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Home My WebLink AboutThe Kings Highway by Norvell (2)~~~ ~-~._.- -.-.--.---~~---_. .' .. <0, ... , \\ .~ MRS.LIPSCOMB N'ORVELL !!1I1I1I11II1II1I1I11II1I1II11111111I1111I1I1111I11I11II111II11111II1111l1I1I1!i IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!L:-- ~ King's Highway _ :iillllllllllllllllllllll m.illlllllllllllllllllllllllr. The Great Strategic Military Highway of America EI Camino Real,The Old San Antonio Road "When I plunge into chasms,sound the deeps, Climb the plateau,mount the dizzy steeps; Or when above the mountains,near the skys, I spread new worlds before man's dazzled eyes, For all the gifts on you I have bestowed, Be my good doctor-save,oh save the road." -Anonymous. '~\q+5). ();~~ ~---- .A~'C!~,LL.<I;\:\:.-:> Tl..L~/~,:.V,:'.'.'kl.l;S 11 L A brief sketch of the principle events connected with the found- ing of EI Camino Real,The Old San Antonio Road;the law, order and form of Morfi's diary;the surveys of the Old San Antonio Road gave to the land in the coloniza- tion of the Texas Empresarios grants along the road-a line of demarcation as the northern boundary line and southern boundary on separate sites of the Road Way. MRS.LIPSC01\ffi NORVELL, President National Old Trails Road in Texas 1911-1945 Copyright,1945. Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell. TO THE TEXAS PIONEER :r..fEN'AND WOIviEN TO REMIND US THESE FOREEEARERS TRAVELED THE WILDERNESS ROAD. A ])l'1"I1I:1I'('lIt ,.,.::il1 or o)j('11l1!!<ln'"alld 1 \"("Ilty-tl'n'('gr:mite'stOHl'S :11'e'Hlarkill;~till'\\;lY frolll 111('!-:;!st to t,h('Wl'st IJoJ'(kl's of thp State',to )wl'p:.tnatl'1i1:III's ~t"llg'~:lt,fill";t'!\:III"('IIIt'lit frolll \\'hi(.h lla;;sprung ellr l'i\"iliz~lt;ol\tOt];,\,. "]-'1111,1\\lJI~'JII:II'I,,,111,1!tllt,,\hl\-"~:d llt':-.,jd,. The 11:ll"ro\\",c!(,ud,:-,\\",'!d 11':1("k.1,,11('thy g'lIid,.: FoJlo\\";Ind 1111110111'\\"11:11 tL'~,p:l t 1I;ls ~;Iillt.tl. .\,,,1 fOl\\";;rd '-lill.r)I;lt IlItH"t'111;1.'"ht.;t!f;.illld." -\'a11 Dykt,_ DEDICATION '1'0 Texas and Her Centennial of Statehood,this work is respectfully dedicated.Behind the Road lies the story of Civilization.It is the connecting link of what has gone before and of what is to be,and now it is fitting to dedicate to Texas,representing the Sover- eignties under whose flags she has been,my work, "The King's Highway-EI Camino Real Old San Antonio Road" The Author = 49.21 " 43.86 " 17.82 " 30.85 " 17.53 " 13.77 " 20.94 " 57.55 " 15.66 " TABLE OF DISTANCES Pendleton's Ferry to Milam __m ------~'-.,-7.7 miles IVrilam to San Augustine -----------,--~--_.. _18.66 " San Augustine to Nacogdoches n_..._____H_34.43 " Nacogdoches to Alto nu _h__d .__ _u.____._ Alto to Neches River _m_u__----.---- 26.58 " 8." Neches River to Trinity River mm___m 50.37 " Trinity River to Normangee n_m n m__m_n_27.84 " Normangee to Benchley m__m un n 28.85 " Benchley to Shoal Ford (Brazos Rive):)___n nm 13. Shoal Ford to Caldwell n____________.uu O". ~___ Caldwell to Bastrop m__m_m nmm_u_m_m__ Bastrop to San Marcos River _m m___u_mu m___ San Marco3 River to New Braunfels mn m New Braunfels to San Antonio __n mnmm_n n___ San Antonio (San Pedro Sp'g's)to Medina River ---- Medina River to Attascoso River '0 ____ Attascoso River to San Miguel Creek n_ --,--- San Miguel Creek to Rio Frio __m n__n m m Rio Frio to Nueces River ___mm m mm__n n______ Nueces River to San Pedro Spring (Dimmit Co.)_m San Pedro Spring to Paso de Francia n__um_m " 11.25 " 18.75 26.72 " Pendleton's Ferry to Paso de Francia _Hm_n 539.35 " INTRODUCTORY When I was a child of eight in Bastrop,Texas,a friend of my father's,a plantation owner,would invite of my mother two children to spend the week end with his little girls.In the three- seated hack I always sat in front,by the captain,and was given the reins of the horses to hold. In crossing the Colorado River at Bastrop,I remember so well his pointing out to me a deep ravine in the bank,running into the river and stating to me,"That was the old King's High- way across Texas." The ravine was the roadway made by the burro's hook- claws pulling up the bank when loaded with great sacks of met- als and goods.He pictured this royal highway running from Mexico to Natchitoches,Louisiana.And when I was grown, visiting in Eastern Texas,there I found more of this King's Highway.I decided then that this highway must be made alive again. In attending my first congress of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution,April,1911,in Wash- ington,D.C.,1 I became very much interested in the reports of the Old Trails Roads of America;roads blazed through the wil- derness across the great divide.Burnes Lick road,the Wilder- ness road and the Oregon trail were called the Civilization roads of the United States. The Santa Fe Trail had just been surveyed and marked with monuments.Miss Elizabeth Butler Gentry,of Missouri,stated the Santa Fe Trail had been blazed by William Beckwell in 1848, and was the oldest trail in America. Then the thought came to me that Texas had a much older road-some two hundred years older.As delegate from my Texas chapter,I arose and asked for a special privilege-to speak for Texas.Permission was granted and after I spoke Texas was added to The National Old Trails Roads,Daughters of the Am- erican Revolution,memorializing EI Camino Real,the Old San Antonio Road to the pioneers of Texas. In Texas,we have a strategic military highway across the state ordered by the King of Spain in 1691,a road was to be found to the Eastern Indians,a highway of international im~ portance,a constant and dominant factor that became the scene of direct and continued competition between France and Spain for control of the Texas Empire.It connected famous trading TEXAS STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT HOlVm OF CAMIXO REAL,OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD sites,Missions and Forts across Texas and Louisiana,traversing Texas counties from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande. The writer was made Chairman of The Texas National Old Trails and Roads Committee of the D.A.R.in November,1911. I have tried to keep all writings of my own as well as newspaper articles tellings of King's Highway (Old San Antonio Road) across Texas. To what degree I have succeeded in memorializing this road,the public must judge.I think I may say,with due mod- esty,that I have not altogether failed.In every event I have I have achieved my goal. I have studied King's Highway,and for many years have engaged in the work of its perpetuation,conserving its outlines to memorialize the pioneers of Texas,by erecting monuments and hy paving the highway across the State. I love Texas,and the work has been a joy to me.To look back with satisfaction in traveling the highway along familiar scenes in history,to pass the historic villages of the Indian mound builders where above stood their Temple erected to their God,is heart-warming. In this hour of vision with all of our possessions of gen- erous and unselfish investments of this life,can we not hope to blaze a continuous highway from Nashville,Tennessee,to Nat- chez,Mississippi,to Natchitoches,Louisiana,San Antonio,Tex- as,and Mexico 'I Without doubt,the most romantic highway in America is King's Highway,The Old San Antonio Road. TABLE OF CONTENTS Spanish Gold Hunters __27 Landing of LaSalle in Texas n 31 First Mission n__u __n 346 First Provincial Governor of Texas Given Orders 31 Alonzo Alvarez Pineda n n n 28 Sister Maria Agreada n _h_n 32 King of Spain Orders Land Route from Rio Grande to Sabine River, and Eight Missions to be Built .__n__n._n..n n 30 Aguayos Expedition un _.n n n 48 San Jose Missiori nn 35 Ramon's Expedition __354 Louis Juchereau De St.Dennis n n nn 38 The Filibusterers n .._n 367 Louisiana _______h.__385 The Austins __h 88 First Grllnt h 88 Other Empresarios'Grants __ ..n 88 The Revolution __n___n n 65 Sam Houston _'___97 c.E.Zively Report-Surveys of Road 216 Ilepublic of Texas 105 French.Embassy __n 106 Immigration 85 Republics of Texas and Mexico ___n 97 Ilepublic of Texas and United States __n _n 90 General Lafitte n 66 Battle of San Jacinto 110 Sames Berry Olive 115 War With Mexico n 134 Last Act of the Great Drama of Annexation n__n 1f5 Secedes from Union 109 Historical Celebration of Annexation,with Ball and Bonfires,at Austin __128 Movement for Perpetuating Historic Trail,by D.A.R.191 George Washington and Indian Affairs n h_56 Babtista Mission 37 TABLE OF CO~TE.NTS (Cont'I]) Nolan Invades Mexico 74 - General Jackson 374 To Restore Camino Real,Old Stin Antonio Road,101.1 by n.A.R. Fredonian Rebellion u on ___. '."_n _...n . 167 n__._un_374 Road Verified by Spanish Archives-Dr.W.E.Dunn --.-.._---- non'.___._181 Dedication of Survey and Mom~ments,19:::0,San Antonio,Texas _258 Dedication of Monument,1939,to Fi;'st ProYls:0m:.l Governor Blazing King's Highw'ay,Camino Real,Old San lint'Juio Road by Orders of King of Spain,1691 un '-.n.__u_u ;340 The Indians-Texas Nation,Eastern Confed8rr.cy _n u 354 Juan Sabidta ___m__n n n _..n _._34 Andrew Jackson 00 n n n 374 Thomas Jefferson ..,71 Franklin D.Roosevelt-Cordell Hull __m'___ David Crockett ---'-----..324-------------- -------------------.---------...--..-------- 100 Eastern Texas 347 Nacogdoches and Fort _._n 369 San Antonio and Missions ---------------- .__00 34 251 ConfedEl'acy-'\Yestern Texas-Jumano Indians Louisiana-French Interests in Tex8.s 383 Fort Jessup _________________________..377 Natchez,IVIississippi _00 __d'_.386 Visioning a Great Parkway Connecting Two Capitols-Washington, D.C.,and City of Mexico 388 Jumano Indians-'\Vestern Confederacy n__34 Juan Sabeata Chief __n n 34 Los Adaes u 389 Haisainai Indians-Eastern C'onfede;'acy.J.'exas-Louisiam'.Boundary Bridge.Gaines Ferry nh ___n 38'1 Angelina n 35,.() Sanata Ardiva 355 Ellis Bean 374.------------------------------------------------------------- Judge R.N.Stripling n n 326 Judge W.C.Davis _.u u 327 NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD The Great Historic Military Highway of America Sponsored By The Daughters of The American Revolution National Old Trails Road Association 1.914 National Old Trails Road Committee Mrs.Herbert Matthew Gault,Vice-Chairman Baltimore,Mary- land. Mrs.Robert P.Barnes,Vice-Chairman,Albuquerque,New Mexi- co. Mrs.John Trigg Moss,Chairman,St.Louis,Missouri. Mrs.George E.George,Vice-Chairman,Kansas City,Missouri. Mrs.William R.Van Tuyl,Vice-Chairman,Leavenworth,Kansas. Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Vice-Chairman,Beaumont,Texas. State Chairmen Mrs.J os.R.Estes,Birmingham,Ala.;Mrs.Fred C.Rob- erts,Tucson,Ariz.;Mrs.David Wall,Marianna,Ark.;Mrs.John Ewing,Denver,Colo.;Mrs.Samuel M.Garlick,Bridgeport, Conn.;Mrs.S.Austin McCarthy,Washington,D.C.;Mrs.J.L. Walker,Waycross,Ga.;Miss Frances A.Lemmon,Honolulu, Hawaii;Mrs.C.F.Chessman,Lewiston,Idaho;Miss Louise Hull, Salem,Ill.;Mrs.Thomas Kackley,Indianapolis,Ind.;Miss Clara V.Frances,Topeka,Kans.;Mrs.S.Bailey,Newport,Ky.;Mrs. Ethel Black,Jennings,La.;Mrs.Edward E.Talbot,Machias,Me.; Mrs.F.H.Markell,Frederick,Md.;Miss Susan B.Willard, Hingham,Mass.;Mrs.Charles T.Wilbur,Kalamazoo,Mich.; Mrs.Guy E.Maxwell,Winona,Minn.;Mrs.Rucks Yerger,Gulf- port,Miss.;Mrs.George Crissman,Warrensburg,Mo.;Mrs.J. N.McCracken,Livingston,Mont.;Mrs.G.C.Chathurn,Lincoln, Neb.;Miss Annie E.Watson,Dover,N.H.;Mrs.Lloyd Grover, Princeton,N.J.;Mrs.A.B.Renahan,Santa Fe,N.M.;Mrs. Arthur K.Lansing,Cambridge,N.J.;Mrs.RoeHa R.VVoodard, L. MCtan MIlO .~MIWS Wilson,N.C.;Mrs.Isabel Shelden Sinners,Devils Lake,N.D.; Mrs.Lallah Walker Merriman,Kenton,Ohio;Mrs.B.B.Hendon, Muskogee,Okla.;Mrs.H.J.Wilkins,N.Portland,Ore.;Miss Sarah A.Reed,Erie,Pa.;Miss Edith May Tilly,Boston,Mass. (for.R.1.);Mrs.G.A.Wauchope,Columbia,S.C.;Mrs.S.X. Gray,Watertown,S.D.;Mrs.C.W.Allen,Greeneville,Tenn.; Mrs.J.Merrick Davis,So.Paris,Texas;Mrs.J.W.Abbott,Og- den,Utah;Mrs.W.E.Kidd,Northfield,Vt.;Mrs.W.B.Livezey, N8wport News,Va.;Mrs.O.B.Dagg,N.Seattle,Wash.;Mrs. J.Francke Fox,Bluefield,W.Va.;Miss Jennie Bonfoey,:i"Iil- waukee,Wis.;Mrs.Edward Gillette,Sheridan,Wyo. THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD IN TEXAS The Great Strategic Military Highway of America EI Camino Real,the Old San Antonio Road Sponsored by The National Committee of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs.Harry Hyman,State Regent San Antonio,Texas Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman Beaumont,Texas Committee Mrs.F.S.Abney _m m Brown wood Mrs.W.H.Cobb m_m Fort Worth Mrs.H.H.Stack___m__m m EI Paso Mrs.A.D.Pick erelln_m m m_mA ustin Mrs.Britton W ebb m San Antonio Mrs.W.A.Rowan m m m_mHouston Mrs.S.A.ColI urn m m___m m mm Texarkana Mrs.Sophia Pa trick m m Palestine Mrs.John J.Stevens m m m__San Antonio Mrs.L.M.Graham _mn__m m _m_Fort \Vcrth Mrs.F.S.Davis h um Dallas Mrs.T.L.McCullough Waco Mrs.Chas.H.Stroeck Beaumont Mrs.J.B.Kennard Gonzales Mis s Annabel B urf ord n_-Bel ton Mrs.Chas.G.BarretL H untsville Mrs.Moy land Byrd ----___Brenham lVII's.J.H.H.Dennis Wharton Mrs.C.A.Y edder Galveston Mrs.E.A.BlounL n N acogdoches 11:rs.H.P.Robertson h T em pIe Mrs.Hal Vv~.Greer n u Laredo THE GREAT STRATEGIC MILITARY HIGHWAY CAMINO REAL THE OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ConceivE'd by Father Manzanet and Captain de Leon 1687 Recommended to Spain by Vice-Roy of Mexico 1691 Established by Act of King of Spain u_ _1691 Financed Expedition by Spain n n___1691 At same time naming the Province-Texas 1691 At same time naming the Capitol-Monclova,Mexico 1691 Naming Don Domingo Teran De Los Rios,the First Provincial Governor 1691 Ordering eight missions among the Texas Indians con- structed to keep out the French and hold the country 1691 Established Capitol at Monclova,Mexico,later extended to Adae Mission in Louisiana 1714 Escort of soldiers and 12 guards ordered kept at Mon- clova to protect supplies and provisions to travellers crossing Texas to Adae Mission Capitol,Louisiana 1727 By Convention assembled the Capitol removed to San Antoni 0 ---__1820 Governor Cordero memorialized the reconstruction of Camino Real to Mexican GovernmenL 1805 Moses Austin in securing Empresario Grants,said,"No mold all chaos,must have a shape body laid down to survey lines to the Old San Antonio Road,giving shape to the Colonists grants."1821 General Sam Houston's Reconstruction Bill was pass- ed by the Legislature and vetoed by President Lamar 1838 Established Old San Antonio Road by Texas Coloniza- ti on Law s n 1821 Senator Louis J.Wortham's Bill to Survey and Mark with Monumen ts passed n 1915 The Daughters of the American Revolution and State of Texas,had surveyed and marked by 123 monu- ments every five miles n 1915 State Chartered Old San Antonio Road Association n1929 By Legislative Act or 41st Session placed in National Rig 11\vay Ass ocia ti 0ns 1929 Dedicated at Normangee as Oldest Road in America with Eight Foot Shaft in Normangee Park_n n 1939 By Spain,Roads were Financed by Issuing a Tax.Real de Camino,a Silver Coin for Tax Traveling the Highway of Spain,First Coined in n 1497 The Great Stragetic Military Highway traverses 14 coun- ties from East and West. Grand scenic route through }listoric Texas,Indian Mounds, Colonization towns along colonization road boundary of Colo- nists grants. Open 365 days in the year through the heart of the South- west to the all year round play grounds of the Americans. A BILL For the reopening of the great San Antonio Road from Nacogdoches to Bexar. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in Congress assembled....That the old San Antonio Road from Nacogdoches to Bexar is hereby declared a Public highway,and the Road Commissioners for the Counties through which the said road passes and those of the Counties which adjoin said road are hereby directed to re- open and keep in repair the said road. No.20 A BILL For the reopening of the great San Antonio Road from Nacogdoches to Bexar. Nov.20th Read 1st time Nov.23rd Read 2nd time and ordered to engrossed Wm.Henry H.Johnston Eng.Clk H.R. November 26th Read 3rd time and passed...... Thos.Wm.Ward C.C.H.R. N ov 26th Read 1st time 39 N ov 29th Read 2nd time 39 refd.to committee on Post Office &Road reported 4 Decr.1839 &laid on the table till called up Indefinitely postponed Vetoed by President Lamar Presented by Sam Houston The Committee on Post Offices &Roads,to whom was re- ferred the Act to make the Old San Antonio Road a public high- way,have had the same under consideration,and beg leave to report,by recommending to the Senate,the passage of the Act. J.S.Lester Chair.Com.P.O.&Roads. (Sgd.)SAM HOUSTON Endorsed:Report of the Com.P.O.&Roads. On the bill to make a portion of the Old San Antonio Road a public highway.Read 1st time,10 Deer.1839. Read 2nd time,13 Deer.1839 &adopted. (Sgd.)SAM HOUSTON. (House Bill No.290,33rd Legislature..Regular SessioD:1913.) H.B.No.290 By Cooper,Fountain,Bruce,Foster,Patton,Jordan: Stevens of Liberty,King,Byrne,Wahrmund,Hall,Fuller, Watson of Hays,Wortham. (In the House.-January 27,1913,read first time and re- ferred to Committee on Appropriations;February 12,1913,re- ported favorably by Committee.) A BILL To Be Entitled An Act appropriating the sum of Five Thousand Dollars or so much thereof as may be necessary,out of the General Reve- nue,not otherwise appropriated to pay the expenses of a survey of the King's highway and erecting suitable monu- ments to mark the same,and providing a penalty for de- struction or defacement of such monuments. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: SECTION 1.The sum of Five Thousand Dollars,or so much thereof as may be necessary,is hereby appropriated out of the general revenue,not otherwise appropriated,for the pur- pose of erecting suitable monuments to mark the King's High- way in the State of Texas,and providing for a survey of the King's Highway in the State of Texas. SEC.2.The erection of said monuments and the survey of said King's Highway shall be under the supervision of the State Regents of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Chairman of the Daughters of the American Revolution on Preservation of Historic spots,the Secretary of the Texas State Historical Association and the Professor of Highway Engineer- ing of the Agricultural and Mechanical College. SEC.3.The appropriation herein provided for shall be paid out only upon verified vouchers approved by the Regent and Secretary,and the Comptroller of Texas is hereby authorized and directed to draw warrants on the Treasurer of the State of Texas for the several sums and purposes provided by this Act, when verified and approved as herein provided. SEC.4.Any person who shall destroy,deface,mutilate, injure or remove the monuments erected as herein provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,and upon conviction,shall be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars,or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty days or more than ninety days,or by both fine and imprisonment. COMMITTEE REPORT Committee Room,Austin,Texas. February 12,1913. Hon.Chester H.Terrell,Speaker of the House of Representa- tives: SIR :Your Committee on Appripria tions,to whom was referred House Bill No.290,a bill to be entitled, An Act appropriating the sum of Five Thousand Dollars or so much thereof as may be necessary,out of the General Reve- nue,not otherwise appropriated to pay the expenses of a survey of the King's Highway and erecting suitable monu- ments to mark the same,and providing a penalty for de- struction or defacement of such monuments. Has had the same under consideration at a session of the Com- mittee,and I am instructed to report it back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. WORTHAM,Chairman. (Vetoed by Governor Colquitt). A BILL PRESENTED BY LOUIS J.WORTHAM,1916 An Act for making appropriations for the support of The State,The Government for two (2)years,August 31,1916,to August 31,1917. **.'