II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2039

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

de Tierra Adentro as a National Historic Trail.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 6, 1998

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

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

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

10 route between the colonial Spanish capital of Mexico
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1 City and the Spanish provincial capitals at San Juan

2 de Los Caballeros (1598–1600), San Gabriel (1600-

3 1609) and Santa Fe (1610–1821);

4 (2) the portion of El Camino Real in what is

5 now the United States extended between El Paso,

6 Texas, and present San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico,

7 a distance of 404 miles;

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

9 interaction between nations and ethnic groups and

10 of the commercial exchange that made possible the

11 development and growth of the borderland;

12 (4) American Indian groups, especially the

13 Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande, developed trails

14 for trade long before Europeans arrived;

15 (5) in 1598, Juan de On ̃ate led a Spanish mili16 tary expedition along those trails to establish the

17 northern portion of El Camino Real;

18 (6) during the Mexican National Period and

19 part of the United States Territorial Period, El Ca20 mino Real facilitated the emigration of people to

21 New Mexico and other areas that were to become

22 part of the United States;

23 (7) the exploration, conquest, colonization, set24 tlement, religious conversion, and military occupa25 tion of a large area of the borderland was made pos-
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1 sible by El Camino Real, the historical period of

2 which extended from 1598 to 1882;

3 (8) American Indians, European emigrants,

4 miners, ranchers, soldiers, and missionaries used El

5 Camino Real during the historic development of the

6 borderland, promoting cultural interaction among

7 Spaniards, other Europeans, American Indians,

8 Mexicans, and Americans; and

9 (9) El Camino Real fostered the spread of Ca10 tholicism, mining, an extensive network of com11 merce, and ethnic and cultural traditions including

12 music, folklore, medicine, foods, architecture, lan13 guage, place names, irrigation systems, and Spanish

14 law.

15 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

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

17 U.S.C. 1244(a)) is amended—

18 (1) by designating the paragraphs relating to

19 the California National Historic Trail, the Pony Ex20 press National Historic Trail, and the Selma to

21 Montgomery National Historic Trail as paragraphs

22 (18), (19), and (20), respectively; and

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

24 ‘‘(21) EL CAMINO REAL DE TIERRA

25 ADENTRO.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—El Camino Real de

2 Tierra Adentro (the Royal Road of the Interior)

3 National Historic Trail, a 404 mile long trail

4 from the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas to

5 San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, as generally de6 picted on the maps entitled ‘United States

7 Route: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro’, con8 tained in the report prepared pursuant to sub9 section (b) entitled ‘National Historic Trail

10 Feasibility Study and Environmental Assess11 ment: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,

12 Texas-New Mexico’, dated March 1997.

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

14 trail shall be on file and available for public in15 spection in the Office of the National Park

16 Service, Department of the Interior.

17 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.—The trail shall be

18 administered by the Secretary of the Interior.

19 ‘‘(D) LAND ACQUISITION.—No land or in20 terest in land outside the exterior boundaries of

21 any federally administered area may be ac22 quired by the United States for the trail except

23 with the consent of the owner of the land or in24 terest in land.
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1 ‘‘(E) VOLUNTEER GROUPS; CONSULTA2 TION.—The Secretary of the Interior shall—

3 ‘‘(i) encourage volunteer trail groups

4 to participate in the development and

5 maintenance of the trail; and

6 ‘‘(ii) consult with affected Federal,

7 State, and tribal agencies in the adminis8 tration of the trail.

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

10 Secretary of the Interior may coordinate with

11 United States and Mexican public and non-gov12 ernmental organizations, academic institutions,

13 and, in consultation with the Secretary of State,

14 the government of Mexico and its political sub15 divisions, for the purpose of exchanging trail in16 formation and research, fostering trail preserva17 tion and educational programs, providing tech18 nical assistance, and working to establish an

19 international historic trail with complementary

20 preservation and education programs in each

21 nation.’’.

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