El Camino Real Para Los Texas Study Act of 1993
PL 103-145 (S.983), enacted 11/17/1993

107 STAT. 1496 
PUBLIC LAW 103-145—NOV. 17, 1993 
Public Law 103-145 
103d Congress 
An Act 
Nov 17 1993 
'^° amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior 
' 
to study the El Camino Real Para Los Texas for potential addition to the National 
[b. 9»dJ 
Trails System, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of 
El Camino Real 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
Para Los Texas 
1993^ ^^^ °^ 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
16 use 1241 
This Act may be cited as the "El Camino Real Para Los Texas 
'^ote 
Study Act of 1993". 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds— 
(1) El Camino Real Para Los Texas was the Spanish road 
established to connect a series of missions and posts extending 
from Monclova, Mexico to the mission and later Presidio 
Nuestra de Pilar de los Adaes which served as the Spanish 
capital of the province of Texas from 1722 to 1772; 
(2) El Camino Real, over time, comprised an approximately 
1,000-mile corridor of changing routes from Saltillo through 
Monclova and Guerrero, Mexico; San Antonio and Nacogdoches, 
Texas and then easterly to the vicinity of Los Adaes in present 
day Louisiana; and constituted the only major overland route 
from the Rio Grande to the Red River Valley during the Spanish 
Colonial Period; 
(3) the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth cen-
tury rivalries among the European colonial powers of Spain, 
France, and England and after their independence, Mexico 
and the United States, for dominion over lands fronting the 
Gulf of Mexico were played out along the evolving travel routes 
across this immense area; and, as well, the future of several 
American Indian nations were tied to these larger forces and 
events; 
(4) El Camino Real and the subsequent San Antonio Road 
witnessed a competition that helped determine the United 
States southern and western boundaries; and 
(5) the San Antonio Road, like El Camino Real, was a 
series of routes established over the same corridor but was 
not necessarily the same as El Camino Real; and that from 
the 1830's, waves of American immigrants, many using the 
Natchez Trace, travelled west to Texas via the San Antonio 
Road, as did Native Americans attempting to relocate away 
from the pressures of European settlement. 
PUBLIC LAW 103-145—NOV. 17, 1993 
107 STAT. 1497 
SEC. 3. STUDY OF TRAIL. 
Section 5(c) of the National Trail System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(c)) 
is amended by adding the following new paragraph at the end 
thereof: 
"(36)(A) El Camino Real Para Los Texas, the approximate series 
of routes from Saltillo, Monclova, and Guerrero, Mexico across 
Texas through San Antonio and Nacogdoches, to the vicinity of 
Los Adaes, Louisiana, together with the evolving routes later known 
as the San Antonio Road. 
"(B) The study shall— 
"(i) examine the changing roads within the historic corridor; 
"(ii) examine the major connecting branch routes; 
"(iii) determine the individual or combined suitability and 
feasibility of routes for potential national historic trail designa-
tion; 
"(iv) consider the preservation heritage plan developed by 
the Texas Department of Transportation entitled 'A Texas Leg-
acy: The Old San Antonio Road and the Caminos Reales', 
dated January, 1991; and 
"(v) make recommendations concerning the suitability and 
feasibility of establishing an international historical park where 
the trail crosses the United States-Mexico border at Maverick 
County, Texas, and Guerrero, Mexico. 
"(C) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to work in 
cooperation with the government of Mexico (including, but not lim-
ited to providing technical assistance) to detemine the suitability 
and feasibility of establishing an international historic trail along 
the El Camino Real Para Los Texas. 
"(D) The study shall be undertaken in consultation with the 
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the 
Texas Department of Transportation. 
"(E) The study shall consider alternative name designations 
for the trail. 
"(F) The study shall be completed no later than two years 
after the date funds are made available for the study.". 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are 
necessary to carry out this Act. 
Approved November 17, 1993. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 983: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 103-327 (Comm. on Natural Resources). 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 103-95 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 139 (1993): 
July 21, considered and passed Senate. 
Nov. 8, considered and passed House. 
69-194 O - 94 - 18 : QL. 3 Part 2