Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
Location	Texas and New Mexico, USA
Nearest city	El Paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, Albuquerque, NM, Santa Fe, NM
Established	October 13, 2000
Visitors	Not available (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail is a part of the United States National Historic Trail system. El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Spanish for "The Royal Road of the Interior Land") was a 1,600 mile (2560 kilometer) long trade route between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, from 1598 to 1882. The 404 mile (646 kilometer) section of the route within the United States was proclaimed as a National Historic Trail on October 13, 2000. The trail is overseen by both the National Park Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with aid from El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Assoc. also known as CARTA.

A southern section of the trail was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2010.

History

The trail was unofficially used for trade among native tribes since the earliest of times. It didn't become an official trade route until 1598 when Oñate followed the trail while leading a group of settlers during the era of Spanish conquest. The duration of the trip from the Rio Grande to the San Juan Pueblo was said to take, by wagon and by foot, approximately 6 months including 2-3 weeks of rest throughout the trip. According to journals kept by settlers they used common animals found along the trail to add to the food they brought along. The trail greatly improved trade among Spanish villages and helped the Spanish conquistadors spread Christianity throughout the conquered lands. The trail was used from 1598 through 1881 when the railroad replaced the need for wagons. Eventually, railroads replaced rutted trails and over time the trail and evidence of it faded from sight and memory. The changes that the railways brought made trade along El Camino much easier and in some cases made travel quite luxurious.

Present day access

From the Texas-New Mexico border to San Juan Pueblo north of Española, a drivable route, mostly part of former U.S. Route 85, has been designated as a National Scenic Byway called El Camino Real.

Portions of the trade route corridor also contain pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian trails. These include the existing Paseo del Bosque Trail in Albuquerque and portions of the proposed Rio Grande Trail. Its northern terminus, Santa Fe, is a terminus also of the Old Spanish Trail and the Santa Fe Trail.

Along the trail, parajes (stop overs) that have been preserved today include El Rancho de las Golondrinas.

Fort Craig and Fort Selden are also located along the trail.

CARTA

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association (CARTA) is a non-profit trail organization that aims to help promote, educate, and preserve the cultural and historic trail in collaboration with the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and various Mexican organizations. CARTA publishes an informative journal, Chronicles of the Trail, quarterly that provides people with further history and current affairs of the trail and what CARTA, as an organization, is doing to help the trail.

See also

• El Camino Real (California) - The California Mission Trail
• El Camino Real de Los Tejas - El Camino Real from Texas east to Louisiana
• Old San Antonio Road - A section of El Camino Real de Los Tejas

External links

• National Park Service: official El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail website
• El Camino Real International Heritage Center
• El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro - Integrated education curriculum
• CARTA - El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association: website
• N.M.-Monuments.org - "A Road Over Time"

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