I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2271

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

de Tierra Adentro as a National Historic Trail.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 17, 1999

Mr. REYES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on 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 The Congress finds the following:

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 then Santa Fe (1610–1821).

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

5 Adentro that resided in what is now the United

6 States extended between El Paso, Texas and present

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

8 miles;

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

10 interaction between nations and ethnic groups and

11 of the commercial exchange that made possible the

12 development and growth of the borderland;

13 (4) American Indian groups, especially the

14 Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande, developed trails

15 for trade long before Europeans arrived;

16 (5) In 1598, Juan de On ̃ate led a Spanish mili17 tary expedition along those trails to establish the

18 northern portion of El Camino Real;

19 (6) During the Mexican National Period and

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

21 de Tierra Adentro facilitated the emigration of peo22 ple to New Mexico and other areas that would be23 come the United States;

24 (7) The exploration, conquest, colonization, set25 tlement, religious conversion, and military occupa-
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1 tion of a large area of the borderlands was made

2 possible by this route, whose historical period ex3 tended from 1598 to 1882;

4 (8) American Indians, European emigrants,

5 miners, ranchers, soldiers, and missionaries used El

6 Camino Real during the historic development of the

7 borderlands. These travelers promoted cultural inter8 action among Spaniards, other Europeans, American

9 Indians, Mexicans, and Americans;

10 (9) El Camino Real fostered the spread of Ca11 tholicism, mining, an extensive network of com12 merce, and ethnic and cultural traditions including

13 music, folklore, medicine, foods, architecture, lan14 guage, place names, irrigation systems, and Spanish

15 law.

16 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

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

18 U.S.C. 1244 (a)) is amended—

19 (1) by designating the paragraphs relating to

20 the California National Historic Trail, the Pony Ex21 press National Historic Trail, and the Selma to

22 Montgomery National Historic Trail as paragraphs

23 (18), (19), and (20), respectively; and

24 (2) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(21) EL CAMINO REAL DE TIERRA

2 ADENTRO.—

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

4 (the Royal Road of the Interior) National His5 toric Trail, a 404 mile long trail from the Rio

6 Grande near El Paso, Texas to San Juan Pueb7 lo, New Mexico, as generally depicted on the

8 maps entitled ‘United States Route: El Camino

9 Real de Tierra Adentro’, contained in the re10 port prepared pursuant to subsection (b) enti11 tled ‘National Historic Trail Feasibility Study

12 and Environmental Assessment: El Camino

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

14 dated March 1997.

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

16 trail shall be on file and available for public in17 spection in the Office of the National Park

18 Service, Department of Interior.

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

20 be administered by the Secretary of the Inte21 rior.

22 ‘‘(D) LAND ACQUISITION.—No lands or in23 terests therein outside the exterior boundaries

24 of any federally administered area may be ac25 quired by the Federal Government for El Ca-
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1 mino Real de Tierra Adentro except with the

2 consent of the owner thereof.

3 ‘‘(E) VOLUNTEER GROUPS; CONSULTA4 TION.—The Secretary of the Interior shall—

5 ‘‘(i) encourage volunteer trail groups

6 to participate in the development and

7 maintenance of the trail; and

8 ‘‘(ii) consult with other affected Fed9 eral, State, local governmental, and tribal

10 agencies in the administration of the trail.

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

12 Secretary of the Interior may coordinate with

13 United States and Mexican public and non-gov14 ernmental organizations, academic instititions,

15 and, in consultation with the Secretary of State,

16 the government of Mexico and its political sub17 divisions, for the purpose of exchanging trail in18 formation and research, fostering trail preserva19 tion and educational programs, providing tech20 nical assistance, and working to establish an

21 international historic trail with complementary

22 preservation and education programs in each

23 nation.’’.

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