–1821).

9 (2) The portion of El Camino Real de Tierra

10 Adentro that resided in what is now the United

11 States extended between El Paso, Texas and present

12 San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, a distance of 404

13 miles;

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

15 interaction between nations and ethnic groups and

16 of the commercial exchange that made possible the

17 development and growth of the borderland;

18 (4) American Indian groups, especially the

19 Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande, developed trails

20 for trade long before Europeans arrived;

(5) In 1598, Juan de On ̃ 21 ate led a Spanish mili22 tary expedition along those trails to establish the

23 northern portion of El Camino Real;

24 (6) During the Mexican National Period and

25 part of the U.S. Territorial Period, El Camino Real

26 de Tierra Adentro facilitated the emigration of peo-
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1 ple to New Mexico and other areas that would be2 come the United States;

3 (7) The exploration, conquest, colonization, set4 tlement, religious conversion, and military occupa5 tion of a large area of the borderlands was made

6 possible by this route, whose historical period ex7 tended from 1598 to 1882;

8 (8) American Indians, European emigrants,

9 miners, ranchers, soldiers, and missionaries used El

10 Camino Real during the historic development of the

11 borderlands. These travelers promoted cultural inter12 action among Spaniards, other Europeans, American

13 Indians, Mexicans, and Americans;

14 (9) El Camino Real fostered the spread of Ca15 tholicism, mining, an extensive network of com16 merce, and ethnic and cultural traditions including

17 music, folklore, medicine, foods, architecture, lan18 guage, place names, irrigation systems, and Spanish

19 law.

20 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

21 Section 5 (a) of the National Trails System Act (16

22 U.S.C. 1244 (a)) is amended—

23 (1) by designating the paragraphs relating to

24 the California National Historic Trail, the Pony Ex25 press National Historic Trail, and the Selma to
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1 Montgomery National Historic Trail as paragraphs

2 (18), (19), and (20), respectively; and

3 (2) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(21) EL CAMINO REAL DE TIERRA

5 ADENTRO.—

6 ‘‘(A) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

7 (the Royal Road of the Interior) National His8 toric Trail, a 404 mile long trail from the Rio

9 Grande near El Paso, Texas to San Juan Pueb10 lo, New Mexico, as generally depicted on the

11 maps entitled ‘United States Route: El Camino

12 Real de Tierra Adentro’, contained in the re13 port prepared pursuant to subsection (b) enti14 tled ‘National Historic Trail Feasibility Study

15 and Environmental Assessment: El Camino

16 Real de Tierra Adentro, Texas-New Mexico’,

17 dated March 1997.

18 ‘‘(B) MAP.—A map generally depicting the

19 trail shall be on file and available for public in20 spection in the Office of the National Park

21 Service, Department of Interior.

22 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.—The Trail shall

23 be administered by the Secretary of the Inte24 rior.
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1 ‘‘(D) LAND ACQUISITION.—No lands or in2 terests therein outside the exterior boundaries

3 of any federally administered area may be ac4 quired by the Federal Government for El Ca5 mino Real de Tierra Adentro except with the

6 consent of the owner thereof.

7 ‘‘(E) VOLUNTEER GROUPS; CONSULTA8 TION.—The Secretary of the Interior shall—

9 ‘‘(i) encourage volunteer trail groups

10 to participate in the development and

11 maintenance of the trail; and

12 ‘‘(ii) consult with other affected Fed13 eral, State, local governmental, and tribal

14 agencies in the administration of the trail.

15 ‘‘(F) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The

16 Secretary of the Interior may coordinate with

17 United States and Mexican public and non-gov18 ernmental organizations, academic institutions,

19 and, in consultation with the Secretary of State,

20 the government of Mexico and its political sub21 divisions, for the purpose of exchanging trail in22 formation and research, fostering trail preserva23 tion and educational programs, providing tech24 nical assistance, and working to establish an

25 international historic trail with complementary
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1 preservation and education programs in each

2 nation.’’.

Passed the Senate November 19, 1999.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 366

AN ACT

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

National Historic Trail.