Texas trail looks to connect Austin to San Antonio





By Taylor Goodrich, Communication and Media Specialist, American Trails


E


l Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail is one of the most important trails you might have never heard of.


The name might not exactly roll off the tongue, but people have been saying it for hundreds of years (although the National Historic Trail part was added much later). This well-traveled trail actu- ally pre-dates both modern day Mexico and the United States as we know them. For hundreds of years before there


were settlers, Native American tribes traveled these trails for trade, creating the foundation for what would later become the 2,500-mile road. In the late 1600s, when Spain still governed Mexico and much of what is now the United States was wild territory, the Spanish Governor at the time, Alonso de León, decided to officially forge a road from Mexico to modern day East Texas in order to keep the territory from the ever- encroaching French explorers. In 1718 the city of San Antonio was founded


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along the road, and by 1821, when Mexico achieved independence from Spain, the road had been expanded and firmly established.


El Camino Real de los Tejas played an enormous role in Texas history. When Davy Crockett gave his famous quote,


Waco Crockett TEXAS 10 Austin 10 San Marcos New Braunfels San Antonio Cuero


Eagle Pass


Guerrero 37 35 X IC O Laredo


Villa de Dolores


Corpus Christi 050 Miles 25


No warranty is made by the National Park Service as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data for individual use or aggregate use with other data.


G u l f of M e xi co Victoria Goliad Bastrop Houston 35 Bryan 45 LOUISIANA


San Augustine


“You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” El Camino Real de los Tejas is how he got there. Other famous Texans like Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, and thousands of migrants from the United States all traveled this road.


Natc toc es Alto Nacogdoches


Los Adaes


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SPRING 2019 AmericanTrails.org


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