Last updated: January 12, 2023
Place
Apache Pass
Photo/NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
9112 North Farm-to-Market Road 908, eight miles northwest of Rockdale, Texas
Significance:
Apache Pass provides a window into transportation logistics along El Camino Real, demonstraing how an array of factors combined to make certain locations popular with travelers.
Designation:
Certified Site
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
From 1748 to 1751, three Spanish missions (San Francisco Xavier de Horcasitas, San Ildefonso, and Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria) and a presidio (San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo) were built within five miles of this site by missionaries, soldiers, and resident Indians. The Spaniards' goals were to Christianize and civilize the numerous Indian tribes in the area and to establish a presence. During this period, a rock dam and a system of acequias (canals) were constructed just east of Apache Pass to irrigate the fields of one of the nearby missions. All of these improvements were abandoned in 1755 due to a combination of disease, drought, and Indian troubles. Apache Pass, named by the Spanish, was a gravel bar crossing on the San Gabriel River in this general area that was used successively by Americans Indians, explorers, settlers, and local farmers and ranchers.
Site Information
Location (9112 North Farm-to-Market Road 908, eight miles northwest of Rockdale, Texas)
Apache Pass is an inviting and shallow gravel crossing of the San Gabriel River surrrounded by gently sloping hillsides.