Why does a 2,500-mile-long, ancient roadway connect Natchitoches, La., to Mexico City?

NATCHITOCHES, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – What’s 2,500 miles long, older than recorded history, and stretches from colonial Mexico City to northwest Louisiana? If you answered the El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail, there’s no need for you to read this article.

You already know all the things.

But for the rest of us, who had no idea that such a major historic roadway existed at all, this story is quite a shocker.

The first thing you need to know to understand this story is that the first capital of Texas was in Louisiana. It's one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories, so check it out by clicking here:

The El Camino Real was created from old Native American trade routes and buffalo trails

The first time (that we know of) the trail that would become the El Camino Real de lost Tejas was used by Europeans was in 1690, when a Spanish explorer named Alonso de León followed Native American and buffalo ­­­trails and trade routes to what is now eastern Texas where he wanted to establish a Spanish Catholic mission.

The land in modern-day east Texas and northwest Louisiana was beautiful, fertile, and controversial. The Spanish, French, and Americans fought over it for years. And native tribes had lived on the land for more than 10,000 years before everybody else showed up and started claiming slices of it like it was a pizza.

The El Camino Real de los Tejas linked Mexico City with the capital of Texas, according to a National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and Environmental Assessment conducted in 1998 showed that the El Camino Real de los Tejas

Famous historic figures who used the trail

Crocket, Texas, located along the Real, was named after Davy Crocket. Ole Davy, king of the wild frontier, was on his way to the Alamo when he picked out a nice spot along the Real and camped.

But Davy Crockett wasn't the only famous person to use the trail. So did Stephen F. Austin, Jim Bowie, and Sam Houston. The El Camino Real de los Tejas would eventually became known as “The San Antonio Road” because it connected San Antonio, Texas, and Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Also known as “The Way,” The El Camino Real de los Tejas was the easiest route to take to get to Mexico City.

The modern-day el Camino Real de lost Tejas

Today the roadway zips through places Natchitoches, Louisiana, the Cane River Creole National Historical Park, and Cotulla, Texas. But there's much more to see on the ancient road!

From Native American (Caddo) earthen mounds, Spanish Colonial influence in architecture, to historic settlements like Nacogdoches, San Antonio, Austin, and Laredo, there's a lot to see and do between Natchitoches, Louisiana and the Mexican border.

And portions of the historic roadway still haven’t been paved.

The El Camino Real de los Tejas is a composition of many trails, including Camino Pita, Upper Presidio Road, Lower Presidio Road, and Camino Arriba.

It was traveled by Native Americans and Europeans alike. It has served as a post road, a route for driving cattle to market, and it even predates the Chisholm Trail.

But railroads changed everything and the old Real was almost forgotten until a mission to save the historic road was begun.

Towns, settlements, and cities on the El Camino Real

• El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association, www.elcaminorealdelostejas.org, P. O. Box 2220 San Marcos, TX 78667, Phone: (512) 245-7551, Fax: (512) 245-7371
• San Augustine, San Augustine County Chamber of Commerce, www.sanaugustinetx.com, 611 W. Columbia St. San Augustine, TX 75972, Phone: (936) 275-3610
• Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.visitnacogdoches.org, 200 E. Main St. Nacogdoches, TX 75961, Phone: (888) OLDEST-TOWN, Phone: (888-653-3788)
• Alto, Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site, www.thc.state.tx.us/hsites/ hsdefault.shtml, 1649 State Hwy. 21W Alto, TX 75925, Phone: (936) 858-3218
• Crockett, Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce, www.crockettareachamber.com, 1100 Edmiston Dr. Crockett, TX 75835, Phone: (936) 544-2359
• Bryan, Bryan-College Station Convention & Visitors Bureau, www.visitaggieland.com, 715 University Dr. E College Station, TX 77840, Phone: (979) 260-9898, Phone: (800) 777-8292
• Bastrop, Bastrop ‘Old Town’ Visitor Center, www.visitbastrop.org, 1016 Main St. Bastrop, TX 78602, Phone: (512) 303-0904
• Austin, Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.austintexas.org, 209 E. Sixth St. Austin, TX 78701, Phone: (800) 926-2282
• San Marcos, San Marcos Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.toursanmarcos.com, 202 N. C.M. Allen Parkway San Marcos, TX 78667, Phone: (512) 393-5900
• New Braunfels, New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, www.nbjumpin.com, 390 S. Seguin Ave. New Braunfels, TX 78130, Phone: (800) 572-2626
• San Antonio, San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.visitsanantonio.com, 317 Alamo Plaza San Antonio, TX 78205, Phone: (210) 207-6700, Phone: (800) 447-3372
• Laredo Laredo Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.visitlaredo.com, 501 San Agustin Ave. Laredo, TX 78040, Phone: (956) 795-2200, Phone: (800) 361-3360
• Goliad, Goliad County Chamber of Commerce, www.goliadcc.org, 231 S. Market St. Goliad, TX 77963, Phone: (361) 645-3563, Phone: (800) 848-8674
• Cuero, Cuero Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, www.cuero.org, 124 E. Church St. Cuero, TX 77954, Phone: (361) 275-2112
• Victoria, Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.victoriatexasinfo.com, 3404 N. Ben Wilson St. Victoria, TX 77901, Phone: (361) 582-4285, Phone: (800) 926-5774
• Milam, Milam Settlers Day Organization, Phone: (409) 625-4472
• Mission Tejas State Park, www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/ findadest/parks/mission_tejas, 120 State Park Rd. 44 Grapeland TX 75844, Phone: (936) 687-2394

Happy travels!

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