Series: Travel El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail: Essays

El Camino Real is North America’s longest Euro-American trade route, tying Spain’s colonial capital in Mexico City to its northern frontier in New Mexico. This trail tracks a European settlement story of the U.S., one that emphasizes the shared history and heritage of Spain, Mexico and the American Southwest. Learn about the trail’s 16th-century origins and discover historic places along the route.

• Article 1: History and Significance of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

  

  Traditionally, the telling of the history of the United States moved from east to west, cast in a timeline of the notable people, places and events that shaped the country from the 1607 founding of Jamestown, Virginia, to today. With the designation of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro as a National Historic Trail on September 13, 2000, the U.S. Congress recognized an alternative path to understanding the diverse international history and cultural heritage of the U.S. Read more

• Article 2: Traditional Groups along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

  

  In 1598, as Spanish colonizer Juan de Oñate led the first expedition to establish El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro north from Mexico into New Mexico, he made a surprising find: watermelon. Read more

• Article 3: Global Perspectives on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

  

  On July 30, 1857, residents of the southern New Mexico town of Las Cruces woke to an unusual sight. Assembled on the central plaza was an odd kind of cavalry, a U.S. military corps comprised not of horses or mules, but of camels and dromedaries. Read more

• Article 4: Preservation and Protection of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

  

  The congressional designation in 2000 of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro as a National Historic Trail put the spotlight on a pivotal three-century chapter of the ethnic, cultural and economic development of the American Southwest. Read more