Audio
Fort Craig - The Royal Road Exhibit Audio Description
Transcript
The Royal Road. 509 words.
This panel is one of five that sit along a sidewalk at the side of the gravel drive. It is 3 feet wide by two feet tall, and sits 3 feet off the ground on two metal posts. That is approximately 1 meter wide by a half meter tall, and one meter off the ground.
The surrounding land is flat with various mountain features along the distant horizon. As you face the panels there is a closer peak that rises gradually at the left side and more steeply on the right. This is Fra Cristóbal Mountain. Another prominent feature is a wide flat-topped mesa to the left and slightly behind you, which is Mesa del Contadero.
On the left side of this panel is a color illustration showing a view across scrub-dotted desert to mountains on the horizon. A river runs along the base of the mountain and several small mesas sit at right on the near side of the river. In the foreground are lines of people on horseback and on foot moving right to left. Some are dressed as soldiers with metal helmets. Others wear European clothing. Some wear native dress. Moving along with the people are wooden-wheeled carts pulled by pairs of oxen. There are also sheep and goats and some donkeys with packs on their backs. Text below the image reads, "In 1598, a group of strangers crossed the lands of the Piro and Apache Indians. Spanish armies had passed through here before. This was different. Settlers, priests, guides, and servants traveled with the caravan. They followed trade routes Indigenous peoples had used for centuries. Along with livestock and loaded carros (wagons) and carretas (carts), the expedition brought the Spanish Empire’s claims to the land. This route became known as El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (The Royal Road to the Interior Lands). For the next three centuries, El Camino Real served as a route of conquest, settlement, religious conversion, trade, enslavement, and military actions."
On the right side of the panel is a map of the southwestern United States and Mexico. A red line labeled El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro runs from Mexico City in the south to Santa Fe in northern New Mexico. Your current location is marked in south-central New Mexico. Text below the map reads, "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro stretches 1600 miles. It once linked Spain’s colonial capital of Mexico City to its northern frontier in what is now New Mexico. Congress designated El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro a National Historic Trail in 2000. The Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service administer the trail together to foster trail preservation and public use."
Across the top are logos associated with various agencies. At left is the Bureau of Land Management, National Conservation Lands. Next is El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail with an image of an ox-drawn cart. At the right are titles for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail and Fort Craig Historic Site. End of Description.
Description
Listen to the audio description of the Fort Craig - The Royal Road exhibit.
Date Created
08/31/2021
Copyright and Usage Info