El Camino Real de los Tejas -- Caddo Mounds SHS, SH 21 W of Alto, TX - Ancient Traces and Roads on Waymarking.com

This sign is located at the El Camino Real trail ruts at Caddo Mounds State Historic site, and reads as follows:

"EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS
A Corridor for Commerce, Culture, and Change - Past and Present

You are standing at one small point on the legendary network of roads that arc across Texas – El Camino Real de los Tejas. The main overland route from Mexico, through Texas, and into Louisiana, this corridor shaped the history and culture of the region.

Hundreds of years before Europeans arrived, Native Americans established a network of trade routes through the region -- connecting people and traditions, carrying crops and goods. When the Spanish arrived in the late 1600s, they called the local Caddo Indians Tejas and renamed their trade routes El Camino Real de los Tejas, or The Royal Road of the Tejas. The Spanish extended and adapted the roads as they sent soldiers to solidify their claims of possession and missionaries to convert the Native Americans. 100 years later, immigrants from the United States traveled this route bringing their own language and culture.

From the West
Alonso de Leon lead for Spanish military explorations, known as Entrada, between 1686 and 1689 to search for LaSalle’s doomed French settlement, Fort St. Louis. His entradas likely used the existing Native American routes and open the way to establishing the first mission in East Texas, San Francisco de los Tejas, in 1690. The missions provided the foundation for the Spanish presence in Texas and developed into towns and cities that flourish today, like Nacogdoches, Crockett, and San Antonio.

Caught in the Middle
European settlers from both the east and the west converged in Texas and forced many of the local Native American groups, like the Caddo and Ais, away from their traditional homelands. Today the Caddo Nation Tribal Complex is located in Binger, Oklahoma.

El Camino Real de los Tejas
The route, made up of many routes, stretched across 2500 miles, and parts of it are still in use today is Texas State Highway 21 and other highways in South and East Texas.

From East to West
immigrants in United States began arriving Mexican held Texas around 1823, settling on the coastal plain between the San Antonio and Brazos rivers. Over the next few years, increasing southwest bound traffic along El Camino Real de los Tejas brought more Americans looking for opportunities and inexpensive farmland. When Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836, more than 25,000 American immigrants call Texas their home.

Texas Mapped
French geographer Guillaume de l’Isle publish this map of “La Louisiane” in 1718. It is the first detailed map of the Gulf Coast region and the Mississippi River, as well as the first printed map to include Texas."

Feature Discription: El Camino Real Interpretive Sign Web address for the route: [Web Link] Secondary Web Address: [Web Link] Beginning of the road: Natchitoches LA End of the road: Guerrero MX

Visit Instructions:
We ask that if you visit the site, please include a unique picture with your impressions of the location. If possible, and if you are not too shy, please include yourself and your group in the photo. Extra points will be given for your best buffalo imitation or if you are licking something salty.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   12/30/2017 Benchmark Blasterz visited it