*** To pay the cost of surveying and establishing the Old San Antonio Road,sometime referred to as King's Highway-Camino Real,from the point where the same crosses the boundary be- tween Texas and Louisiana to be expended by the Governor for the surveying of the road by Dr.W.E.Dunn's map of road pre- pared as an archivist. APPROPRIATION $5,000 V.N.Zively,C.E.,appointed by Governor James E.Fer- guson,to make the survey.When the Bill was passed,a rep- resentative from Cherokee County said I am placing a Bill in the House for a State Highway Department taking the roads out of the Post Office and the Agricultural Departments.Be- fore this Bill,little attention was given to the building of per- manent highways in the State. THE GREAT STATEGIC MILITARY HIGHWAY EI Camino Real,The Old San Antonio Road Old San Antonio Road Association Officers President,Congressman Nat Patton Crockett Secretary,Judge M.L.BennetL Normangee Treasurer,Hon.Gaston Palmer Normangee Department National Highways Association Texas State Highway Building Austin,Texas Nat Patton,PresidenL Crockett,Texas W.E.Thompson,Active Vice-President Nacogdoches,Texas Judge J.J.Bolton,Vice-PresidenL Rusk,Texas E.P.Palmer,Vice-PresidenL Alto,Texas S.T.Windsor,Vice-PresidenL N ormangee,Texas W.L.Hedrick,Vice-President Wheelock,Texas S.E.Cavitt,Vice-PresidenL Bryan,Texas C.B.Maynard,Vice-PresidenL Bastrop,Texas C.L.Bell,Vice-President 8an Antonio,Texas Green Grant,Vice-PresidenL Caldwell,Texas John Long,Vice_PresidenL Crockett,Texas Phil L.Sanders,Vice-President ..Nacogdoches,Texas Willie Sharp,Vice-PresidenL San Augustine,Texas Sim Williams,Vice-President Bemphill,Texas M.L.Bennett,Secretary Normangee,Texas And members of the directors will be supplied from the fol- lowing counties,to-wit:Lee,Guadalupe,Comal,Atascosa,Frio, La Salle,Dimmitt,and Maverick. In Testimony whereof,we hereunto sign our names,this the twentieth day of August,A.D.1929. W.E.Thomason,Nacogdoches,Texas Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Beaumont,Texas Judge J.J.Bolton,Rusk,Texas E.P.Palmer,Alto,Texas W.C.Davis,Bryan,Texas H.A.Turner,Madisonville,Texas A.Y.Donegan,Nacogdoches,Texas S.T.Windsor,Normangee,Texas E.A.McCorquodale,Midway,Texas W.L.Hedrick,Wheelock,Texas S.E.Cavitt,Bryan,Texas Guy H.Heath,Normangee,Texas A.,J.Rogers,Normangee,Texas J.A.Heath,Normangee,Texas C.L.Bell,San Antonio,Texas M.L.Bennett,Normangee,Texas R.K.Seale,Benchley,Texas W.D.Hedrick,Wheelock,Texas Nat Patton,Crockett,Texas. (Acknowledgment) (Certificate dated August 27,1929.) STATE OF TEXAS) )Know All Men By These Presents: COUNTY OF LEON) That we the undersigned subscribers hereto and being citi- zens of Leon County,and the counties near thereto in the State of Texas,under and by virtue of Article 1302 and Section 2 there- of of the laws of this State,do hereby voluntarily associate our- selves together for the purpose of incorporating under the terms and conditions hereinafter set out and for the purposes herein named,as follows: FIRST The name of this corporation is THE SAN ANTONIO ROAD ASSOCIATION. SECOND The membership of this association is and shall be in addi- tion to the persons whose names are subscribed hereto,all per- sons who may be interested in carrying out the purposes here- inafter mentioned anq who may file with the secretary of this association their statement in writing manifesting such a de- sire. THIRD The principal office to be maintained by this association and where the business of the corporation is to be transacted is at Normangee,in Leon County,Texas. FOURTH The term of years for which this corporation is to exist is fifty. FIFTH Its capital stock is none and it owns no property.But it is authorized to acquire whatever property necessary to carry out the import hereof,and to dispose of the same as deemed advis- able. SIXTH The purposes for which the corporation is formed are five- fold,to-wit: A.To accumulate in the form of literature or other means all information available py which the memory and spirit and heroism of those persons who blazed the trail,now known as the Old San Antonio Road,or "Camino Real"across our beloved State,may be perpetuated and disseminated among ail who love the epochs of this State's History. B.To stimulate a greater reverence and love and patriot- ism for that section of this imperial state consisting of all kinds and classes of soils the productivity of which has never been tested,over which and adjacent to which this erstwhile trail wended its way. C.To lend a helping hand to that great organization known as the Daughters of the Republic of Texas in its effort to "Erect monuments upon places made historical in the war for Texas Independence,"and to the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion,who out of their zeal have marked the Old San Antonio Road with granite boulders,in perpetuating this historic road, known as the San Antonio Road,or "EI Camino Real." D.To lend a helping hand as to assist in establishing,con- structing and maintaining a throughfare of cardinal import along the route of the Old San Antonio Road which shall not only serve the present and future generations with one of the most direct routes from the State of Louisiana to Mexico,but shall further serve as a monument to the efforts of the earliest makers of history of this State. E.To especially pledge itself to employ every possible ef- fort to secure the necessary right of way through the various counties affected by this road at the earliest time possible in keeping with the requirements of the Highway Commission, and the provisions of Senate Bill No.570 as passed by the 41st Legislature. SEVENTH The directors of this association shall consist of the Presi- dent,Secretary,Active Vice-President and Vice-Presidents of said Association,and said Vice-Presidents shall consist of one member hereof from each of the counties through which or bordering which said road passes,there being twenty-one in number and said directors named at this time shall be: PROVIDING FOR PRESERVATION OF OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD CHAPTER 271S.B.No.570.) An Act providing for the preservation of the Old San Antonio Road running through the State of Texas from Pendleton on the Sabine to Presidio in West Texas;prescribing that said Road shall always be known as the Old San Antonio Road;requiring the Highway Commission to preserve and maintain said Road along the route described in this Act and as surveyed in 1915 by V.N.Zivley;prohibiting the changing of said route;describing the route of said High- way;and declaring an emergency. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: SECTION 1.The Road commonly known as the Old San Antonio Road or "King's Highway"or "Camino Real"shall for- ever be known as the Old San Antonio Road,and is hereby de- clared to be one of the historic roads of Texas and the State Highway Commission shall provide for the preservation and identification of such road by proper marks and provide for main- tenance of the road from State road maintenance fund.The counties through which such historic road passes shall provide a right of way of 100 feet in width.The route of said Road shall remain as surveyed by V.N.Zivley,pursuant to appoint- ment of the Governor in the year 1915 and as marked by granite boulders heretofore erected every five miles on said Highway by the Daughters of the American Revolution.The route of the Old San Antonio Road is and shall be as follows,the same being more particularly described by said survey made by V.N.Ziv- ley and marked by said granite boulders,to-wit:running from Pendleton,thence through Milam,Geneva,San Augustine, Dwire,Chireno,Melrose,Nacogdoches,Douglass,Alto,passing near Weches,passing near Crockett;thence through Hennesey, Normangee,near Wheslock,through Benchley,Seeles store, Cook's Point,Caldwell,Deanville,Lincoln,Bastrop,Cedar Creek, Menaoza,Reedville,New Braunfels,Bracker,San Antonio, Losoya,Amptdon,Hindes,Jahney,Cotulla to Presidio. SEC.2.The fact that the Old San Antonio Road which is also known as "King's Highway"and "Camino Real"is the old- est Highway or trail in this State;that while there is no ac- curate date that can be fixed for its beginning,it certainly goes back to the Indian Confederacy as shown by ancient maps and Indian Mounds,which follow its windings across Texas where Indian villages formerly lay;that said Road was in all probabil- ity started as a trail by the Indians and the buffalo;that it was in existence when Spain placed Missions and fortresses to hold the country against the French and to prevent contraband trade with Mexico;that said Road was traveled by the Span- iards after Spain had taken possession of this country plac- ing it under military and religious rule,establishing Missions and Presidios close to the French boundary at Natchitoches, Louisiana;that said Road was traveled in the conquest of the country from 1716 to 1772 when the Capitol was removed to San Antonio remaining there until 1836;that this famous Road was used in the early history of our State through its progress from colonization to Republic and from Republic to Statehood to such an extent that the State owes an obligation for the sake of history to preserve said highway for all time to come as nearly as may be;that said Road marks the progress of a great and progressive people;that this Act undertakes to provide for the preservation and maintenance of said Highway along its original route and under the name by which it is most commonly known;all creates an emergency and an imperative public neces- sity that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days in each House be suspended,and that this Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and said rule is hereby suspended,and it is so enacted. (NOTE.-S.B.No.570 passed the Senate,29 ayes,0 nays; passed the House with amendment,115 ayes,6 nays;Senate concurred in House amendment by a viva voce vote.) Approved March 19,1929. THE GREAT STRATEGIC MILITARY IDGHW AY EI Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road Established by Act of 41st Legislature,the House elected the State Highway Department to preserve,identify and main- tain what is commonly known as the Old San Antonio Road, entering Texas at Pendleton,Gaines Ferry,thus putting El Ca- mino Real,Old San Antonio Road,into the Department of Na- tional Highways Association,September 16,1929. September 16,1929. Motion by Judge Ely,seconded by Mr.Sterling,that in com- pliance with an act of the Legislature requiring the State High- way Department to preserve,identify and maintain what is commonly known as the Old San Antonio Road entering Texas at Pendleton's Ferry and passing out of Texas at Paso de Fran- cio in Maverick County into Old Mexico,that the State High- way Department will proceed immediately to make detail sur- vey of the proper location and will maintain said road as soon as the counties affected have provided a 100 foot right of way as required by law. GOV.MOODY SIGNS BILL DESIGNATING IDGHWAY Gov.Moody this week signed the bill designating the "Old Spanish Road"as an official highway,and it will be known as the "Old San Antonio Road." Several citizens and former citizens of our city are to be congratulated upon their untiring efforts in doing everything within their power to see that this bill went through,including Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont,a former citizen of Bas- trop,and a sister of our fellowtownsman,Mr.J.L.Wilbarger; our able and efficient Representative Mr.C.B.Maynard,and the Hon.Paul D.Page.Congratulations are also to be extended to the Speaker of the House,the Hon.W.S.Barron,and to Sena- tor Patton,who introduced the bill. EL CAMINO REAL ONLY HIGHWAY CREATED BY LEGISLATIVE ACT Thursday,May 25,1939 Congressman Nat Patton,as State Senator,introduced Leg- islation establishing Route. The Old San Antonio Road is the only highway in Texas created by an act of the Legislature. Credit for this has been given Congressman Nat Patton of Crockett.While serving as a State Senator,Congressman Patton became interested in the significance of the Old San An- tonio Road,and introduced a bill declaring the route as outlin- ed by granite markers across Texas a State Highway. Working with the generally admitted energy Congressman Patton gives his pet measures,the then Senator managed to get his bill through the 41st Legislature. This placed the care of the historic route in the hands of the State Highway Department,and soon the road began taking better shape.Gaps were filled in with pavement,the section forming the boundary line between Leon and Madison Counties being one of the last to be completed.Today the highway is paved throughout,except for a few gaps between Bryan and San Marcos. EMBLEM NATIONAL HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION. KING'S HIGHWAY,OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD,WAS THE FIRST ARTERY OF COMMERCE SERVING TEXAS AND MEXICO By Claudia Wilbarger NorveIl The Old San Antonio Road,or King's Highway,from Mexico City across Texas to Natchitoches,Louisiana,was the sphere of influence of the Civil Rights Laws of the Spanish Dynasty, Mexican Government and Texas Republic Laws,where the world took up their abode and located themselves. Spain recognized the old King's Highway (today the Old San Antonio Road)as operating a necessity,a direction,a com- mon user inherent characteristic belonging to the existing order of things with the system of nature. It was given the patronage and power of Spain from the City of Mexico,the Camino Real to Monclova,Mexico,to Pre- sidia Babtista,on the Rio Grande,Texas,across the Natchi- toches,Louisiana,then a part of New Spain.The road was an institution,a regulation for missions,and military powers for forts and commercial enterprises. To keep out the French entering the Province trading and winning over the Indians,Spain in 1691 ordered a land-route through the Central Province of New Spain,naming for the first time the unknown area Texas,making Monclova,Mexico, its capitol.To control and guard the Jumano Indians in the West on the Rio Grande,and the Hasainai or Tehas Indians in the East on the Neches-Angelina and Sabine Rivers,a cordon of missions were ordered built along the military land-route to Christianize the Indians and to hold the Province for the Span- ish dominion. First law of the crown,Ecclesiastical Law of Nations and Titles. Spain placed Camino Real as the Law of the First Cause in her falcidian Laws,by issuing a "Real de Camino,"a silver coin used as a tax on travelling Spanish highways camino real. Mexico in her Texas Colonization Laws by right of imminent Domain patented,copyrighted,as right of common use,survey- ing outline of this road.A de-finite space and enclosure and ter- minar of frontier,300 feet in breadth,the entire length across the State of Texas.This bordering as a frame work to Stephen F.Austin's Colonist's grants,giving a local habitation and a 25 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD name in the establishment settlement,installation of a nation and state.This road was landlocked as a medium between Mexico City,Texas,and Natchitoches,Louisiana,when San An- tonio,Bastrop,Nacogdoches sprang into existence as a military and commercial necessity. FROM OLD SPANISH DOCUMENTS AND EARLY TEXAS HISTORIES From Valendaez'Dictionary:The word "Camino Real." Camino,a beaten road;highland,journey,gateway;passage road;method of doing things;a calling;gait;rate or species of traveling. Real.A silver coin and money of account in use in Spain and Mexico and other Spanish possessions.The Old Spanish Reals are now in disuse.The Real de Camino first coined in Spain in 1497,and since that time has frequently varied in value. In the Roman Law handed down,things were divided into the movable and immovable,and so a "real"right to the highroad was a tax and subject to the burden until the burden was dis- charged.Camino Real:(1)Highroad;(2)Highway;the readiest and surest way of obtaining one's end. Hence the King's Highway (today the Old San Antonio Road)was considered the surest way of arriving at one's des- tination across Texas. "Salir de Camino."To go to meet a person;to go on the highway to rob." A highway is the place over which the public has a right to enjoy walking,driving,riding.It is called the Queen's Road or Highway,not because the queen has any greater or better right than any of the public,but to denote the impartiality and equal- ity with which all the inhabitants enjoy the right of way with- out distinction. Highways are distinguished into several kinds.In Texas all the highways belong to the State by dedication,or grant of owner,or act of the State.The Highways are called "Thorough- fares"in Texas and belong only to the State as an owner. When the right of way belongs to an owner,then it is called a private way. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 27 "THE DUSK OF A ROYAL EMPlRE" The Early History of Texas Rapidly changing conditions of the world have caused many peculiar cedes of territory.The history of Texas,having been a part of many nations is of International importance.For nearly ten years it was a republic.It entered the American Union at its own volition,bringing with it dignified interest not found in the history of any other state. In 1519,twenty odd years after the first voyage of Colum- bus,and the year before Cortez went to Mexico,Francisco Gary, Spanish Governor of Jamaica,sent Alonzo Alvarez De Pineda to explore the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico.He was probably the first white man to see Texas.He skirted the entire coast from Florida to Tampico,Mexico,and made a map showing Matagorda Bay,which he named Bahia Espirito Santo. A few years later Cabeza de Vaca,who with three com- rades had survived one of the most daring journeys ever made by mortals,gave the world a written account of that perilous trip from Florida along the Gulf Coast to Mexico thus introduc- ing to authentic annals the region now called Texas more than half a century before Virginia and Massachusetts were heard of. The land Texas embraced was known to Europeans nearly a century before Jamestown and Plymouth Rock came into being. I t was part of a province of the first European government on the western hemisphere. Only three decades after the first voyage of Columbus,the Spanish conquerors of Mexico heard such tales of wealth and splendor in the country to the north of the Rio Grande,the country now known as Texas,that the palaces of the Montezu- mas seemed rude and poor in comparison. To understand the political origin of Texas we must turn to what was perhaps the most remarkable treaty ever executed -a treaty which may justly be termed the most gigantic real estate transaction ever known,the treaty of Tordesilles,made between Portugal and Spain in June 7,1494.By that treaty Portugal was to have all the lands that might be discovered thereafter west of a line from the Arctic Circle to the Antar- tic,the line running 370 degrees west of the Azores,passing title to Greenland,St.Helena,Brazil,Africa,Malabar,Ceylon, Arabia,Persia,India,the Malay Archipelago,while Spain was 28 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD awarded all land discovered at that time or thereafter west of such line,including North and most of South America. It was in order to reduce to permanent possession the hemi- sphere thus assigned her that Spain divided the two American continents into four great vice-royalties,New Spain,New Gran- ada,Buenos Aires and Peru.New Spain extended from Gua- tamala to what is now Vancouver's Island,containing four di- visions,Mexico,New Galicia,Nuevo Regno de Leon,and Pro- vincias Internas,the latter including the territory that later be- came Texas and the Californias.In the New Spain,of which Texas was a part,the University of Mexico was established in 1553,nearly a century before Harvard,the oldest college in the United States,had its humble beginning. From the time Pineda sailed along the coast of Texas in 1519,the Spaniards had continued to penetrate this unknown land from all points of the compass.In the Sixteenth Century, it was the search for fabulous rich kingdoms,such as the Aztec and Incas,and the search for the great kingdom of the Tehas. In the Sixteenth Century it was the religious missionary spirit to carry the comforts and civilizing influences to the natives. The miraculous apparition of Maria De Agriada revealed the Jumanos and Tejas Indians,and retold by them,inspired the religious zeal in Mexico to carry the torch of Christian civ- ilization unto Eastern Texas,into the land of the Hasainai Con- federacy.The visits of the miraculous "Woman in Blue"were recited by Seville,Spain and Mexico City Missionaries,and this, no doubt,was one of the steps in the new world for the mis- sionaries to penetrate unknown regions and hardships,defying death in the palm of martyrdom.For two decades the Francis- can Friars were the pioneers in this advance.Their headquar- ters were Guadalajara Villa Satillo from where missions at Coa- huila in 1673 were sought. After many labors of the faithful Friars,to enter North- west Texas,the landing of LaSalle of France in 1685 on the Gulf Bay of Espirito,was reported,as well as the building of Fort St.Louis in the name of France.The town of Monterrey was said to be only a few days'journey from the Bay of Espirito Santo.The junto from Spain to the Viceroy of Mexico directed that the exploration by land be undertaken by the Governor of Nuevo Leon,who was at this time Marquis of San Miguel de Aguago.Aguago called a meeting of the citizens,and it was decided to raise an eAploration party. . CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 29 This party traveled over what is now known as EI Camino Real.But for the labors of the D.A.R.,this historic roadway would have been lost to future generations.When I undertook to have the roadway surveyed and marked in 1915 traces of the old trail were,even then,fading into oblivion. In Roman times sailors had books called Peripli which were collections of sailing instructions giving directions for follow- ing the coast lines from one port to another.However,it was not always feasible to stay within sight of the coast so the books also contained rudiments of celestial navigation.There were no compasses in those days so sailors depended on the sun and stars.The first peripli appeared about the time of Alex- ander the Great.These peripli developed into the books we now use in our navigation courses for both sea and airmen. The earliest of the Portolan Charts,as they were called, existing today is dated 1311,and from that date they became more and more frequent.Before 1500 they did not bear the lines of latitude and longitude,and they were never construct- ed upon a projection,but were the result of careful measure- ment and were so accurate that it is not until comparatively recent times that they were improved upon. Accurate sea charts of the Ancients were forerunners of the historic highway of the Dons,linking a consecutive highway through the South and Southwest United States to the City of Mexico,and reaching over the Inca Highvy'ay to Peru,known as Cortez's route,traveled hy the Spanish,French and the Amer- icans.It was traveled by Nunan de Gusman in 1527;Ferdin- and DeSoto in 1538 and in 1540,his successor,Francisco de Coronado;in 1684 it was traveled by Domingo de Mendoza;by Sieu de LaSalle in 1686-87;by Governor San :Miguel de Aguayo in 1686-87-88-89-90. After it was called EI Camino Real,it was traversed by the French trader Bernard LaHarpe in 1719;by Don Domingo Teran de los Rios in 1720-21,and by Brig.Gen.Don Pedro Riviere in 1727 on his inspection tour of the different Tejas missions,and by many others.The road has been traveled by the Spanish, French and Americans for more than 400 years.It is known in the history books of many foreign lands.as well as on their maps,as being one of the oldest roads in the Western hemis- phere. During the days of the Republic of Texas it was well known alld referred to as the Old Spallish Highway.The Republic's 30 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Congress at one time appropriated a large sum of money for general repairs on the "outstanding road of Texas." By 1598 the Spanish Conquest of Mexico was practically completed,but it was a hundred years before the Spaniards at- tempted to exercise any control over the vast region north and east of the Rio Grande.Texas,being Indian,the Spaniards never really made an effort to take possession of the Indian coun- try until LaSalle landed on the shores of Matagorda Bay and built his Fort St.Louis and took possession in the name of France and French colonists,in 1685.He,himself,met his death and his colony fell prey to the Indians.News of the French fort reached the Spanish authorities in Mexico,carried to them by the Indians.Captain DeLeon and Father Manzanet were in- structed by the Viceroy of Mexico to