I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1628

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

de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 2001

Mr. RODRIGUEZ 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 los Tejas 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 los Tejas National Historic Trail Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) El Camino Real de los Tejas (the Royal

9 Road to the Tejas), served as the primary route be10 tween the Spanish viceregal capital of Mexico City
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1 and the Spanish provincial capital of Tejas at Los

2 Adaes (1721–1773) and San Antonio (1773–1821);

3 (2) the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nine4 teenth century rivalries among the European colo5 nial powers of Spain, France, and England and after

6 their independence, Mexico and the United States,

7 for dominion over lands fronting the Gulf of Mexico,

8 were played out along the evolving travel routes in

9 this immense area;

10 (3) the future of several American Indian na11 tions, whose prehistoric trails were later used by the

12 Spaniards for exploration and colonization, was tied

13 to these larger forces and events and the nations

14 were fully involved in and affected by the complex

15 cultural interactions that ensued;

16 (4) the Old San Antonio Road was a series of

17 routes established in the early 19th century sharing

18 the same corridor and some routes of El Camino

19 Real, and carried American immigrants from the

20 east, contributing to the formation of the Republic

21 of Texas, and its annexation to the United States;

22 (5) the exploration, conquest, colonization, set23 tlement, migration, military occupation, religious

24 conversion, and cultural exchange that occurred in a

25 large area of the borderland was facilitated by El
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1 Camino Real de los Tejas as it carried Spanish and

2 Mexican influences northeastward, and by its suc3 cessor, the Old San Antonio Road, which carried

4 American influence westward, during a historic pe5 riod which extended from 1689 to 1850; and

6 (6) the portions of El Camino Real de los Tejas

7 in what is now the United States extended from the

8 Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and Laredo, Texas and

9 involved routes that changed through time, that

10 total almost 2,600 miles in combined length, gen11 erally coursing northeasterly through San Antonio,

12 Bastrop, Nacogdoches, and San Augustine in Texas

13 to Natchitoches, Louisiana, a general corridor dis14 tance of 550 miles.

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 as follows:

18 (1) By designating the paragraph relating to

19 the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail as para20 graph (21).

21 (2) By adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(23) EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—El Camino Real de los

24 Tejas (The Royal Road to the Tejas) National

25 Historic Trail, a combination of routes totaling
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1 2,580 miles in length from the Rio Grande near

2 Eagle Pass and Laredo, Texas to Natchitoches,

3 Louisiana, and including the Old San Antonio

4 Road, as generally depicted on the maps enti5 tled ‘El Camino Real de los Tejas’, contained in

6 the report prepared pursuant to subsection (b)

7 entitled ‘National Historic Trail Feasibility

8 Study and Environmental Assessment: El Ca9 mino Real de los Tejas, Texas-Louisiana’, dated

10 July 1998. A map generally depicting the trail

11 shall be on file and available for public inspec12 tion in the Office of the National Park Service,

13 Department of the Interior. The trail shall be

14 administered by the Secretary of the Interior.

15 ‘‘(B) 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.’’.

3 SEC. 4. PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION.

4 Designation of El Camino Real de los Tejas under

5 this Act does not itself confer any additional authority to

6 apply other existing Federal laws and regulations on non7 federal lands along the trail. Laws or regulations requiring

8 public entities and agencies to take into consideration a

9 national historic trail shall continue to apply notwith10 standing the foregoing. On non-federal lands, the national

11 historic trail shall be established only when landowners

12 voluntarily request certification of their sites and segments

13 of the trail consistent with section 3(a)(3) of the National

14 Trails System Act. Notwithstanding section 7(g) of such

15 Act, the United States is authorized to acquire privately16 owned real property or an interest in such property for

17 purposes of the trail only with the willing consent of the

18 owner of such property and shall have no authority to con19 demn or otherwise appropriate privately-owned real prop20 erty or an interest in such property for the purposes of

21 El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail.

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