I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2160

To amend the National Trails System Act to provide for a study of El

Camino Real Para Los Texas (The Royal Road for the Texas), and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 19, 1993

Mr. WILSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the National Trails System Act to provide for

a study of El Camino Real Para Los Texas (The Royal

Road for the Texas), and for other purposes.

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 Para

5 Los Texas Study Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) El Camino Real Para Los Texas was the

9 Spanish road established to connect a series of mis-
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1 sions and posts extending from Monclova, Mexico, to

2 the mission and later Presidio Nuestra de Pilar de

3 los Adaes which served as the Spanish capital of the

4 province of Texas from 1722 to 1772;

5 (2) El Camino Real, over time, comprised an

6 approximately 1,000 mile corridor of changing

7 routes from Saltillo through Monclova and Guerrero,

8 Mexico; San Antonio and Nacogdoches, Texas, and

9 then easterly to the vicinity of Los Adaes in present

10 day Louisiana; and constituted the only major over11 land route from the Rio Grande to the Red River

12 Valley during the Spanish Colonial Period;

13 (3) the 17th, 18th, and early 19th century ri14 valries among the European colonial powers of

15 Spain, France, and England, and after their inde16 pendence, Mexico and the United States, for domin17 ion over lands fronting the Gulf of Mexico were

18 played out along the evolving travel routes across

19 this immense area, and, as well, the future of several

20 American Indian nations were tied to these larger

21 forces and events;

22 (4) El Camino Real and the subsequent San

23 Antonio Road witnessed a competition that helped

24 determine the United States’ southern and western

25 boundaries; and
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1 (5) the San Antonio Road, like El Camino Real,

2 was a series of routes established over the same

3 broad corridor but was not necessarily the same as

4 El Camino Real, and from the 1830s, waves of

5 American immigrants, many using the Natches

6 Trace, travelled west to Texas and its cheap and ac7 cessible lands via the San Antonio Road.

8 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF TRAIL.

9 Section 5(c) of the National Trails System Act (16

10 U.S.C. 1244(c)) is amended by adding the following new

11 paragraph at the end thereof:

12 ‘‘( ) El Camino Real Para Los Texas, the ap13 proximate series of routes coursing northeasterly

14 from Saltillo, Monclova, and Guerrero, Mexico,

15 across Texas through San Antonio and

16 Nacogdoches, to the vicinity of Los Adaes, Louisi17 ana, together with the evolving routes later known

18 as the San Antonio Road. The study shall (A) exam19 ine the changing roads within the general corridor,

20 (B) examine major connecting branch routes, and

21 (C) determine individual or combined suitability and

22 feasibility of routes for national historic trail des23 ignation. The study shall be done in cooperation

24 with the Government of Mexico and shall provide

25 for, as necessary, technical assistance to Mexico with
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1 the possible objective of establishing an international

2 historic trail. The study shall give due consideration

3 to alternative name designations.’’.

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