find and destroy LaSalle's fort.After five attempts,the fort was found in ruins,and only a few captives among the Indians,but the capturing served to remind his Catholic Majesty in Spain the great tribe of friendly Indians living in the Eastern area between the Trinity and Sa- bine rivers were being controlled and won over by the French, further East on the Continent.Stating in his report to the Vice- roy in Mexico Father Manzanet said:A Texas Chief met him with the word "Texas"(Tehas),on reaching their habitation villages.His sense impression told him the word Texas was a "greeting"and meaning "friends,""allies,"and the tribal Con- federacy,that the word "Texas"issued out of the Indian inner life according to his friendly nature. Father Manzanet on returning to Mexico made his report to the Viceroy who in turn conveyed his report to the King of Spain,telling them the Semi-Caddo and Hasainai Indians on Eastern New Spain,were the ones to draw upon for converts,and to get control of the Indian after building the first mission, Francisco De Los Tehas,now in Houston County.Father Man- zanet having burrowed under the Indians skin and found the the word "Texas"being used daily by the Indians,the land had taken the name of the Indians,thinking Biblically,"By their fruits ye shall know-them." So it was in Spain the King's Council met,and in 1691 the King wrote in his name attached with his ring seal.The Junta from the crownhead of Spain,and his parliament,the first of- ficial record found of Spain,naming and calling this area,"Tex- as,"so this terra incognito,"the unknown land"was named by Spain,by the Indian greeting "Texas";meaning '!friends." CAMINO REAlr-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 31 In this Junto to the Viceroy of Mexico,three purposes were stated:First-Don Domingo Teran De Los Rios was appointed the first governor of the Province of the Hasainai Indians and adjacent regions,and Monclova was the Capito1.Second-Or- dered to find a new land route,a straight line direct from Mon- clova to Eastern Indians,abandoning the indirect and circuitous route by way of the Gulf,as traveled by Father Manzanet and DeLeon,in 1690 when building the First Mission among the In- dians. As r have said before:That the old canon laws of posses- sion recognized birth,nativity,the Governor was ordered to build eight missions where the Francisco De Los Tehas had been built. Among the Hasainai Indians this was carried out,and all missions built east of the Trinity,and one near Natchitoches, Louisiana,to guard the French fort and travel into the Texas country. The Third Purpose:That the watch was set for the rank and file of the world.Toll was required to travel and carry a burden from Mexico to Adai Mission near Natchitoches,Louis- iana,sugar costing fifteen cents per pound. This expedition required priests for the Missions,soldiers for protection,accompanied by family-packed trains;guarding the packed trains of burros and horses were out-riders,postil- lions to protect possessions from the Indians,and presents to win over the Indians,were taken. When Captain DeLeon set out with Father Manzanet to find and destroy LaSalle's Fort,he found only ruins and a few cap- tives among the Indians,but the expedition served to remind his CathoIic Majesty of Spain that Colonial France was pushing Southward,and if he expected to hold this unknown country for himself,he would have to make some effort to occupy the coun- try. Father Manzanet gave in his report to the Viceroy of Mexi- ico in 1690,sent to the King of Spain "The great tribe of friendly Indians living between the Trinity and Sabine Rivers and the valley of the Neches,stating the Indians said "Texas,""Teclas," and the word Texas was not the name of the Tribal Confederacy, but the greeting meaning "Friends,""Allies,"the same word meaning as "Commolito"of the Romans,""Your friend,your AlIi,"and the name of the Confederacy was Hasainai,and not the Tejas Confederacy.The word "Texas"having issued from 32 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the inner life of the Indian,according to what he felt in his heart "Friends,Allies,United We Stand." Captain DeLeon with Father Manzanet,on the Fourth Ex- pedition,it was the finding of LaSalle's Colony after Juan Sa- beata,the famous Indian Chief of the Jumano Confederacy of the Western Texas,led them to the site of LaSalle's Fort,when it was destroyed. Captain DeLeon and Father Manzanet and expedition party, on meeting a Tehas Chief and questioning him,learned of the Hasainai Confederacy in the Northeast and were led by him to the Nabediche Village across the Trinity when the site for the first mission was selected and the mission built in 1690 for the Neche Village,naming it the Francisco De Los Tehas.After having visited some ten or more villages,Captain Alonzo De- Leon and Father Manzanet,leaving Father Magill and assist- ants for the mission,returned by way of Bay Espirito Santo to Mexico. At the time when the news of LaSalle's expedition reach- ed Mexico,when the Spanish captured one of his ships off the coast of San Domingo and Condi De Parades,the Viceroy of Mexico (1686)gave orders to Aguago,Governor of the Kingdom of DeLeon,to send a company of cavalry along the coast beyond Tampico in search of the intruders.For a time the French in- vasion was given up as a hoax. Spain aroused for the fifth entente,about this time Father Manzanet was in Coahuila seeking to confirm visions of the good Mother Maria De Jusus De Agreda,who reported she had been to New Mexico,and that she knew of the countries and peoples further east among whom she named the Ticlas,or the Theas. Father Manzanet,knowing of the rumor that there were French- men somewhere up the coast,made diligent inquiry among the natives and found an Indian who claimed he had seen the houses of the French many leagues away.~ They left Coahuila in March,1689,and as they neared Es- pirito Santo Bay,met some Indians who greeted them "Techas" "Techas,"which meant friends.Before reaching the Bay,they found among the Indians relics of LaSalle's Colony,books- among them the Bible-and a native wearing a Monk's cloak, many broken dishes,skeleton of a woman and a child lying on the woman's arm,a fragment of paper on which was written the first verse on Texas soil, CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 33 "Sad and fateful Sire Where only solitude doth reign, Reduced to this sorry plight Thy settlers efforts all proved vain." Historian De Nuevo Leon. Captain DeLeon,having made five entrades into Texas,it was decided by the Viceroy in Mexico he was needed at Monter- rey.Father Manzanet's recommendations were acted upon,and Captain DeLeon was now removed from service,but it must be rememhered it was Alonzo DeLeon who had recommended five Missions to be built,one at the intersection of the Camino Real and Bahia Road (Goliad Road)on the Guadalupe River,going to Bahia and Nacogdoches,Natchitoches,Louisiana.Father Man- zanet made a long report.The Indians must be converted and civilized,they were mostly roaming Nomads-the Apaches in the West,the Karankahoes,or Man Eaters on the Gulf Coast. The settled agricultural group with lands and houses were the Haisainai in the East,and Caddoans of Louisiana,who were re- lated. The newly appointed Governor was far from being satis- fied with all the arrangements made for the expedition.Father Manzanet's recommendations were now being acted upon,since Captain DeLeon had grown in disfavor in regard to the finding of LaSalle's Fort. The march to East Texas began May 16,1691.The expe- dition was finally ready to start,and on this day they set out from Monclova,the capitol,following the route of previous ex- peditions to the Rio Grande.In the party were fifty soldiers, all horseback,emblazoned as Spanish soldiers,ten Missiona- ries,and three lay brothers.Father Manzanet made a list of the latter,who were Fathers Fray Francisco Hidalgo,Fray Nicolas Recio,Fray Miguel Estelles,Fray Pentro Fortuni,Fray Pedro Garcia,Fray lldefonso Monge,Fray Joseph Saldana,Fray Antonio Mirando,and Fray Juan Garancochea,the names of the three brothers not given.From the Rio Grande the expedition continued along the old route,crossing the Nueces and Hondo. After crossing the last river,the Hondo,on June 7th,they ar- rived at the present site of ,San Antonio on June 13th,where they found a large Rancheria of Payaya Indians.When asked what they called their settlement,they said "Yanahuana."Fa- ther Mazanet gave this place the name of San Antonio De Padua. 34 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD On the following day a special celebration was held to com- memorate the Feast of Corpus Christi."I ordered a large cross set up,"said Mazanet,and in front of it built an arbor of cotton- wood trees where the altar was placed.Mass was said,High Mass was attended by Governor Don Domingo Teran De Los Rios,Captain Francisco Martinez,and the rest of the soldiers, all of whom fired a great many salutes.The Indians were pres- ent during these ceremonies. Continuing their journey to the Northeast,they reached the Guadalupe on June 19th.Here they were met by a large group of J umano Indians,and their allies.Governor Teran es- timated their number at two thousand.The leader was no other than the tireless wanderer,Juan Sabeata.From him they learn- ed through two letters they brought from the Missionaries who had remained at Francisco De Los Tehas that a serious epidemic had broken out and many Indians had died,and the devout and zealous Father Fray Miguel De Fontcubreta had died of malig- nant fever on February 5th after an illness of five days.The Indians also reported rumors of French activity among the Tehas and Caddoans. After crossing the Colorado and Brazos Rivers,renewal of the march to San Francisco De Los Tej as was begun.When the Trinity River was reached,they hurried on and were greet- ed by the grateful Fathers Bordoy and Jusus Maria.The Mis- sionaries at the church Mission San Francisco De Los Tejas sent a message to Governor Teran to pitch camp a short distance from the Mission.Two days later the Governor and party were visited by the Governor of Confederacy and Indians.Many presents were distributed to the Indian Governor and his peo- ple.The soldiers held a parade,bugles and drums b~ating.They marched to the Mission San Francisco De Los Tejas,where pre- sided by the Missionaries,they fired six volleys before entering to hear High Mass. From now on,Governor Teran carried out his instructions to explore the country of the Indians and make a report to the Viceroy of Mexico of his observations and findings.He was ad- vised to keep a diary noting and naming all of the rivers,ob- serving the character of the natives and describing the products of the country.In regard to the Tehas Indians,he was advised to continue the policy of courting their friendship and good will, their wishes to be observed the choosing of sites for the pro- posed missions. CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 35 The French of Louisiana having built a fort at Natchitoches, Louisiana,on the Red River,five miles west the Mission Adac was built and on April 21,1729,the Capitol of the Province of Texas was transferred there,where it remained until 1820,when it was transferred to San Antonio,Texas.Later,its location was transferred many times until it found its setting in the Vil- lage of Waterloo,the present Capitol Austin. Of the Mission San Jose de Aguayo,begun in 1720,named in honor of the Spanish Governor of Texas,Marquis San Miguel de Aguayo,perhaps the ablest of all the Spanish Governors as- signed to the north of the Rio Grande,let Sidney Lanier,the gifted Georgian,speak. He says:"San Jose Mission is the most beautiful of all, and its carving is surely a joy forever. "The hand that chiseled the wonderful facade at the main entrance of the church,the doorway,window and pillar capitals of the smaller chapel,that now goes by the name of the Bap- tistry,was one of marvelous cunning.The facade is rich to repletion with the most exquisite carving. "Figures of virgins and saints with drapery that looks like drapery,cherubs'heads,sacred hearts,ornate pedestals and re- cesses with their couch-like canopies and cornices wonderful. The doorway,pillar and arch,is daring in its unique ornamenta- tion,showing in its combination of form the impression of Moor- ish outlines.Otherwise the whole facade is rich renaissance, figures and.hearts alone with anything realistic about them. "All other ornamentation is conventional,but with nothing stiff,every curve showing a free hand.The window above the archway is a simple wreath of such acanthus-like curves and conchoids of surpassing workmanship.The south window of the baptistry is considered by good judges the finest gem of architectural ornamentation existing in America today.Its curves and proportions are a perpetual delight to the eye,and often as the writer has seen and examined it,it is of that kind of art which does not satiate,but ever reveals some fresh beauty in the line or curve." The chapels of San Juan Capistrano and San Francisco de la Espada are not so well preserved but are of compelling in- terest,and like others by some mystic charm translate the visitor from the new world to the old.The erection of the mis- sion buildings,and the maintenance not only of these but of presidio and village for more than a century in the face of the 36 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD perpetual hostility of Apaches and Comanches,the fiercest of the Indian tribes of America,a hostility so inveterate that only a few settlements outside the immediate neighborhood of San Antonio were able to preserve an existence,at best perilous and uncertain,compose one of the most impressive chapters in rec- ords of human courage,endurance,sacrifice.It is appropriate, therefore,that in 1918 San Antonio should invite the Spanish- speaking people to visit the scene where representatives of their own race gave such superb illustration to these attributes and to join in an exposition commemorating such achievements. The cession of Louisiana to Spain in 1762 removed France as a contestant for territory,and pushed the boundary from the Sabine to the Mississippi,where they found a new neighbor in England. Our Catholic heritage in Texas by the Knights of Columbus gives all of the hardships in the exploration of the unknown wil- derness,isolated as they were by great expansion of territory, along the trail,were created heroes in War and champions of peace.With the valor and daring horseman of the Southwest that came in and poured their valor into the lap of the Alamo and San Jacinto,was born that Independence and Freedom which dominated their lives then and today. The return route to Mexico was by the Bay Espirito Santo to make inspection of any French to be found.Many times the buffaloes were on a stampede with the Indians pursuing them, and the expedition was careful not to run into a herd of them. The Conquestador sent back to Spain a report on Medieval America the New World,and no less a commentator than Al- brecht Durer commented in his diary in 1520 about things "brought to the King from the New Golden Land."He marveled over the subtle ingenuity of the men in these distant lands. From now on the history of Texas unfolds a great and ex- pressive theme which is recognized in the chapters of its his- tory and discloses the riches of indigenous American life. Under LaSalle's discoveries of the Mississippi River and landing on Texas shores with the French and English strug- gling against the explorers in Canada for control of the North- ern Empire,thusly began-the French king claimed Texas as part of Louisiana,whose boundaries no man knew.The Span- ish king claimed it as part of Mexico,which had no boundaries. Neither of them considered the rights of the Indian tenants whose forefathers had peopled it for centuries.And thus 100 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 37 years went by,during which neither France nor Spain made any serious pretense to assert sovereignty and the Indian remained master of his native plains. To enable us to follow the march of events from the arrival of the Spaniard at Fort Saint Louis with increasing interest, that arrival marked a distinct epoch in the history of Texas and the Southwest.The Spaniards found the colony of Fort Saint Louis extinct,but they heard of Frenchmen among the Tejas Indians,a confederacy of tribes inhabiting the section between the upper Neches and the Trinity in what is now known as East Texas. They also sawall hope of restoring their ancient title to the country beyond the Sabine and the Red rapidly vanishing on account of the rapid spread of the English on the Atlantic Coast and the advent of the French in the Mississippi Valley. They saw that even the territory between the Sabine and th~ Rio Grande was threatened unless prompt steps should be taken. This led to an active effort to combat further French settlement by the erection of the Mission of San Francisco De Los Tejas, about forty-five miles southwest of the present city of Nacog- doches,Texas,among the Tej as Indians,and the change of the name of the country about the Rio Grande from New Philippines, which had been given it after the acquisition of the Philippines proper,to Tejas,or,to use the English pronounciation,Texas. Thus the name Texas came into existence,as a designation for the territory it still denotes,having developed out of the strug- gle between European nations for the control of American soil. The mission of San Francisco De Los Tejas with its unsub- stantial,wooden buildings,lasted but three years when it faded into the solitudes among which it had been erected.The danger of French invasion seemed to have disappeared and the Span- iard lapsed into the old inactivity and neglect so far as the coloni- zation of Texas was concerned.When this mission was ordered abandoned,and the padres and the soldiers marched away,the opportunity permanently to secure the mouth of the Mississippi and the mighty area it drained passed from Spain forever. In 1699 the French under Iberville hegan a permanent set- tlement at Old Biloxi and in 1718 anchored Louisiana to France through the founding of New Orleans.For more than twenty years after the departure from East Texas the only effort of the Spanish to occupy territory in the direction of Texas was the building of the mission'of San Juan Bautista,known also as the 38 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD presidio of the Rio Grande,on the Mexican side of that stream about fifty-five miles below the present city of Eagle Pass. A sudden awakening was now in store.One day in 1714 there appeared on the opposite side of the river from San Juan Bautista a dust-laden band of soldier-traders led by the fearless Huchereau St.Denis.His coming sent a thrill of surprise and apprehension through all Mexico.The viceroy and his coun- cillors shuddered as they thought how easily the expedition of this adventurous young Frenchman,who had marched in six weeks from the Sabine to the Rio Grande,could be repeated,not for trade,the guise in which he now pretended to come,but for French possession.While the Mexican authorities were making plans for the permanent occupation of Texas,an occupation which would bar the extension of the French boundary to the Rio Grande,while they were debating as to what to do "\vith St. Denis,having placed him under virtual arrest,this chevalier of the prairies turned from his dream of territorial conquest to kneel at the feet of the lovely granddaughter of Captain Diego Ramon,the commandment of San Juan Bautista,and deliver up his heart.This remarkable romance of that rugged time found a happy termination at the marriage altar. ESTABLISHMENT OF MISSIONS IN EASTERN TEXAS The fear of French invasion inspired by the startling feat of St.Denis led to two expeditions,one of which re-establish- ed in 1716 the settlements in East Texas that had been aban- doned in 1693,and the other of which resulted in the founding of San Antonio in 1718.The first expedition revived the old mis- sion of San Francisco de los Tej as,the name being changed to San Francisco de los Neches,and located five other missions in that vicinity,called as follows:Nuestra Senora de la Guadalupe, La Burisima Concepcion de los Asinais,San Joseph de los N aones, San Miguel de Linares and Nuestra Senora de los Dolores. The second expedition was handed by Martin de Alarcon, Governor of the adjoining province of Coahuila.An enchanted spot where two rivers,the San Antonio and the San Pedro join- ed their crystal water but a short distance from the sources of each fountain that sprang full born from the foot of an escarp- ment,the edge of a vast table land,he founded the presidio,or fort,of San Antonio de Bejar in the year 1718. N ear the presidio he established the mission of San Antonio CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 39 de Valero,headed by Padre Olivares.It was the chapel of this mission which more than one hundred years later,under the name of the Alamo,became the scene of a martyrdom that will illuminate the annals and glorify the cause of human lib€rty for- evermore.With the erection of this fort and mission San An- tonio began an existence that has continued to the present hour -an existence which in 1918 will have spanned its second cen- tury.Let it not be forgotten that the same year New Orleans was born,confirming the spacious reaches of Louisiana to France,just as the founding of San Antonio made certain the dominance of Spain and Mexico in Texas.In view of this singu- lar parallel,a day should be set aside during the 1946 Statehood in especial honor of New Orleans. For more than 125 years San Antonio remained the mili- tary,religious and commercial capital of Texas.Against the Indians on the west and the French to the east it presented a permanent barrier. To the original mission were soon added five others in the vicinity of San Antonio and under the protection of its presidio. Of these,the mission of San Jose de Aguayo was established in 1720,that of San Xavier de N axera in 1722.The other three were transplanted from East Texas in 1731.The mission of San Francisco de los Tejas of 1690,the first mission established in Texas,had its name again changed on removel to San Francisco de la Espada.La Purisima Concepcion de los Asinals became known in its new home as La Purisima Concepcion de Acuna, while San Joseph de los Nazones became San Juan Capistrano. The main buildings of some of these missions are standing today,the sole material remnants,with the exception of the stone fort at Nacogdoches,of Spanish rule and monuments to the energy,the patience and the genius of their erectors. They are stone structures of massive type and imposing architecture.The church of Mission Concepcion de Acuna,with its Moorish dome and classic towers rising in graceful propor- tion above its serrated walls,presents a picture of symmetry and solidity that cannot do otherwise than amaze the beholder. For twenty years the Franciscans of Queretaro,with primi- tive tools and untutored labor,at one of the remote outposts of civilization,in constant danger of extermination by savage foes, with the mallet in one hand and the sword in the other,slowly devised that artistic pile,which has defied the erosions and the storms of 200 years. 