El Camino Real - Anthony, NM
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member YoSam.
N 32° 00.383 W 106° 34.903
13S E 350600 N 3542236
There are 4 "El Camino Real" roads: 1 through Florida to the north near Baltimore; 2, from New Orleans to St. Louis; 3: Mexico City to Taos, NM; and 4 Mexico through California to Sam Francisco. And many spurs.
Waymark Code: WMRVZF
Location: New Mexico, United States
Date Posted: 08/10/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member cosninocanines
Views: 5

County of marker: Dona Ana County
Location of Marker: I-10 Visitors Center and rest area, Anthony
Marker Erected by: New Mexico Official Scenic Historic Marker

Marker Text:

EL CAMINO REAL
The Kings Highway

The oldest historical road in the United States, running over 2000 miles from Mexico City to Taos. Parts of the Camino Real were used by Spanish explorers in the 1580s, but it was formally established in 1598 by Juan de Oñate, New Mexico's first colonizer and governor. It was later referred to as the Chihuahua Trail.


A fuller historical view can be found here: America's 1st Highway


OSHM marker about the Use of the road:

OÑATE'S ROUTE
On the Camino Real
Juan de Oñate, first governor of New Mexico, passed near here with his colonizing expedition in May, 1598. Traveling north, he designated offical campsites (called parajes) on the Camino Real, used by expeditions that followed. In Oñate's caravan were 129 men, many with their families and servants.


Another use of the highway:

ESPEJO'S EXPEDITION
On the Camino Real

Trying to locate two Franciscan friars, Antonio de Espejo in 1582 led an expedition up the Río Grande near here. The two friars had remained among the Tiwa Indians near Bernalillo after the Rodríguez-Sánchez Chamuscado expedition returned to Mexico in 1581. When he reached the Tiwas in 1583, Espejo learned that the missionaries were dead.

Road of Trail Name: El Camino Real

State: New Mexico

County: Dona Ana

Historical Significance:

El Camino Real means "The Royal Road," for which travel was controlled by the King of Spain or his representatives, and thus often called the "King's Highway." These royal roads ran throughout the Spanish Empire including Mexico to South America, and later to California, to administer the empire.

What is today's New Mexico was once part of the Spanish empire and called Nueva España or New Spain. The majority of Spain's settlement were along the Rio Grande and around their capital city of Santa Fe.

El Camino Real was the road that connected Spain and Mexico City to the settlements in the "interior lands" of Nueva España. For this reason, the Camino Real to New Mexico was called El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro - the Royal Road to the Interior Lands. Used for over 300 years from 1598 until the late 1800s, this was the oldest and longest used of the royal roads.

All colonists, the Spanish military, Franciscan priests, and the constant flow of supply wagons came to New Mexico over El Camino Real.

Spain controlled New Spain with an iron fist from 1598-1823. Nobody was allowed into the new territory without written permission. Even when the United States became a country in 1776



Years in use: 225

How you discovered it:
I was traveling to San Diego, to attend my son's graduation from US Marine Corps boot camp, stopped here for a leg shake, and found these markers.


Book on Wagon Road or Trial:
Following the Royal Road: A Guide to the Historic Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Paperback – December 15, 2006
by Hal Jackson (Author), Marc Simmons (Foreword)


Website Explination:
"http://www.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/borderlands/17_americas_first_highway.htm"

or another

http://www.elcaminoreal.org/Info/info_004.htm



Why?:
These early days of the trail also brought friars and priests into New Mexico, building missions among the native pueblo people, converting them to Christianity. Dozens of missions were built at the larger pueblos. Many of today's New Mexico towns are the original sites of these Indian pueblos and missions. Many of these old El Camino Spanish missions are still in use today.

For 300 years, El Camino Real was the only road into New Mexico and the Southwest, bringing thousands of settlers from Mexico and Spain into the region. Even the famed Santa Fe Trail did not come along until 1821, connecting New Mexico to the United States for the first time. This is why so many of the people in New Mexico today are of early Mexican or Spanish decent. It was their ancestors that settled along the Rio Grande by way of the long, dusty trail called El Camino Real.



Directions:
I-10 in Texas going west first rest area in New Mexico


Visit Instructions:
To post a log for this Waymark the poster must have a picture of either themselves, GPSr, or mascot. People in the picture with information about the waymark are preferred. If the waymarker can not be in the picture a picture of their GPSr or mascot will qualify. There are no exceptions to this rule.

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Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
The Snowdog visited El Camino Real - Anthony, NM 05/23/2022 The Snowdog visited it
Sneakin Deacon visited El Camino Real - Anthony, NM 03/28/2018 Sneakin Deacon visited it

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