40 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD The Spaniards were not slow to follow Christopher Colum- bus'world-startling discovery of the West Indies in 1492 by colonization of those Islands.There were flourishing Spanish settlements in Cuba,Puerto Rico,Hayti and Jamaica within twenty years after the first landing of Columbus and within thirty years after that epoch making event the whole coast of Texas had been explored.Like Columbus,the Spaniards con- tinued to search for a passage leading westward to India.Expe- ditions from the Islands explored the whole coast of the Gulf of Mexico,no passage was found but a number of accurate maps were charted by the explorers. Pineda was the most important of the map-makers of the Gulf Coast of Texas.He explored and mapped the entire Texas coast in 1519,and sent back to Spain a glowing description of "Amichel"as the Spaniards then called Texas,Based probably on tales of Indians on the Coast,this story pictured a land of much gold and silver,inhabited by two races of men,one a race of giants and the other a race of pigmies.This,to be noted, was two years before Cortez captured the Aztec capital in Mexi- co. Pined's tales of Texas were the early influence which began to impel Spanish adventurers to set out on expeditions of ex- ploration on the unknown regions of the western world.The Mexican Gulf was abandoned. Indian tales of a "Fountain of Youth"caused Ponce de Leon and many other explorers to instigate expeditions which even- tually saw nearly all of what is now the Southern and South- western United States. In the spring of 1528 such an expedition landed on the coast of F10rida under Pan Philo de Narvaez with the purpose of planting a colony,but vv'ere met with disaster. They tried to make their way to Spanish settlements in Mexico by cruising along the Gulf coast in five improvised boats made from the hides of their horses.Three of the boats were wrecked off the Texas coast,probably Galveston Island,and. Cabeza de Vaca,a Spanish nobleman who had given up a high office in Spain to accompany N arvarez to America reached the shore safely with eight others.N early eight years they were held captives by the Indians.Though Vaca himself had the op- portunity to escape,he postponed his escape from year to year to save the others. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD In 1541 an Indian guide called Turco (the Turk)led Fran- cisco Vasquez de Coronado and his followers on a wild goose chase from New Mexico over the plains of West Texas seeking the many fanciful cities of gold,the products of Indian imagina- tion.In this case the Indians had method in their deception for EI Turco afterwards confessed that he had been told by tribesmen in New Mexico,whom Coronado had treated with cruelty,to take the Spaniards out on the plains and lose them. The following year 1542,Luis de Morosco,chosen by the ill- fated De Soto,discoverer of the Mississippi,on his death-bed,to lead his men from the wilderness along that mighty stream back to civilization,attempted to reach Mexico by traveling overland and crossing Red river near Natchitoches,penetrating Texas as far as the Brazos river. During the next one hundred years the Spaniards were moving North from Mexico.In 1582 Antonio Espejo from lvlex- ico,a merchant,passed through West Texas and explored the Pecos River for some distance.Finally,in 1682 a tribe of In- dians,friendly to the Spaniards,driven from New Mexico by the Pueblo uprising of 1680,was settled at a point twelve miles from the present city of EI Paso.The new Pueblo village was called Y sleta,and it has been in continuous existence since then, the oldest town within the boundaries of Texas. Up to this time no Frenchman had set foot on Texas soil (1682).It was in that year that Robert Cavelier de LaSalle reached the mouth of the Mississippi,having explored it from the mouth -of the Illinois River and hastened back to France to organize the expedition,which was to end in his arrival on the shores or Matagorda Bay. La Salle was the first man to recognize the importance of the Mississippi as a highway of trade,and to propose planning of a colony at its mouth.With that purpose in view,he sailed rrom France with equipment for a colony in the summer or 1684. Off the West Indies one of his four ships was captured by Span- iards.Incorrect and incomplete maps caused him to sail past the mouth of the Mississippi along the Gulf coast of Texas into Matagorda bay,where another of his ships was wrecked enter- ing the bay.Finally his naval commander,Beaujeu,who had been unfriendly and quarrelsome throughout the voyage,sailed back to France with a ship,taking with him a number of La Salle's soldiers and a quantity of supplies. La Salle landed,established a camp for his men,and set 42 CAMINO REAlr-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD out to find the Mississippi river,believing it not far away.Hos- tile Indians attacked his camp,disease broke out among his men.He moved his camp to another site on the Garcitos river, near the head of Lavaca bay and proceeded to build a fort and a permanent colony which he called Fort St.Louis.The Colony consisted of a rude fort,made from the wrecked timbers of the ship,and of five mud-plastered huts.Finally,while he was ex- ploring the coast,his last ship was wrecked,and now he set out overland in search of the Mississippi.On reaching the pres- ent town of Nacogdoches,Texas,he was forced to return on ac- count of the illness and discontent of his men.Food became scarce,and he realized his men were facing starvation.He headed for the French settlement on the Illinois where he hoped to find relief.At a point on the Brazos,believed to be just above the town of Navasota,he '\vas murdered by some of his men.A few of the party finally reached Canada.The colon- ists who remained behind perished at the hands of the Indians. The Seventeenth Century saw the advent of the English and the French to North America,to contest with each other and with Spain,the title to the New Continent -enacting a struggle,leading to the founding and shaping of Texas. The seventeen century shows us La Salle on the St Law- rence,the Great Lakes,the Fox,the .Wisconsin,the Chicago, the Illinois,the Mississippi.He christened the country Louis- iana,and claimed it for France.It shows us his hasty return to try to obtain from ambitious Louis IV donations of ships and when with which to confirm the claim,and which to drive the Spaniards from New Spain. It shows us the tragic voyage beset by pirate and storm and the passing of the proud voyagers,the original mouth of the Mississippi,its original destination,and to reach a part of Tex- as coast,Matagorda bay. Despite the efforts of the French,the Spanish were suc- cessful in establishing their missions from Natchitoches,Louis- iana to Monclova.It was during the erection of these missions that the Spanish first heard of the Woman in Blue,a bi-Iocal saint who appeared to many Indian tribes at the same time she was in Spain. According to "Our Catholic Heritage in Texas,"this mys- terious missionary spent several years among the Southwestern Indians,traveling extensively over E.Camino Real. She probably was Madre Maria de Jesus de Agreda,oorn in CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 43 Spain in 1602.After spending a number of years as a mission- ary among the American Indians,she returned to Spain and died in her native land in 1685. Practically nothing is known as to the time she landed on the American continent,or how many years she spent here, but according to the best available information,she must have reached this country somewhere between 1620 and 1630.It is practically certain,however,that her last visit to the Indians in New Mexico was made in 1631.In view of the fact that this woman,who is credited with being the first missionary to preach the gospel to the Tej as Indians,seems to have begun her activ- ities in Texas and worked her way across the continent to New Mexico.The supposition is that she landed on the American shores in the neighborhood of New Orleans. In youth Madre Maria joined a society for the promotion of education among the common people of Spain.She was the author of a number of books,one of which was "The Mystic City of God."She became interested in the temporal and spir- itual welfare of the American Indians and after her return to Spain she became the leader of the educational society which she had helped to promote. She was first known among the descendants of the Tezcu- can and other Indian tribes in Texas and Mexico.It is related of her that in all her work and travels from one Indian tribe to another she always dressed in blue,and this seems to have made a deep impression in the memory of those primitive chil- dren of nature.She not only visited missions that had been completed and those in process of construction,but she visited those tribes and went into those regions where no other white person had ever been. Old Spanish writing on file in Texas archives show that this woman of mystery figured largely in the history of Texas.An original letter written by Father Damian Manzanet to Don Car- los de Siquenza,in the year 1690,is said to be on file in the ar- chives of the Texas descense.In referring to a parley he had with the Governor of the Tejas regarding the establishment of a mission near Nacogdoches Father Manzanet writes as fol- lows: ".While we were at the Tejas village,after we had distribut- ed clothing to the Indians and to the Governor of Tejas,the Governor asked me one evening for a piece of blue beige to make a shroud in which to bury his mother when she died.I told him 44 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN A.NTONIO ROAD that cloth would 00 more suitable and he answered that he did not want any color other than blue.I then asked him what mysterious reason he had for preferring the blue color,and in reply he said they were fond of that color,particularly for burial clothe5,because in times past they had been visited frequently by a very beautiful woman,who came down the hills,dressed in blue garments,and that they wished to do as this woman had done.On my asking whether that had been long ago,the Gov- ernor said it had been before his time,but his mother,who was aged,had seen the woman,as had also the older people.From this it is easily to be seen that they referred to the Madre Maria de Jesus de Agreda,who was very frequently in those regions, as she herself acknowledged to the Father Custodian of New Mexico.Her last visit was made in 1631,a fact made known by her statement to the Father Custodian of New Mexico." In about 1710 or 1714 her name is mentioned by a writer de- scribing the trading of St.Denis,the French explorer,with the Indians in the neighborhood of the Neches river in East Texas. Something of her marvelous power is related by the Very Rev.Dean 'V.R.Harris in his book entitled "Occultism,Spirit- ism and Demonology": "One morning,as one of the fathers at the mission of St. Augustine de Isleta,was coming out of his adobe church,he was met by five Indians whom he had never seen before. Their speech was that of their own missionary tribe,with dia- letic variations.They claimed to have come from beyond the Rio Pecos,said that they came as messengers sent by their chief who asked them for a priest to live among them and concluded by requesting to be baptized.The missionary inquired about the name of the tribe,in what direction their country lay and what river flowed through it.He added that he could not ac- cede to their requests for baptism until they were instructed in the faith.They replied that they and the members of their tribe were already instructed;that a woman strangely dressed had visited their people and had made known to them the life and doctrine of Jesus Christ;that her visits to them were many and that she told them to come to the missionaries.Where she lived and how she came,they did not know."Our Catholic Heritage in Texas Relates: Father Alonzo de Benavides,who was at one time Custo- dian of the New Mexico Mission,returned to Spain and in 1630 he made a report to the king in which he had the following to CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 45 say regarding the Madre Maria's visits to New Mexico: "At the spacious monastery of San Antonio at Old Isleta, where the "Custodian"was then residing in 1639,about fifty J umanio Indians came to ask for missionaries to instruct them in the law of the gospel.As stated before this was not the first time they had solicited religion for their nation but this was the largest delegation of Indians to ever ask this strange request. The new custodian enquired of them,"What had moved them to this action."They replied,"That a woman wearing a habit had ordered them to go and find missionaries to instruct them.'" More astonished than ever the old Padre showed a picture of Mother Louise de Carrion,a saintly sister who lived in Mex- ico and was famous for her piety and zeal and asked the Indians if their visitor looked like her.They all agreed the woman who came to them wore a similar habit,but that the person who vis- ited the Jumanois was younger and more beautiful.They de- c1ared she taught each one of the natives in their own language. That she commanded them to go in search for missionaries to preach to them and to baptize them,and urged them to carry out her command." More than half a century later the memory of the saintly visitor linger sweetly in the mind of the Tejas Chief,who told Father Manzanet how his people,too,had seen the "Lady in Blue."In times past he declared to Father Mazanet,"They were visited frequently by a very beautiful woman who used to come down from the hills dressed in blue garments.On my asking if that had been long since,the Governor said it had been before his time but his mother who was aged had seen that woman as had also the other older people." Who was the "Woman in Blue who miraculously appeared to the simple children of the plains and the Tejas to teach them with love and kindness to seek the truth?"By a significant co- incidence the Archbishop of Mexico,De.Francisco Manso Y Zuniga had ordered the custodian of New Mexico and all the missionaries there on May 18,1628,to try to ascertain if there was a knowledge of our faith among the natives living beyond to the East,and in what manner and by what means,our Lord had made it manifest.This order was prompted by a report which had been made to the archbishop of the miraculous visi- tations to the Jumano Indians claimed to have been effected by Mother Maria de Jesus de Agrenda according to her own con- fession to Father Fray Sebastian Marcilla.When the Indians 46 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD told their story therefore to Father Fray Estevan de Peren and Fray Juan Salas,they were much interested. Not until two years later did the enthusiastic Father Fray Alrnss de Benavides,former custodian of New Mexico,find out who the Woman in Blue was.Having gone to Spain in 1630 and having told the story related by the Jumanos of the mirac- ulos visitation and their instruction in our faith to the Father General of the order of St.Francis,he was introduced to go to Castile where Mother Maria de Jesus had declared she had visited the Indians of New Mexico,eight years before."I ar- rived in Agreada the last day of April 1631",states Fray Alonso and before saying anything else,I will declare that the said Mother Maria de Jesus,Abbess now of the Immaculate Conception,is about twenty-nine years of age,not quite that, handsome of face,very fair in color \vith a rosie tinge and large black eyes.The style of her habit as well as that of all the nuns of that convent,who are twenty-nine in all,is the same as ours;that is of brown sack cloth,very coarse,worn next to the body without a tunic,undershirt,or skirt.Over this brown habit is worn a white one of coarse sackcloth with a scapulary of the same material and the cord of our Father Saint Francis,over the scapulary.They carry the rosary.They wear no shoes or sandals other than boards tied to the feet. The coat is of blue cloth,coarse,with a black veil.The habit which she has worn most of the time has been that of our Father Saint Francis at other times it has been that of the Im- maculate Conception with its veil.The white sleeves were al- ways rolled up,and the skirt of the white habit tucked up, showing much of the brown.The first time she went was in 1620.She has continued these visits ever since until 1631. "She told me also that he had commanded the Jumanos to call us,and that she had instructed them during all this time. She gave me all their signs and declared she had been with them.She knows the Captain Tuerto,the one eyed man,very well,having given me his personal characteristics and all the others.She herself sent the messengers,from Quivirn,to call the missionaries.These and many other details were told by the modest and saintly Abbess,communicated to Father Bena- vides,constrained by the request of the father general who com- manded her under oath of obedience to tell the former custodian all she knew of those lands and their people whom she had visited." CAMINO REAL--OLD.SAN ANTONIO ROAD 47 A brief sketch is given of the woman who played so im- portant a role in Texas and the southwest.The venerable Mother Maria de Jesus was born on April 2,1602 in the small and ancient villa de Agreada,in Castile.Her parents were Francisco Carond and Cathalina de Arana,both of noble line- age.She was one of eleven children of whom only four attained maturity.She was baptized in the famous church of Santa Maria de Magana,on April 11,1602,being given the name of Maria and dedicated to our Lord.At a very early age she gave evidence of a life of prayer in the service of the Lord.Sickly and frail from earliest years,she found refuge and consolation in prayer.While tender in years the great strength and grace of this daily exercise,her mother being a deeply religious wo- man,imparted to her careful instructions to have a spiritual disposition which showed clearly a frail child's unmistakable vocation. "At the age of twelve she informed her parents of her de- sire to enter a convent.Both her father and mother knew it was a sincere calling and readily consented.While casting about for a convent,the mother who was a most devout person was favored by a vision from the Lord who ordered her to found a convent in her home. "After a year the parents of Maria established a convent in their home called the Immaculate Conception,December 1618. "In January 1619,Maria,the mother and two sisters en- tered the Convent.In 1625 Maria was chosen Abbess,much against her wishes and was reelected every three years until she died in 1665. "The fame of her prudence and foresight soon spread out- side of the church walls and persons of highest council sought her advice in important affairs.King Phillip IV visited her many times in her convent and corresponded with her about na- tional life for many years. "In many ways she was a faithful copy of St.Francis.The miracle of Bi location related of her is more remarkable of her and lasted longer than that recorded anywhere in the lives of the Saints. "Mange explained how she come to undertake these visits and the manner in which the miracle was performed.Her un- selfish love of God,truth,fullness,sincerity,adapted her to the Communication of messages from God to man." How did she visit the numerous natives of New :Mex.i~oand 48 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Texas?Our Catholic Heritage tells us how she came to visit these places and the manner in which the miracle was per- formed. "On one occasion,"it says,"while praying for the welfare of these souls (the Indians of Texas and New Mexico)the Lord took her while in ecstatic contemplation without her being aware of the means and it seemed to her she found herself in a differ- ent place and clime,among a people whose nature and disposi- tion had been made known to her in an abstract manner.They were Indians,and it seemed to her she saw them with her ma- terial senses,and felt the difference of the clime of the land. "While in this condition the Lord commanded her to speak, and preach to them of her faith,doing it in her own language, Spanish,and they understood her.After the ecstacy was over, she found herself in the same place where she had been when she first lost consciousness." The nation chosen by her for her visitations was the Ju- mano nation,first founded by Cabeza de Vaca in 1536,near president day Presidio on the Rio Grande.The Jumanos re- mained here throughout the sixteenth century.They were vis- ited by Maria Agreada many times. Coronado and his men trekked across the plains,met twelve chiefs who said they were looking for "The Woman in Blue". From 1621 to 1631 she is said to have visited these Indians, the Jumanos and Tejas,five hundred times. Trace of the mysterious woman in California is found in numerous legends and beautiful folklore. HISTORY CLUSTERS ROUND EASTERN TEXAS HISTORICAL MATERIAL OF RICH INTEREST GATHERED BY THE CATHOLIC HERITAGE IN TEXAS If Marguis de Aguayo could join the Texas Valley plains of the new southwest today,the reconstructed missions of masonry commanding the sweep of San Antonio River instead of the old stockaded town,would see the passing years had winged over the vagaries of so many changing military for- tunes.In the words of St.Denis in 1714 arriving at the brow of San Pedro Springs,San Antonio,Texas,uttered,"The site for a beautiful city." Said Governor Aguayo to Father Magill in seeking an ad- vantageous site for a mission,"According to what we have CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 49 seen,he declared this site on the San Antonio River is destined to be the heart as it were from which we are to branch out in the work of founding missions.One group in one direction and the other in another." Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo led the largest and great- est expedition across Texas in 1722 in search of the French, that was ever undertaken by the Spanish. Previous to that time November 19,'1685,when the great search began by the "Viceroy of Mexico to find La Salle's col- ony.After the search from the Northern frontier and New Mexico,decided to explore mouth of Rio Grande River,while the diligent search was being made the Viceroy met in Council at Vera Cruz and decided the logical person to carry out another expedition was the Governor of Nuevo Leon,who was at this time the Marguis San Miguel de Agayo.The Junta called for Aguayo to send out an expedition to find the LaSalle Colony." These orders were to culminate in the establishments of the first missions in Eastern Texas. New Spain had already been penetrated beyond the Rio Grande over an expanse of more than one thousand miles to the Trinity and Neches Rivers,and hastened the founding of the missions in that remote region.From now on the building of missions on the Eastern frontier among the Hasninai Indians and the building of missions in the Western area among the Jumano Indians.Thus was an advance of first order made by land into the Eastern limits of present day Texas coming from the Western Area issued by the viceroy less than a year after La Salle landed in Matagorda Bay. Alonzo De Leon led this expedition.Governor Marquis De Aguayo then living at Monterrey,big hearted,financed and fur- nished horses,cattle,and food to carry out the expedition. After this failure to find La Salle's settlement many intrud- ers or expenditions were led by De Leon for six years when in 1690 Father Manzanet and De Leon were led to the destroyed fort of La Salle's on Matagorda Bay by a Tejas Indian. After Ramon and Alarcon failed to strengthen the hold of Spain on Texas and to expand the missionary activities of the Franciscans,the failure became a serious blow to Spanish inter- est. Conditions in Texas were approaching a serious crisis in the spring of 1719.In November the Emissary arrived in Mexico and the viceroy was told the Texas Province was in serious 50 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD danger.The French in the East were courting the Indians, the French already had established a Post,Natchitoches,that the Mississippi was rapidly being settled.On the grounds the French fondled them much,giving them firearms in exchange for horses.St.Denis'representation of the French Crown re- sented Spain's taking control of the Texas by missions but Gov- ernor Cadillac of Louisiana had put themselves in a position then the French were forbidden on the Texas territory. After the French attacked Spanish Pensacola,Florida,and Los Adaes,the capital of Texas and attack on East Texas mis- sions,the King made plans to reinforce Texas. The viceroy on receiving details of the French activities in the East immediately appointed the Marquis of San Miguel De Aguayo to raise as large a force as possible in the Nuevo Reyno de Leon Parral and Saltillo,to take charge of the recruiting of men at once in all haste. Pursuant to the orders of the Viceroy,Aguayo quickly enlisted and equipped eighty-four men as instructed,gathering at same time necessary supplies of flour,corn,and meat for a year. The men were marched to Santiago de la Monclova,the capital of Coahuila,from where they were sent to the Presidio de Bexar on September 4.Aguayo in reporting his activities to the Viceroy offered him his life and fortune for the service of the King. Wherefore the viceroy appointed him Governor Capitan General of Coahuila and the Province of the Tejas and new Philippines.Aguayo had pointed out to the viceroy that the men enlisted were insufficient,that a larger force was required for the emergency.Since men were scarce on the frontier they would have to be recruited elsewhere. Fully impressed with the magnitude of the Enterprise the viceroy ordered five hundred additional men recruited in dis- tricts of Celaya,Zacaticas,San Luis Potosi,and Aguas Islientes. For the immediate expenses of the preposterous expedition thir- ty-seven thousand pesos were appropriated and Aguayo was given the equivalent of one year's salary.At the rate of four hundred and fifty pesos for each.He had already spent out of his own purse over nine thousand pesos in raising the first contingent of eighty-four men,which had been sent to San An- tonio,on the return of Governor Aguannza's visit to the viceroy of Mexico.Father Margin who remained in the Villa de Beyar, CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 51 was not idle,consumed by a desire to pr~ach the gospel and to build missions in suitable places to convert the Indians,since the Indians were all begging for churches and missionaries to teach them the Christian faith. On December 26,1719,he wrote a long letter to the Gov- ernor Marquis of Aguayo,congratulating him on his appoint- ment as Governor. Governor Marquis de Aguayo took possession of his office December 19,1719. Father Magill became greatly impressed with the advan- tage of a mission between Coahuila,Mexico,and East Texas on the San Antonio River,according to what we have seen,he declared,"This site is destined to be the heart from which we are to branch out in the work of founding missions." The Founding of San Jose Mission He felt his way in enquiring of the Governor Aguayo if it met with his approval to name this mission San Jose Y San Miguel de Aguayo.It met with the approval of his lordship. Governor Aguayo had in his possession many trinkets, beads and cloth to win the Indians over. A great hurry began to start on Expeditions since the delay had been so long.The choice was a successful one.The full name of the Marquis was,Joseph Hzlar Virto de Vera.Before coming to America in 1712 he had seen service in Spain,where he had equipped at his own expense fifty men during the Cam- paign of 1704.The next year he saw service in the Kingdom of Navarro with a group of mounted men equipped at his own expense.After his arrival in Coahuila where he made his resi- dence in the Hacienda de Patos,he had taken an active part in the defense of the frontier against the Indians until the time he was called to take charge of the force being equipped to recover the lost Province of Texas. He came from a distinguished family who had rendered loy- al service to the King from time immemorial both in Spain and America.His grandfather Don Martin de Azlor,who was Maes- tro de Campo died at the siege of Barcelona in 1656.His broth- er,the Count of Guara who had been field marshal and Com- mander on the frontier of Aragon,was killed in action in the year 1705.On the side of his wife,her forefathers had seen service in the army in Catalonia and in Flanders coming later to America where his wife's fourth grandfather had been one 52 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD of the Conquerors of New Spain.His family owned a vast estate which included almost half of Coahuila. Previous to his appointment in 1719 he had shown interest in Texas as early as 1715 when he wrote to the viceroy urging that Joseph Urratia be commissioned to find the Mythical King- dom of La Gran Quivira. The Marquis of Aguayo having received full instructions and completed his preparations for the expedition finally ordered his men to set out on November 16,1720,under the command of Lieutenant Governor Alamazan.At the head of the column was placed a picket of Veteran Soldiers who were familiar with the road and had had experience in fighting Indians,then fol- lowed the equipment behind,while came the light companies in the order of their seniority,followed by the baggage provisions, and munitions of war.In the rear came the drove of animals. The five hundred men enlisted in the district of Celaya, Zacatecas,San Luis Potosi,and Aguasicalientes,started from Monclova in April with three thousand six hundred horses. When they reached their destination on June 23 they had only five hundred horses.The result of the drouth,Aguayo immedi- ately dispatched messengers to all the Haciendas and succeed- ing in purchasing three thousand additional horses to replace those lost. It was not until october that the Marquis of Aguayo was ready to start.Early in the month six hundred mules loaded with clothes,arms,munitions,and six field pieces arrived in Monclova from Mexico.These supplies had been ordered by Aguayo and he had anxiously awaited them to start.The new Governor had now succeeded in assembling six hundred cargas of supplies,four thousand horses,six hundred head of cattle, nine hundred sheep,and eight hundred mules.This was the most formidable attempt ever made to establish the King's Dominion over Texas,so the writer of the Catholic Heritage in Texas has written. The four hundred men were divided by Aguayo into eight companies and formed into a battalion of mounted Infantry which he called San Miquel de Aragon.Just as Aguayo was about to depart he received from the Viceroy instructions for the Expedition and the general policy he was to observe toward the French. It was now winter.The rivers were swollen and the road difficult.The expedition was delayed several days at the Sa- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 53 binas River and did not reach the Rio Grande River until De- cember 20.The Marquis Aguayo who had remained behind joined them at the Sabinas River,with him came father Espi- nosa.While on the Rio Grande Aguayo received news from Captain Garcin of the Presidio of San Antonio that St.Denis was holding many convocations with the Indians on the Brazos River and that he intended attacking the Presidio.In the meantime Ramon had been sent to Bay of Espirilo to prevent falling into the hands of the French. On April 26 Aguayo with the viceroy he was ready to march to the Tejas Country of the Neches,but it was extremely dif- ficult to keep his men supplies from his base in Coahuila.He suggested if his excellency was willing a ship could be sent from Vera Cruz to Esperito Santa when supplies could be trans- ported to them and save much time.The Colorado River safely crossed,the march continued to the Trinity,extreme difficulty experienced in crossing the stream.A short distance beyond the expedition was met by the head Chief of the Asainai Con- federacy,one of whom was the famous Angelina,to welcome the Spaniards.Accompanied by the Tejas Indians the expedi- tion resumed the march to the Neches River.On the 27th of July,Father Espinosa left the main body and went in advance of Aguayo with the chief of the Tejas to gather the Indians at the site of the First Mission of San Francisco de Los Tejas,and make arrangements for its reconstruction. At the Neches Village among those who welcomed the Spaniards was the Neche Chief and the famous woman Ange- lina,and tribe of followers,being sixty,they marched into camp in perfect order and fired several salutes.Aguayo as- sured them he had come at the order of the King to protect them against their enemies.The guns and military formation of the Indians was evidence of the French influence.At this very time St.Denis had been appointed Commander of Natch- itotches fort and assumed his post.While Aguayo was still encamped deciding to send his message by Lieutenant Governor Alamazan,and Captain Costales in order that they might ob- serve location and condition of the French Fort;M.Rerener now informs Aguayo he has no orders to oppose or consent to the settlement and occupation of Los Adaes.He wrote a letter to Aguayo which he sent with two messengers offering him his full cooperation and goods at his command. From September 1 to November 4,Aguayo busied himself 54 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD in the construction of a Presidio which was named Presidio of Nuestra Senora Del Pilar.Twenty-eight soldiers were mar- ried men with horses fully equipped with arms and munitions, six brass field pieces were brought from Mexico and placed in the Presidio,with necessary powder and balls.To guard this important Post,Don Joseph Benito de Aeroyo was appointed Captain by Aguayo and formally placed in command. Celebration of Aguayo's accomplishment;construction of the Fort,site for a mission,the French driven out of Texas without firing a shot,the Indians assured of Spanish protec- tion,now to celebrate the accomplishment of their task.The soldiers held a big celebration on October 12,1722.The first day of the Lady of Pilar,after whom the Presidio was named. There were dances and masquerades.But more strange and significant still was the presentation of plays.The virgin for- est of East Texas became the stage for the first dramatic rep- resentation on Texas soil,only three years after the first play was given in Williamsburg,Virginia. With winter almost upon him,Aguayo started back to San Antonio,but lack of supplies,made it impossible for him to leave.On October 20 a portion of the flour and corn arrived which had been brought by vessel from Vera Cruz to La Bahia. At the same time the first two droves of sheep and cattle ever driven from the Rio Grande across Texas to the Red River came into camp.One consisted of four hundred sheep and the other three hundred cattle,directed from the frontiers of the King- dom of Nuevo Leon to the Red River.No expedition had ever brought so large a herd before.This the report states,was the forerunner of the cattle droves that were to play so impor- tant a role in the later history of Texas and the founding of the most beautiful mission in the Southwest,San Jose Miquel de Aguayo. Thus,in the first years of the 18th century,we find that the French and the Spanish were at odds as to who should lay claim to the vast area west of the Mississippi. The Spanish had established their eastern frontier just five miles from the French western outpost near Natchitoches. Then began the years of fear on behalf of both nations as to who would do what in respect to the new lands. However,before very long the Spanish again grew lax in their attitude and after having established Mission San Fran- cisco de los Tejas near Nacogdoches,Texas,they again aban- CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 55 doned both missions,removing them to what is now San An- tonio. With the abandonment of these missions,when the padres and soldiers marched away,the opportunity to permanently secure the mouth of the Mississippi and the mighty area it drains,passed from Spain forever. In 1699 the French near Iberville,began a permanent set- tlement at Old Biloxi and in 1718 anchored Louisiana to France through the founding of New Orleans. For more than twenty years after the departure from East Texas the only effort of the Spanish to occupy territory in the direction of Texas was the building of the mission of San Juan Bautista,known also as the Presidio of the Rio Grande,on the Mexican side of that stream about fifty-five miles below the present city of Eagle Pass. A sudden awakening was now in store.One day in 1714, there appeared on the opposite side of the river from San Juan Bautista a dust-laden band of soldier-traders led by the fearless Huchereau St.Denis.His coming sent thrill of surprise and apprehension through all Mexico.The viceroy and his council- lors shuddered as they thought how easily the expedition of this adventurous young Frenchman,who had marched in six weeks from the Sabine to the Rio Grande,could be repeated-not for trade,the guise in which he now pretended to come,but for French possession. While the Mexican authorities were making plans for the permanent occupation of Texas,an occupation which would bar the extension of the French boundary to the Rio Grande,while they were debating as to what to do with St.Denis,having placed him under virtual arrest,this chevalier of the.prairies turned from his dream of territorial conquest to kneel at the feet of the lovely granddaughter of Captain Diego Ramon,the commandant of San Juan Bautista,and delivered up his heart. This remarkable romance of that rugged time found a happy termination at the marriage altar. La Sane's landing on the coast of Texas,shows us it was the opening of the way for French trading enterprises,on the lower Mississippi,and its tributaries,and for the establishment of those colonies in that region under the control of the Com- manders of the Posts;followed St.Denis,1700 at Nacogdoches, Texas,the first trading post in Texas,and the French trade during the 17th and 18 century developed a class of men known 66 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD as Courreurs de Bois,who made themselves at home with the natives.These were the advance guards of civilization and later served as interpreters and clerks of The Hudson Bay Com- pany,Northwest Fur Company,and other companies.Fur companies engaged in Indian trade up to the middle of the 18th century. GEORGE WASHINGTON To protect the Indians from the ill effects of intoxicant liquors and to insure them a fair return for their pelts,Presi- dent George Washington secured the Act of April 18,1796, authorized the establishment of trading houses under the im- mediate direction of the President.In 1806 the Superintendent of Indian Trade was created,and in 1810 the following list of trading houses was furnished to the Senate Committee on In- dian Affairs:AI-Colerine on the river St.Mary's,Ga.;at Telico block house,Southwestern territory;at Ft.St.Stephens on the Mobile,Mississippi;at Ft.Wayne on the Miami of the Lakes Indiana;at Detroit,Michigan;at Chickasaw Bluff on the Mis- sissippi;at Arkansas on the Arkansas River;Nacogdoches,Tex- as,on old San Antonio Road;San Antonio on old San Antonio Road;at Bille Fontaine mouth of the Mississippi in Louisiana; at Chicago at Michigan Indiana;at Sandusky,Erie,Ohio;at Fort Osage on the Missouri;at Natchez on the Mississippi;at Natchitoches on the Red River,into Texas,Indian country. The official records show the decline of fur trade began growing out of War of 1812 in which both Indian and white race were implicated in competing by the rivalry of the fur trade.The posts at first were on the great rivers scattered from the great Michigan Lakes to the Pacific.Montreal and St.Louis were the two outstanding posts for the fur trade" while from Natchez,Mississippi,across the Mississippi,the great brown ribbon ran across hundreds of miles off to Texas, Nacogdoches. And the same occurred when the San Antonio Road was made a strategic military highway across Texas.The French Commandant at Natchitoches,Louisiana,started visioning trade route to Mexico,and posts were built at Nacogdoches by St. Denis in 1700,and San Antonio,Texas,then the government trading posts were abolished in 1882 that President Washington had directed,and its purposes had been filled. The fear of French invasion inspired by the startling feat of St.Denis led to two expeditions,one of which re-established in 1716,the settlements in East Texas that had been abandoned GEORGE WASHIXGTO~ CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 57 in 1693,and the other of which resulted in the founding of San Antonio in 1718.The first expedition revived the old mission of San Francisco de los Tej as,the name being changed to San Francisco de los Neches,and located five other missions in that vicinity,called as follows:Nuestra Senora de la Guadalupe, La Burisima,Concepcion de los Asinais,San Joseph de los Naones,San Miguel de Linares and Nuestra Senora de los De- lores. The second expedition was headed by Martin de Alarcon, Governor of the adjoining province of Coahuila.An enchanted spot where two rivers,the San Antonio and the San Pedro, joined their crystal water but a short distance from the sources of each,fountains that sprang full born from the foot of an escarpment,on the edge of a vast table land,he founded the Presidio or Fort of San Antonio de Bexar in the year 1718. N ear the Presidio,he established the mission of San An- tonio de Valero,headed by Padre Olivares.It was the chapel of this mission which more than one hundred years later,under the name of the Alamo,became the scene of a martyrdom that will illuminate the annals and glorify the cause of human liberty forevermore. With the erection of this fort and mission San Antonio be- gan an existence that has continued to the present hour-an existence which in 1918 spanned its second century.Let it not be forgotten-that same year New Orleans was also born,con- firming the spacious reaches of Louisiana to France,just as the founding of San Antonio made certain the dominance of Spain and Mexico in Texas. For more than 125 years,San Antonio remained the mili- tary,religious and commercial capital of Texas.Against the Indians on the west and the French to the east it presented a permanent barrier. To the original mission were soon added five others in the vicinity of San Antonio and under the protection of its Presidio. Of these,the Mission of San Jose de Aguayo was established in 1720 ,that of San Xa vjer de N azera in 1722.The other three were transplanted from East TeXAS in 1731. The mission of San Francisco de los Tejas of 1690,the first mission established in Texas,had its name again changed,on removal,to San Francisco de la Espada.La Purisima Concep- cion de los Asinais became known in its new home as La Pu- 58 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD risima Concepcion de Acuna,while San Joseph de los N azones became San Juan de Capistrano. By this time King's Highway had become a well-beaten highway. The main buildings of these missions are standing today, the sole material remnants,with the exception of the stone fort at Nacogdoches,of Spanish rule and monuments to the energy, the patience and the genius of their erectors. The secession of Louisiana to Spain in 1762 removed France as a contestant for territory,and pushed the boundary from the Sabine to the Mississippi,where they found a new neigh- bor in England,a neighbor to be replaced only two decades later by the new nation which the English colonists had set up as the fruit of revolution-The United States of America. Spain saw the first evidence of a new peril when in 1800 eleven citizens of the United States were marched through her streets of San Antonio in chains,the survivors of an armed expedition into Texas led by Philip Nolan,who had been killed and his followers destroyed or captured.In the same year Louisiana was re-delivered to France to be sold by Napoleon to the United States in 1803.So Spain again faced the United States and this time at the Sabine instead of the Mississippi. From the first,friction arose as to the boundary,the United States later reviving the French claim that the rightful west- ern border of Louisiana was the Rio Grande. From that time forward San Antonio,responding to the trend of events,took a new and busier and more important life. The missions had been secularized and practically discontinued. New settlers were thronging in,Spaniards,Creoles,native Mex- icans,Freshmen,Americans,Indians of both pure and mixed extraction. The city was beginning to develop that cosmopolitan char- acter which today so emphatically distinguishes it-practically every race being now represented within its limits.Hundreds of troops were permanently quartered there,a recognition of the mlitary and strategic value of San Antonio,a value recog- nized today by the United States in maintaining there one of the largest army posts in the nation. Already its wonderful climate,health-laden beyond descrip- tion,-its mild and sunny winters,its uniform and delightful tem- perature,had begun to attract people from all parts of the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN AKTONIO ROAD 59 world.It is little wonder,therefore,that it has become today one of the notable tourist centers of the nation. Shortly after the Louisiana purchase uneasiness over the boundary quarrel caused the number of Spanish troops in Texas to be rapidly increased.The rumor of an invasion by Aaron Burr added to the excitement.A Spanish force crossed the Sabine and invaded American soil but turned after a brief period to its own side of the river. There on the Sabine the Spanish and American armies con- fronted one another,the former under Governor Cordero of Texas,the latter under General Wilkinson,commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States. An agreement was reached regarding the boundary,a neu- tral ground defined,and both armies retired.Then began the Mexican revolution against Spain,originated by Hidalgo in 1811. The example of the United States was spreading over the American hemisphere.San Antonio experienced a bloody intro- duction of the revolution in seeing on a pole near the river be- tween the Alamo and the Main Plaza the severed head of Colonel Delgado,who had been one of her most prominent citizens, and an adherent of Hidalgo.Bloody was to be the retribution and bloodier still the counter-retributions. Bernardo Guiterrez,another follower of Hidalgo;escaping from Mexico after the execution of his chief,organized at Natch- itoches,in Louisiana,near the frontier in confederation \vith Magee,an officer in the United States Army,who resigned to take up the work,a force of Americans,rebel Mexicans and Indians for the invasion of Texas.Driving the Spaniards from Nacogdoches and other Texas points,the invaders,numbering probably 1200 men,defeated the Spanish army of probably 2500 at the battle of Rosillo,near San Antonio,with terrific slaughter,and two days later took the city itself. The city was given over to plunder and the spoils appor- tioned among the invaders.Then Captain Delgado demanded vengeance for the murder of his father.He was put in charge of Governor Salcedo,who had ordered the execution,and his staff,together with Governor Herrera of Nuevo Leon,and Ex- Governor Cordero,ostensibly to take them as prisoners to New Orleans.A mile and a half below the city Delgado and his com- pany deliberately cut the throats of his prisoners.At this the best elements among the American officers and men,who had been moved by a sincere desire to aid in the revolution;with- 60 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTO~~O ROAD drew to the United States,disclaiming further connection with the enterprise. For four months this band of adventurers held the city in a state of lawlessness and disorder.With singular coolness and skill they rallied from the surprise occasioned by the unex- pected approach of Don Elisondo's army of 3,000 royalists from Mexico which they defeated,administering a loss of over 1,000 while their own casualties were but 94.A few weeks later they were defeated by another royalist army. At the close of the French and Indian war in 1762,Eng- land had been triumphant and it was foreseen that she would take,as she did,the French colonies in America.And in order to prevent Louisiana from falling into the hands of England, France hurriedly deeded it to Spain and in this way Spain's title to all the country west of the Mississippi River became acknowl- edged by the European countries. Forty years later Napoleon had well begun his career and was first consul of France and Master of Italy.The Spanish monarch wanted an Italian kingdom for the Duke of Parma,his son-in-law,and he bartered with Napoleon to exchange a king- dom in Northern Italy warranted to contain a million souls for the old French province of Louisiana.And thus it happened that in 1800 by the secret treaty of San Ildefenso,Louisian~ again became French property. Napoleon had schemes for a colonial empire in North Amer- ica,but they soon gave way to his more interesting plan for a vast empire in Europe. Events following the first entrance into Texas by United States troops are well knoVill by all,the blood years of civil war and revolution within the territory,the battle of Goliad, the Alamo and the final surrender of Santa Anna to General Sam Houston. All these things are common knowledge. But the greatest single factor in all these events,the fac- tor which made them all possible,The King's Highway,had been all but forgotten until that day in 1911 when I reminded the DAR that in Texas we have A Great Strategic Military High- way,The King's Highway,the oldest Road in North America. Indians were not hostile,but friendly. The migration of the white immigrants across the Texas region was pulsating.In the days of Mexican rule the Amer- ican white settlers merely fringed the coast. CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 61 During the days of the Republic,they reached as far west as Gillespie County,south of the Colorado,but not much west of East Texas timbered counties north of that stream.During the pre-Mexican war statehood,another great westward im- pulse took place and brought pioneer people to what was then known as Northwest Texas,which included western cross tim- ber counties. During the Civil War and the reconstruction days up to 1870,the frontier line stood still or actually withdrew in places. After the above disturbances ended in 1874,migration be- gan to pour into the western half. In addition to the American immigrants from New Eng- land and the southern states we had many colonists from Ger- many,France,and elsewhere,largely introduced during the days of the Republic.But it was not until after statehood was given to Texas that immigration began to reach what was then called northwest Texas. The immigrants were almost exclusively of individuals whose ancestors had come from Great Britain and Ireland to the older states.The people came from all sections of the Union,but mostly the Southern states,from Missouri to South Carolina.In they came by slow wagon journey to Natchitoches, gateways,or ferries,along the Red and the Sabine Rivers. The frontier people certainly got down to earth immedi- ately.Hundreds of miles and many days distant from railways, telegraph offices,daily papers,they disciplined themselves to do without nearly every luxury of civilization which the people of today consider necessities. As for the comforts of life-they at first had none;al- though conditions improved with the passing of years. To do without such luxuries as bathtubs,bedsteads,rock- ing chairs,trading stores,or even shelter,was no hardship to them. A few simple drugs for medicine,a little coffee,tobacco and sugar,some unbleached domestic and calico cloth was about all they asked of civilization. Even the sugar could be omitted and substituted for with sorghum.It was no difficulty whatsoever for a man on horse- back to travel for hundreds of miles with a bag of biscuits,a small piece of bacon,some salt and pepper and ground coffee, such as he could carry in his saddle pockets,or tied to his strings.Or,if worse came to worse,he could get along without 62 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD most of these things at all and depend upon the game which his trusty rifle could kill. They left behind them all contacts and means of communi- cation to their home states and people almost as completely as if they had crossed the River Styx.Very few who came ever returned. Language is insufficient to describe the hardships of these frontier seeking people,or to explain why,at a time when there was an abundance or land and game behind them,that they would leave all the comforts of civilized life,as far remote from every neighbor or comfort as they could go,and to face the dangers of the most savage foe that could be imagined. They forsook nearly every essential of life that we can think of,even preachers to marry them,doctors to bring their children into the world,or undertakers to bury them.Alone they forged westward with a simple covered wagon drawn by horses or oxen,with no other equipment,or not as much as one takes'nowadays on a deer hunt-a little bedding,some am- munition,a few bags of seeds to plant,the fewest possible uten- sils-a skillet,a dutch oven and a coffee pot,a water barrel and an axe or hoe or two.No tent was ever thought of being car- ried,although the old wagon cover might have at times been converted into protecting shelter in emergency while waiting for the man to hew logs and split shingles for a house. But there were other hardships to be endured than those encountered while journeying to a destination.Homes had to be built in isolated locations. Many things which we now consider essentials of life were not even thought of,like mails,post offices,doctors,stores and schools.These necessities often did not follow the pioneer until after several years of isolation. As for such luxuries as ice,butter,canned goods,breakfast foods,soft drinks,ready-made clothes,running water,natural gas for cooking,washing machines,and pleasure vehicles,why, these dear people never even heard of them.Telephones,radios, autos and aircraft had not even been invented. Even lumber at first was done without and the first that was brought was for making coffins which were lined with calico.It was hauled into old Comanche County by wagon from Houston,300 miles away. Neither can language describe the resourcefulness of the frontier men and women.Man's chief dependences were his CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 63 ax and rifle,for had it not been for them and the abundant game he could not have lived until his crops began to grow. A substitute for whatever was needed was usually forth- coming.Deer and buffalo skins went for cloth,and fruits and other products of the woods varied the principal diet of wild game meat. His meat,until his few cattle had multiplied,was the game of forest and prairie of which no one dreamed it would ever be exhausted.A little meal which he had brought with him served as bread until he could grow a crop of corn for himself. Deer-tallow candles or chunks of wood upon the first served for illumination. Some may think the fear of Indians might have deterred these frontier people from venturing into the wilds.But not so.A fact which but a few people seem to know is that when this westward migration of the 50's first began,the Western Indians were not hostile,but friendly,as will be shown in a future article. In those olden days the pioneer knew little about roads and bridges.When he wanted to spy out some particular land, he usually set a course for the place by the natural landmarks and headed for it,using his sense of direction to guide him. Those old-time folks who knew their Texas,knew it by its nat- ural landmarks;its mountains,its rivers and its belts of tim- b€r,rather than by its counties,its cities,its railroads and its paved highways. When one wished to go somewhere his directions were giv- en him somewhat like this: "Just keep in a northeast direction until Comanche Peak comes in sight and then bear off to the left until you reach the Brazos River.Then leave the western cross timbers to your right,keep on going in an upstream direction for ten or fifteen days until you come to Kiowa Peak;then keep right on to Double Mountain.And you had better stop before you get to Double Mountain for that country is the happy hunting ground of the Indians,who have more or less permanent homes in the canyons in the eastern edge of the high plains." As for the latter,no white Texan of that time knew any- thing about them,much less ever going up on top of them. Although they passed unoccupied acres by the millions, these people seemed largely bent upon getting to th~then farth- 64 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD est West and many of them never stopped until they could go no farther. What was the yen in them that motivated them to keep on going so far away from every comfort of life and civilization to face the dangers of isolation and the Indians,to undertake the unspeakable hardships of the briar breaker and frontiers- man,to live without comforts and luxuries of civilization?No one can tell,except that the westward desire was a kind of instinct,inherited from their Anglo-Saxon ancestors from time immemorial. Locations were judged and selected by their proximity to water,wood and grass,as well as to game.Seclusion from the Indian was also a factor. After the site was chosen,a thousand things had to be done. First a shade was made from posts and brush,trees were felled for logs with which to build houses and make fences.Spaces around the house were cleared where seeds could be planted. Rock had to be found with which to build fireplaces and chim- neys.Water had to be hauled until wells could be dug.Roads and trails had to be made to the homes of distant neighbors. All the early pioneers of Texas preferred to settle in the timbered regions or the margins thereof.Hence the great prairie spaces were passed over by the earliest settlers.The reasons for this were that the settler had to be near wood and water.His houses were built of the logs of trees and his water was at first taken from the creeks and standing pools along them.He had no tools or inclination to drill wells until other essentials were accomplished. Thus it was that population settled first in East Texas and along the wooded terraces of the Trinity River,years before it touched the far richer black prairies.Likewise it was thus that the early frontiersman located in the two north-south ex- tending ribbon-like belts of the cross timbers,with the vast stretch of grand prairie between them,as seen between Fort Worth and Weatherford. Shortly after the Louisiana purchase uneasiness over the boundary quarrel caused the number of Spanish troops in Texas to be rapidly increased.The rumor of an invasion by Aaron Burr added to the excitement.A Spanish force crossed the Sabine and invaded American soil but returned after a brief period to its own side of the river.There on the Sabine the Spanish and American armies confronted one another.the for- CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 65 mer under Governor Cordero of Texas,the latter under General Wilkinson,commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States.An agreement was reached regarding the boundary,a neutral ground defined,and both armies retired.Then began the Mexican revolution against Spain originated by Hidalgo in 1811. The example of the United States was spreading over the American hemisphere.San Antonio experienced a bloody intro- duction to the revolution in seeing on a pole near the river be- tween the Alamo and the Main Plaza the severed head of Col- onel Delgado,who had been one of her most prominent citizens, and an adherent of Hidalgo.Bloody was to be the retribution and bloodier still the counter-retribution. Beruardo Guiterrez,another follower of Hidalgo,escaping from Mexico after the execution of his chief,organized at Natch- itoches,in Louisiana,near the frontier in confederation with Magee,an officer in the United States Army,who resigned to take up the work,a force of Americans rebel Mexicans and Indians for the invasion of Texas.Driving the Spaniards from Nacogdoches and other Texas points,the invaders numbering probably 1,200 men,defeated the Spanish army of probably 2,500 at the battle of Rosillo,near San Antonio,with terrific slaughter,and two days later took the city itself. The city was given over to plunger and the spoils appor- tioned among the invaders.Then Captain Delgado demanded vengeance for the murder of his father.He was put in charge of Governor Salcedo,who had ordered the execution,and his staff,together with Governor Herrera of Nuevo Leon,and ex- Governor Cordero,ostensibly to take them as prisoners to New Orleans.A mile and a half below the city Delgado and his com- pany delib€rately cut the throats of his prisoners.At this the best elements among the American officers and men,who had been moved by a sincere desire to aid in the revolution,with- drew to the United States,disclaiming further connection with the enterprise. MURDER AND LOOT For four months this band of adventurers held the city in a state of lawlessness and disorder.With singular coolness and skill they rallied from the surprise occasioned by the unexpect- ed approach of Don Elisondo's army of 3,000 royalists from 66 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Mexico which they defeated,administering a loss of over 1,000, while their own casualties were but 94.A few weeks later they were defeated by another royalist froce under General Arre- dondo and practically cut to pieces,only 93 Americans finally getting back to the United States. A severe retaliation for the mm'del'of Salcedo and his com- panions was then exacted.Seventy or eighty prisoners were set in turns by tens on a log laid across a huge grave,into which the victim fell as they were shot.In San Antonio 300 citizens were confined for a night in a single house,eighteen dying of suffocation.Another Blanch Hole horror was thus registered. Four hundred women of republican families were imprisoned and compelled to cook for the royalist army.The work of plun- der and destruction was carried from San Antonio to Nacog- doches,and was so complete that these two communities,with the rest of Texas,were temporarily depopulated. Then came the invasion of East Texas in 1819 by James Long of Natchez,a former officer in the United States Army, and a company of volunteers.He set up a provisional govern- ment at Nacogdoches,but while absent at Galveston Island to seek the aid of the celebrated pirate,Jean Lafitte,his settle- ment was broken up and his men scattered by the Spanish troops. The success of the Mexican revolution in 1821 put an end to these filibustering expeditions.The new and independent republic of Mexico looked with favor at first on immigration from the United States,and an influx of American settlers into Texas at once began.The pioneers in the work of American colonization were Moses Austin and his son,Stephen.It was due principally to them that a plan was conceived and execut- ed which accomplished in a comparatively few years what Spain had failed to bring about for 300 years,the planting of a per- manent and extensive agricultural population in Texas.As a result of their labors and the permanent American occupation thereby secured came the revolution of 1836,the annexation of Texas,and the acquisition of California,Utah,Nevada,New Mexico,Arizona and part of Colorado.It has been given to few men,working as did the Austins in the quietude of private life far from the halls of state and field of battle,to set in motion events of such momentous consequence. ~~~- .?~~-=, ~~----,:::.~~--~...::::~~~~~--- --. '\'~L .\FITTE.J E~~". CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 67 KING'S HIGHWAY ENTERS NEW PHASE OF LIFE With a party of twenty-four men Saint Denis set out on his expedition in the spring of 1714.As the result of the wander- ing of these adventurous souls and help secured from the Spain- iards in Mexico,the King's Highway had its beginning.While it is true that the route was not laid out and established by their journeyings,the first step had been taken.An overland route had been opened by Spain in 1691 and St.Denis planned a Trade Highway.The Spaniards had assumed possession of the ter- ritory and were satisfied. Thus the old mule trail that later became known as the King's Highway was originally laid out as a route from Mexico to Texas and between scattered missions.Paralleling the his- tory of this famous road is that of these church fortresses and the pathos and sublime courage of those heroic monks whose sole ambition was the evangelizing of the savages who infested the country. The Texas missions were assigned to the Queretaro friars. They were known as the San Francisco,which was situated on the east side of the Neches,near the present town of Alto,La Purissima Concepcion,near the Linnwood crossing of the Ange- lina;San Joseph,on one of the tributaries of Shawnee Creek, near the northern line of Nacogdoches County,and Nuestra Se- nors de Guadalupe at Nocagdoches.These four missions were established during the autumn of 1716.Although successful in maintaining the friendship of the Indians,as a religious en- terprise the missions seem to have been a failure. ORIGINAL ROUTE FOLLOWED Originally this trail seems to have been about as follows: From the river to San Antonio there appears to have been out one route,probably an Indian trail leading to a pass on that stream.At the other end of the trail,between the Neches and the Sabine and on as far as the Adaes,were Indian trails from village to village which the traveler naturally followed but be- tween the Neches and the San Antonio there was no settled trail for many years. During a brief war with Spain,a few years after the estab- lishment of the mission,the French made a raid from Natchi- toches,which so terrified the colonists that they fled from their homes.It was about hvc years later that the Marquis de 68 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Aguayo led an expedition to re-etsablish the abandoned mis- sions.He traveled over the highway as it had been defined. Other travelers seem to have gone each the same route.It is probable that the section between San Antonio and the Neches was settled by custom (1695 decree)along the trail which was afterward known as EI Camino Real,or the Royal Road.Years of travel over this route made it in time a well defined trail. Boundaries qf old Spanish grants in the beginning of the last century were marked by its trace called Old San Antonio Road. Traditions of lost treasure along the ancient highway are numberous.One of these stories tells of the attack on an escort conveying a "jack-load"of gold along the trail.All of the men in the party were killed except one who was wounded.The man sought shelter in the home of a white woman living a few miles above the crossing of the Attoyac.He told of the attack,as- serting that before he escaped he had thrown the treasure into a deep pond near by.He said that when he recovered from his wounds he would go back and reclaim the gold.His wound, however,proved fatal,leaving the location of the spot where he claimed the gold was thrown unrevealed. When Spain acquired Louisiana in 1762 the political reason for continuing the mission stations ceased to exist.Ten years later they were abandoned.When the plant at Adaes was dis- mantled the inhabitants removed to San Antonio.Gill Antonio Barbo,one of the prominent settlers of Adaes,led the small colony,who were established for a while on the banks of the Trinity.There misfortune overtook them.First,a flood,then a fire and finally an Indian raid forced them to depart.They fled to the ruins of the Nacogdoches mission,where they estab- lished themselves.Thus the East Texas country was peopled again and the King's Highway entered upon a new phase of life. NACOGDOCHES RICH IN mSTORY Second Oldest Town in Texas Established Before the Alamo Was Built-Starting Into Texas None of the historians seem to agree upon a definite date upon which Nacogdoches was established due to the absence of documentary proof,but all are of one accord that the town ante- dates all others in the State with the possible exception of Isleta, a small village near EI Paso.The first official record sets the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 69 date as 1773,but just how many years prior to that date the first settlement was made here is but a matter of wild conjec- ture.Credence is given by historians to 1675 as the establish- ment of the first Spanish mission here but the conclusion is based upon later findings.Suffice to say it is a very old town and rich in the history of the Southwest. Nacogdoches history is stirring and romantic and is with- out parallel.The Old Stone Fort is the 'Faneuil Hall'of Texas. Here the child of liberty was born and nurtured by such brave spirits as Haden Edwards and his brother,Benjamin,and many others.These men led a revolt against the tyrannical Mexican government in 1826-27 and for a short time set up a republic here with Nacogdoches as the capitol.Though the "Fredonia Republic"was short lived,it was the forerunner of Texas In- dependence which came a decade later. The expediency of circumstances and wars have caused the abandonment and rehabilitation of the town several times.The first abandonment of the town occurred in the later part of the eighteenth century when the King of Spain ordered the small garrisons stationed here and Robeline,La.,to return to San An- tonio de Bexar.The settlers followed the soldiers and the two towns were destitute of population. However,within a short time Gil Y'Barbo and a band of followers returned to the town.Most of these people had fol- lowed the soldiers to San Antonio when the missions here and in Louisiana had been abandoned by the Spaniards.Upon ar- riving here they found the Indians friendly and other conditions so inviting that they settled here,beginning the second chapter of Nacogdoches history. Conditions remained about normal until 1812 when Y'Barbo and his people joined the Magee rebellion against Spain.The Spanish government soon put down the insurrection,however, expelling the entire population and resulting in the town's sec- ond complete abandonment. In 1821,following the Mexican war of independence with Spain,Eresumes Seguin,after whom the city of Seguin is named,came to Nacogdoches and invited the exiles to return and thus begin the third animation of the city. The Mexicans occupied the little village which was some- thing of a county seat for the department of Nacogdoches,in a peaceful,lethargic manner from that time until the Ameri- cans began their restless movement westward.The depart- 70 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ment of Nacogdoches at that time included all the territory east of the Trinity river and as far north as the Red River. In 1831,a decade after Mexico won her independence from Spain,those same restless Americans fought the battle of Nac- ogdoches in the war for Texas independence.This battle was fought from the Old Stone Fort.It was in the Old Stone Fort that the figurative child of Texas Liberty was born,later to be cradled at the Alamo. The Old Stone Fort stood where Swift Brothers &Smith drug store now stands.In 1907 it was torn down and removed to the back of the high school campus where it was rebuilt,but not in its original form.The recently organized Historical So- ciety is raising funds at this time to reconstruct the old fort The old fort was built of rock believed to have been secured from a creek bed near Nacogdoches.The first official record of the old building was in 1805 when L'Barbo sold it for $30 to Luis De La Bega. No Mexican soldier ever returned to Nacogdoches after that battle.From then on the city was under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Texas,but despite the change in governments,con- tinued to be a revolutionary center.At least one revolution against the Texas government is recorded by history.This was started by Vincente Cardova who issued a manifesto in 1838. The rebellion was quickly put down and the leader and 100 followers arrested.A grand jury indicted Cordova on October 15,1838.Frost Thorn was foreman according to the faded rec- ords in the courthouse. Nacogdoches history as an educational center began as early as 1845 with the establishment of the University of Nacog- doches on the site of what is today the city's high school campus. One of the two buildings of this university still stands and up until recently was utilizied as a part of the school system. The old university is credited with having conferred sev- eral degrees during its life.The institution was closed during the war between the states and was never re-opened as a uni- versity but was absorbed by the public school system and the buildings used for school purposes for many years. According to Rev.George Crockett,an authority on Texas history ,Nacogdoches was established two years before the build- ing of the Alamo and is second only in longevity to Isleta. Thomas J.Rusk,famous Texas pioneer who came to this FFE RSOl'\THOMAS JE CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 71 country from South Carolina,and rose to prominence second only to Sam Houston and Stephen F.Austin,once owned the land up- on which the Stephen F.Austin Teachers College now stands. Sam Houston also owned a farm adjoining that of General Rusk but he never lived on it and seldom visited there.General Rusk, with two other signers of the Texas Declaration of Independ- ence are buried in a Nacogdoches cemetery. Such other famous Texans as Robert 1.Iron,secretary of war during the period of the Texas Republic;J.H.Starr,cabi- net member of the same period;and William B.Ochiltree,sec- retary of the treasury,made their homes in Nacogdoches dur- ing the early days. The historical department of the Stephen F.Austin State Teachers College has assembled thousands of historical docu- ments dealing with the early history of Texas.Many of these relate to Nacogdoches and this section of the state.Some of the documents relate to matters when this state was under the dominion of Spain,later Mexico,the Texas Republic and since the annexation of the state by the Union. It is like associating with the dead to peruse through these old papers which include a pardon issued by President Sam Hous- ton to a woman sentenced to be hung for the murder of her :q.us- band (which is in keeping with contemporary clemency in such cases).One is the grand jury indictment of Vincente Cordova for treason;a challenge for a duel made by Elijah Vrendenburg against an enemy;deeds of trust signed by Thomas J.Rusk; deeds of transfer of slaves and other memorable documents. Some of the papers have lain in the basement of the Nacog~ doches county courthouse for years,withstanding mildew and mice. THOMAS JEFFERSON Thomas Jefferson,that great American president,states- man of Virginia,was greatly interested in the exploration of Texas.His letters to that learned scholar,Phillip Nolan,a lead- er of the first Anglo-American invasion of Texas,was active in obtaining history of the animals and the plant life for him.As this was a land of wonder and mystery at this time it held pecu- liar attractions for Jefferson,and it is not strange that he help- ed to favorably direct the attention of the people of the United States to Texas,by directing the adventure of Captain Zebelon 72 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Pike.Between April and August,1805,he was employed by Jefferson to explore the Mississippi river,and establish friendly relations with the Indians.Captain Pike separated from his company with twenty-three men missed his route following the trail of the Old Presidio Road to the Rio Grande,where he was intercepted,deprived of papers,and escorted back to Natchi- toches,La.,over the same tracks the French explored St.Louis, De St.Denis had laid out. When Thomas Jefferson and other statemen began look- ing to the southwest,Thomas Jefferson had Nolan writing up about the soil,flowers and horses ostensibly.Thomas Jeffer- son then built a Military Federal Highway from Knoxville, Tennessee to Spanish Fort Natchez on the Mississippi,where the old San Antonio Trail crossed stating it was connecting with the San Antonio Trail. The Natchez Fort was built by the Spaniards,Nacogdoches Fort,Santa Cruse on Guadalupe (to keep)guard of road going to Goliad,Bexar,San Juan Babsela on Rio Grand. From all I can find the U.S.Government knew when she purchased Louisiana,the old San Antonio Road was the gate- way across Texas.As you know the U.S.Government recog- nized the crossing of the Sabine River,then Gaines'Ferry,as the gateway into Texas,when she placed the United States Army there to defy travel over the old San Antonio Road,to keep a lookout and to keep out foreigners from Nacogdoches, the Trading Post. Thomas Jefferson interested in Texas,a great liberal ahead of his day.On speaking before the Bar on the Life of Great Vir- ginian,Washington Jurist,Judge John W.Price was the speaker who discussed "Mr.Jefferson Statue of Religious Freedom." The speaker sketched the history of the Episcola Church in Vir- ginia through the celebrated "Parsons CauE>e"case,which Pat- rich Henry won for the vestry against the Clergyman,and which foreshadowed the passage of Jefferson's Act for reli- gious freedom.He recalled that Jefferson argues that if God did not see fit to coerce men into obeying that devine will,man had no right to use the law resorting to means that Jehovah him- self refused to employ. At the close of the war of the American Revolution,the United States claimed all of that country lying east of the Miss- issippi,from the many victories of George Fogel's Clerk and the band of Kentucky settlers. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 73 When the United States in her victories took possession of her acquired territory,she always placed a military post at the most advantageous point of exploration,wherever a trail or a river gave access to the hunting ground. Thus,when Daniel Boone made an inroad into Missouri, Thomas Jefferson sent Clark and Lewis up the Missouri to pene- trate its source and beyond the divide to the rivers that flow into the Pacific. In 1792 a post was established by the United States on the Mississippi River into which the Missouri flows,called Fort St. Louis,from which branched Burrus-Lick road,and from there the Oregon Trail,Platte Trail,and Santa Fe Trail. Twenty-one years after the American Revolution,enter- prising Americans had visited the region of the Mississippi basin and learned something of its infinite possibilities,but,ow- ing to Spain's control of the mouth of the Mississippi River,the advance of civilization was long retarded to the Southwest. Phillip Nolan,an American explorer of Texas in 1792,while ostensibly gathering horses,was acquiring a history of the ani- mal and plant life of the Texas territory,and from his reports to Thomas Jefferson,he became greatly interested in the Tex- as country.His past achievements gave him a conception of what the future could give. In 1803 that region beyond the }\fississippi River,known as the Louisiana territory was purchased from France by J eff- erson.The United States at once placed a post in Louisiana called Fort Jessup at the opening of the pathway into that land of wonder and mystery,at that time,and which held peculiar attractions for Jefferson,as it had for all others from the time America's Vespucius skirted the Gulf Coast,to LaSalle and Pena- losa,to Nolan and Pike,the dream was that price and diplomacy would give the "Golden Kingdom"into their hands. The American pioneer looked down the Mississippi River, overcame the Spanish obstacle thrown in their way,and float- ing down,pushed across the old San Antonio trail at Natchez, Mississippi,and took possession of the country threaded by streams that emptied into the Gulf of Mexico,thereby the achievement in the winning of the Southwest. The peopling of Texas during the Spanish regime was noth- ing more than a confederacy of Indian tribes and were paid no attention until Spain found the Texas country was coveted by the French,but not until 1714 'as there any attempt at settle- 74 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ment.In that year Jacheran de St.Denis made the ardous journey across Texas with trade commission from Governor of Louisiana,through Indian villages on flowing streams,to the Rio Grande missions,which stood in defiance of any intrusion. Thrown in prison,one year later after his detention,and by the order of the Viceroy in Mexico,Jacheran de St.Denis conduct- ed a party of twenty-two lay brothers,soldiers and monks over the overland route to the Indian country,and to establish the missions and presiders east of the Trinity River,to hold the Texas country and prevent contraband trade.Three years later a mission at San Antonio was placed to keep open communica- tion with the missions in the East and the mission on the Rio Grande. Thereafter began the many onslaughts across this terri- tory,and the restricted only safe until inside of the fortresses. In spite of Spain's not allowing its habitants to trade with their fellow colonists in Louisiana,there was a continued com- ing and going of traders,trappers,soldiers,monks,Indians,and now and then the white fact of the American traders traveled westward to the Rio Grande with bales of smuggled goods,re- turning eastward driving before them trains of mules loaded with ingots of silver sewed up in rawhide sacks,on their way to Natchitoches,one thousand miles distant. Through this pathway,now the garden spot of Texas,in 1719 began the many contests over this trail for the conquest of the Texas country. At the close of the Mexican Revolution in 1821 by the triumph at Iturbede,the missions firmly established by Spain for a hundred and six years for the retention and defense of nearly two thousand miles of frontier,were allowed to decay. Mexico,on adopting the Constitution in 1822,enacted the first colonization laws,and Stephen F.Austin,having received his grant for a colony,passed over the San Antonio Road into Texas and planted his colonists on the banks of the Brazos River.It was the first of a long procession of similar migra- tions.Through the long days of the 30's and 40's this highway carried thousands and thousands of population who sought homes,peace and plenty.As the caravans wound their troub- lous way toward the sinking sun,the Indians along the route often became troublesome,and strict guards were often sent by the army post at Fort Jessup lest a foraging band capture the horses and cattle. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 75 With the discovery of a nugget of virgin gold in a ditch at Sacramento,California,in 1848,the westward movement was quite different in character.Hordes of adventurers,mostly young men,made their way from Missouri,Tennessee,Miss- issippi and Louisiana down the Natchez Trace to Natchez,and across Texas over the mail route from San Antonio to San Diego, California. Life became a cheap and futile thing,and out of the condi- tions arose a grim fearlessness that knew nothing but the thrill of success,or the deep oblivion of death.It was the Indian, whose stealthy step or startling war cry set the blood of the pioneers running like icy water through his veins,for the red man showed no respect for the dead and left his victim mutilat- ed-a thing of horror on the plains.There are thousands or nameless graves forgotten on Texas prairies,and there are thousands and thousands of crumpled bones mingled in the sur- face and the soil,but out of all this chaos of a past existence, one thing remains.Here and there across the hills and prairies, where the plow of the farmer has not broken the sod,are deep ruts in the earth,ruts cut by the wagon wheels of the pioneers. The name of King's Highway is now historic tradition,) handed dovm by word of mouth.Like all historic tradition in history,if we wish to know its origin and will look for the source, we find it was the royal Spanish road across the Texas territory. The Daughters of the American Revolution have no contention as far as the highway's title is concerned.They are seeking to perpetuate the San Antonio Road and let the world know it was the imperial way into the Southwest.On account of its inti- mate relation to the State's future history and the part it played in the expansion of the United States,it is time that Texas placed the history of its highway before the world.It was the prey of military factions;it witnessed the rise and fall of six flags,and the birth of a nation. The States through which the Santa Fe Trail run all claim that in 1822 Captain William Bickell left Boones Luick,Missouri, for Santa Fe,New Mexico,when he explored the Rio Grande Valley and opened up the first pathway into the great South- west.June,one hundred and twenty odd years after Jacheran de St.Denis traveled over an overland commercial route from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande River. The Daughters of the American Revolution propose when the road was resurveyed,to get the exact location of the mis- 76 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD sions placed among the different tribes of the Indian villages. This in itself settled for all time the discussion with writers of Texas history,where the Indian tribes and missions were lo- cated.Texas sends abroad each year for teachers in history who are bringing to light our great past,but it is impossible for them to attempt to acquire the great bulk of knowledge that has no immediate connection with their every day duties.Day by day,year by year,change and decay are going on,until there is coming a time when nothing remains to tell of the places where occurred the greatest events in our Texas history. In marking the King's Highway,the San Antonio Road, we will be laying corner stones for a structure of the ages,a foundation upon which future historians can set our cap stones and span our arches to mark the completion of the purpose of civilization,the season,the hour,the day.With the King's Highway,Camino Real,or San Antonio Road,fitly framed as a monument to the ages of Texas history,and the object to be reached,the world will find the leading forces of this highway have grown into a natural temple for Texas heroism. THRILLING DAYS WHEN NOLAN INVADED MEXICO Nolan was sent into Texas by President Jefferson in 1830 to make a report on the Fauna,animals and topography of the country.This was the forerunner of Nolan's curiosity for ac- quiring the Texas horizon for a republic. Mexico,whether under the flag of Spain or under the green, white and red tri-color,has ever been jealous of any invasion, no matter how peaceful,by a foreign company.She is,in that respect,a close corporation,bent upon keeping her borders in- violate,and the one thing that almost invariably has united her restless people has been the appearance within her precincts, of an armed stranger force. Thus more than a century ago,even as far north as pres- ent Colorado,arrest befell the exploring party of the unwitting Lieutenant Pike,and a long detention in Chihuahua followed. But before Pike there was,in 1800,the trespassing party of Philip Nolan of New Orleans.He was the first American to test out the mettle of Spanish pretensions over the border;at that time the Mississippi River.He and his men met the fate that has been dealt out to uncounted Americans who have legal- ly,or illegally,ventured into Mexico lands. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 77 Nolan,young,daring,not altogether scrupulous,but of good Irish family and education,in the summer of 1800 recruited at New Orleans and Natchez a company for the purpose,ostensibly, of hunting wild horses in Texas.The fabled gold mines sup- posed to exist somewhere among the Comanches was another bait.But at the sources of authority as well as in the dram shops and taverns was it known that the stakes were much higher.Ensconced in that Texas beyond the Sabine River, where meat,grass and water never lacked,a nucleus of hardy, active spirits could hold their own,as seized,until by intrigue and by force of arms Mexico had yielded a Texas republic of- ficered and exploited by Americans. The Spanish consul at Natchez,and at Chihuahua the com- mandant of the eastern province,both were apprized and alarm- ed.The consul protested to Governor Winthrop of the territory of Mississippi,in which the invasion was being hatched.But Nolan,with a passport three years old,was permitted to make exit. The party out of Natchez counted only twenty-one:Fifteen Americans,five Mexican fugitives and a negro named Caesar. By his very impudence promoted to be second in command to Nolan,there was among the Americans young Peter EIIis Bean, better known in history as Ellis Bean.A Tennessee lad of only seventeen,he was,like Kit Carson at his age,a runa\vay from home,in search of adventure. Of Nolan,the captain,we have no picture,but the pictures of Bean reveal him as a bold-eyed,long-nosed wight,with bul- let head and chin rather receding-a character whose wits and audacity would carry him wherever that nose led. The party was weII armed,indifferently mounted.They successfuIIy crossed the Mississippi,just above Natchez,and were in Spanish territory,for by the cession of the vast Louis- iana from France to Spain in 1762,Spain claimed from the Rio Grande to the Mississippi. Hastening through present Louisiana,Nolan sidestepped the Spanish posts,and made for the Red River.He enlisted two more Americans,a creole,a couple of Mexican renegades,and another negro slave,and he lost,by desertion,three of the Am- ericans out of Natchez-one of whom,Mordecai Richards,bore back to the Spanish consul what purported to be a full confes- sion of the expedition's plan for conquest. Numbering twentY-four,through swampy,insect-infested 78 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Louisiana the party pressed,and crossing the Red River rode deep into Texas,beyond the Sabine,beyond the Trinity,and on clear to the Brazos. Now all that Nolan,who on a previous horse-hunting tour had been as far as San Antonio,had promised of Texas,seemed true.Swamps had been left behind,game was plentiful,the skies and the earth alike were kindly,and in the immense soli- tudes an army might be lost.For although Texas had been proselyted through over a century and a quarter by Spanish missions,it yet boasted only three towns:one in the extreme east,one in the extreme west,one in the south.All else was virgin wilderness,given over to the roving Comanche and the chase of the mustang and buffalo. Near the BrazoS Nolan erected a camp christened it,later, Tehuanaca hill;from the trunks of felled trees built a corral. Here were soon confined some 300 wild horses,rounded up on the prairies and penned for breaking.It well may be pictured that what with the driving,roping and breaking of these mus- tangs,the hunting of deer for jerked meat,and the supplying of the daily table,there were busy hours in this camp of Te- huanaca,some thirty miles east by north from the present city of Waco. From Chihuahua the commandante general,Don Nemesio Salcedo,was issuing the customary Spanish orders to apprehend the trespassers,dead or alive. Nolan engineered a tentative friendship with the Co- manches,but this was the last success of the invaders.While they labored and scheemed and revealed,fantifully as secure as any buccaneers on a tropic sea,the hostile flag was approach- ing in the offing.Mexican reprisal was slow (for the winter had passed and the season now was spring of 1801)but it was sure;and 150 regulars and volunteers from the presidio at Nacogdoches,the easternmost post were nearing under Lieuten- ant Ramon Musquiz,and bringing a swivel cannon mounted on mule back. Musquiz had left Nacogdoches on March 4.EI Blanco,a Comanche chief,had refused to guide the column to the "North Americans"campy,and this implied alliance against the au- thorities still heightened suspicion.However,Indians of lesser rank were found who accepted the proffered bribe.At 1 o'clock in the morning of March 21,the hour struck for Nolan and his men. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 79 The little squad of one American and five Mexicans station- ed at the corral to guard the horses from Indians were surprised and captured without a shot fired.The soldiery now surround- ed the log block house,erected as protection against the storms and the savages,and awaited for daylight. By the tramping and snorting of the horses in the pen the garrison had been warned that something was wrong outside. They prepared for defense,and feared Indians.When day broke,they were summoned by Musquiz's interpreter,an Irish- man named William Barr,to surrender without discretion. Nolan informed him that they would fight.Immediately two of the Mexicans in the blockhouse slipped out of the rear and not only joined the soldiers but took with them Nolan's car- bine.Nevertheless,the remaining rifles and muskets of the keen-eyed bearded defenders were indefinitely superior to the escopetas and blunderbusses of the soldiery.On the other hand, at almost first discharge of the cannon,or within ten minutes, Nolan was killed by a grapeshot through the head. The stripling Ellis Bean promptly took command.Two men were wounded.He proposed a sortie,to capture the cannon, for the block house was becoming untenable.The majority of the company overruled him,and a retreat was proposed,in- stead of the sorties.They could fight to more advantage in the open than in the block house,which was itself a target.Bean yielded. Every man filled his powder horn.The extra powder was put in charge of the negro Caesar.By a sudden rush the creek- bed,nearby,was gained.Caesar and one of the wounded men were captured-and there went the ammunition supply.The filibusters,bulwarked by those ready muzzles of which the Span- iards had wholesome respect,fought in further retreat to a ravine.Here they were brought to a stand,and in view of their failing ammunition hope wavered. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon they were still at bay,the bat- tle undecided except by the gods.Under a white flag the Span- ish lieutenant requested a parley;and through one of the cap- tured Americans he proffered good terms.If the party would promise to leave the country,he would give them safe conduct. Bean agreed.In friendliness the two parties united.The faithful slaves,Caesar and his comrade were granted permis- sion to bury the body of their captain,and this they did-after 80 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the ears had been cut off to be sent as a token to Chihuahua,a favorite repository for such trophies. Spanish Plan completely deceived all the party except Bean. The march to Nacogdoches was begun.The banks of the Trinity were overflowing with the spring freshet;the handy Americans, under Bean,soon had hollowed a dry cottonwood log into a canoe, and with gallantry the Spaniards were ferried over first,light- ened of the munitions.Presently the lieutenant and most of the weapons were with the Americans on the hither bank. Whether Lieutenant Musquiz was a fool,I cannot say;nor,if not a fool,what were his designs in letting his late foes run on the rope.The alert Bean proposed,aside to his men,that they throw the arms into the river,set the lieutenant adrift,and take the back trail into the horse country.His scheme was voted down as unnecessary,inasmuch as hostilities had ended and a safe conduct was assured. They all crossed the Trinity,and opportunity knocked not again.They marched on to Nacogdoches,where they were politely detained by the affable Musquiz and his fellow officers, while awaiting the confirmation,from Chihuahua of the promis- ed release to the homeward trail. Home!Was ever defusion more fatuous!Musquiz,of course,had had no authority to engage release for them.Orders indeed came,after a month's delay necessary in the transmis- sion,but they were orders which turned the little party's faces to the southwest and not to the northeast.Heavily ironed as prisoners,the adventurers were taken down to San Antonio and there were laid by the heels for several months,pending further judgment.From San Antonio they were removed by a hard road to San Luis Potosi of Mexico,and here they were laid by the heels for sixteen months. More than two years had passed since the luckless adven- turers had left their own civilization.Through deaths and de- fection the party was considerably reduced in number;and by reason of neglect they were very ragged.Bean,the audacious, alleged to his over-lords that he was a shoemaker,and asked if he might not sit at the prison door during the day,and make and sell shoes,to recoup his wardrobe.He knew nothing at all beyond a rude cobbling knack,but a comrade whom also he rec- ommended could cut and stitch after a fashion;and together they plied a fair trade with the curious citizenship. From San Luis Potosi the captives were moved to Chihua- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 81 hua City,and this change,to a military capital of northern Mex- ico,and to a Mexican fastness whence few prisoners of state escape,should have disheartened even Bean.But the officer in charge of the escort seemed to have been instructed for kind- ness;he relieved his prisoners of their irons,he encouraged the country people along the way to distribute gifts of fruit,clothes and money,and according to Bean's veracious chronicle,they all had an exceedingly pleasant "grand tour,"so that "we began to think we would soon regain our liberty." As if the affair of Tehuacana Hill had redoubled only to the honor of all concerned,Chihuahua,in turn,proved kind.The reputed filibusters were treated with the consideration of guests;were obliged to report in barracks only at night and were allowed 25 cents a day each for mess money.Finally they were paroled and might wander freely within bounds.Better still, when their cases were brought before the judge,he,in January, 1804,ordered their acquittal and release from all durance.But the commandment,Salcedo,would not acknowledge the juris- diction of the civil court and appealed to the king. However,the prisoners were not unhappy;they now were only ten:Ephriam Blackburn (a Quaker),Luciano Garcia (Mexican-Spaniard),Joseph Reed,William Danlin,Solomon Cooley,Charles King,Joseph Pierce,David Fero,Tony (Johan) Waters (or Walters)and Bean.The slothful,easy life of Mexi- co in the old days quickly absorbed white energy;the ties of home and kinship,in the adventurers,were slight,and the ma- jority settled down,unrebuked and unhampered,to become part of the populace until the king of Spain had approved of them. Yet not so Bean.He had a mind above creature comforts and a mind above enjoying the notoriety of being the first Am- ericans in Chihuahua.To be sure he set up as a hatter with borrowed money,hired two real hatters to make hats,soon es- tablished a "Bean"brand without which no Chihuahuan could be considered a gentleman,was obliged to hire more workmen and began to accumulate money at the rate of $50 and $60 a week.But he accumulated also three guns,three brace of pistols,four horses and plans of escape. Meanwhile,year after year had passed since those "North American"prisoners had been domiciled in Chihuahua.Now it was in the middle of 1806,six years from the time when the Nolan party had pressed out of Natchez,hard bent upon pur- suing dream of empire to its rainbow end.Great events had 82 CAMINO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD occurred.The United States had long been in legal possession of that Louisiana province of France and Spain,and even was claiming Texas to the Sabine-yes,to the Rio Grande!And Aaron Burr,ex-vice president of the United States,was plotting still another empire.American and Spanish troops were facing each other on the frontier across which the Nolan party had hastened.And Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike was start- ing his famous mareh. Don Nemesio Salcedo,the commandment at Chihuahua was apprised of all this,but how much filtered through to Bean we may not say.At any rate,there had come no answer from the King of Spain,and Bean decided upon taking French leave of his hosts.By a note he invited the cooperation of a mate;the note was exposed to Tony Waters ("this renegade Tony Waters of Vinchester,Virginia"Bean calls him),who being a mean lit- tle sycophant,currying favor,reported the scheme to the au- thorities. Bean went out of the hat business and into the dungeon,the irons and the stocks,and still he was incorrigible.No punish- ment made any impression on him,save to inspire him to fresh deviltry,and when next he met Tony Walters he thrashed him almost to death with a dudgel.Even the Mexicans approved of this. Of the doings of others of his comrades in this far captivity we read little,and that mainly in the journal of Lieutenant Pike. For arrived,in the spring of 1807,Lieutenant Pike;under Span- ish escort,to have his character investigated at Chihuahua. The Nolan party case had years before been reported at Washington,and with a political caution which has been emu- lated by a much later chief executive President Jefferson de- clined to interfere.Consequently,Lieutenant Pike left;the Nolan party stayed. November found them,now reduced to nine (Joseph Pierce having died in jail,in Bean's arms),confined together-the eight reproaching Bean for having by his escapades deprived them of liberty.They reasoned that these six years of proba- tion were in their favor,did he not constantly stir up trouble for them.Thus they clutched at straws until,without warning, one day two priests entered the room and made the startling announcement that they had come to confess the North Amer- icans.This looked ominous.Such confession of sins custo- marily preceeded death. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 83 Bean's companions had been pretty well broken by their Mexican life,in which they were not flesh,fish,nor fowl,and the abruptness of the portentous summons stunned them. The majority accepted the Catholic offices and confessed.But not Bean.Then all gloomily and fearfully,they debated the prospective hanging;but Bean took cheer in the anticipation that Tony Waters "the greatest villi an of the lot"now was like- ly to get his deserts. The night was spent unhappily,for there seemed to be no reasonable doubt.But the next day the tardy orders of the king across the water were read to them by a colonel in full uniform. The king bade that every fifth man of the company was to be hanged-and that the others were to be placed in penal servi- tude for ten years. Sooth to say,the shock was hideous.Six years had passed since the commission of the offense and during much of this period the men had enjoyed a virtual citizenship.They had con- tracted ties of love and business and life had grown to be a habit again.N ow the sword of Democles had fallen. However,Bean did not despair."I told them,"he writes, "that we should not fret ourselves about what we could not help; if we could find no way to escape the grave,it would be better to march to it like a man than to be dragged to it like one dead; and as for myself,if I must die,I meant not to disgrace my country." Ten of them had been reported to the king,but only nine had survived to hear the sentence,and in view of the fact,the number being indivisible by five,the authorities decided that one of the nine should be chosen,the tenth was already dead. The manner of choice was to be this:By casting of dice, the low throw to lose.Into the prison court were brought a drum,a tumbler and a pair of dice.Blindfolded,the oldest man was to throw first,and blindfolded each of the others were to throw in sequence of their years. "And so we went up,one by one,to cast the awful throw of life or death,"records Bean. A pair of dice have twenty-one combinations.As the oldest in the company,Ephriam Blackburn,the Quaker,first submit- ted to the blindfold and was led to the fatal drumhead;priests, soldiers and his comrades witnessing,intent.It was a gamble for the greatest of stakes,although Mexican penal servitude as 84 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD an alternative for hanging might have presented little attrac- tion. For Ephriam Blackburn the dice rolled a 3 and a 1-4.Now the chances were eighteen to two against him,and he had one chance in nineteen for a tie.A fellow's heart goes out to Eph- riam Blackburn,middle-aged,staring,listening,waiting,wish- ing death on his comrades. Bean stepped forward blithely to the drum and the blind- fold.Youngest and last was he,and the tale was soon to be told.'Twas either he or Blackburn. For Bean the dice rolled a 4 and a 1-5.And by that nar- row margin of one Ellis Bean was reprieved. They bade good-bye to Blackburn;they were marched into their cells,and having renounced his Quaker religion and ac- cepted baptism into the Catholic faith Ephriam Blackburn was hanged November 11,1807,in the Plaza de las Urangas of Chi- huahua. The next order removed Bean and four companions,deem- ed his seconds in villainy,to the castle of Acapulco,a thousand miles south,on the Pacific coast.They were double shackled, but the buoyant Bean remarks that the officer gave them easy riding horses! Of all of the Nolan company,Bean's name is the only one that appears again in southwest history.His fellow convicts probably sank;a few years at labor in Mexican prisons were enough to kill off almost anybody,mentally and physically.But nothing killed Ellis Bean.His travels,his loves,his subter- fuges,his frantic escapes and miserable recaptures-these final- ly bring him out on top as a Mexican colonel and husband of the Senorita Anna Gorthas,heiress of the great Branderrillas hacienda.He was,as we undertsand in reading his chronicle, one of those indomitable,resourceful,wildfire Americans who can carry the flag of a forlorn hope even in the face of Mexican hostility to the gringo. One hundred years began a movement that was profoundly to affect the history and the contours of the United States.Its vehicle and its symbol was the covered wagon.Between its first and ultimate rumbling of its westering wheels,it carried over a single trail at least 100,000 pioneers-some estimates say more. It gave to the United States an undisputed window on the South- west and it influenced,if it did not actually determine,the Americanization or all the vast territory West of the Mississippi CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 85 River that lies between West Louisiana and the Mexican Rio Grande Border. TEXAS It was a heroic conquest to which all of the old states of the Union contributed.From Georgia,from Virginia,Missourir Tennessee,Arkansas,Mississippi,Kentucky,and New York men and women went forth upon the six months'journey.Uncount- ed many died along the road,picked off by Indian arrows,drown- ing in the rushing streams that barred the way,perishing of hunger and thirst.They lie in unknown graves along 2,000 miles of winding trail.But,a few pioneers are still living.In states that had no entity when the first white canvas train snaked its way over the prairies,they and the descendants of their com- rades,look upon rivers whose waters have been hnpounded against thirst and courses bridged for highways;upon fields that have been planted to fruit and grow.Before their houses, motor cars run swiftly on seamless roads,and overhead drones the airplane whose sister has winged her way from sea to sea between two risings of the sun. It was toward a wilderness that the first migration wagon- ers turned their faces on the morning of December,1821.The starting place was Long Prairie Farm in Arkansas.There were a few settlements,and Stephen Austin had selected this point as a way station.Between the Western Mississippi and Red River was the country of the Indiana,and West lay Natchi- toches,Louisiana,paralleled along the neutral ground between Louisiana and Texas. Stephen F.Austin arrived with his colony of 300 from Long Prairie Farm,Arkansas,through Natchitoches,Louisiana. Among Indian villages,Nacogdoches Fort,Indian settlements, Alto and Crockett,to the converging of Camino Real with La Bahia or Goliad Ranch forming a fork of the road.(Today Mid- way)travelling the lower road to the Brazos River,naming the site Washington-on-the-Brazos,and getting his settlers starting to work at clearing the wilderness.He then hurried off to the Colorado River to meet the Lively at the Rivers' mouth and to see to the moving of the tools and supplies from the coast to the site of the settlement.But no Lively appeared. He waited many weary weeks in vain,and finally concluded the schooner had been lost and set about notifying the authorities at San Antonio of the arrival of the colonists. Austin labored unceasingly to further his colonization bill. A general colonization law was enacted.The next step was to 86 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD procure a grant from the executives under the terms of the law. Thus,after eleven months,Austin was ready to return to Texas.The results of the revolution was the total abdication of Iturbide. During the time Austin waited patiently at Mexico City, he had come to the city an absolute stranger.He made many close friends,some of the most influential in Mexico.Having thus accomplished his mission,Austin left Mexico City for Tex- as on April 28th,1822. The dominant motive of those who agreed to join Austin's colony was the desire to acquire hands and found a home for their families.For this,they were willing to endure hardships and dangers and even to subject their families to the privations and perils of the Texas wilderness. Texas,the Indian country,belonged to Mexico.Mexico had opened its doors to colonization of Anglo-Americans,but, in Louisiana,there was some uncertainty since France and Spain were playing ball pending a final arbitrament.It is true that the Texas country was not wholly known to many who were only dreaming of vast acreage of land setting their plows into the soil,Americans had pushed thither and yon trading with the Indians,and on returning to the States,gave incredible ac- counts of good fortune to be had. The road to Texas which afterwards was the central road to California,between the Mississippi River,Louisiana,Texas and the Rio Grande border.There were by-paths,cut-offs,de- lusions and snares.By whatever route he passed,the wagoner had to cross rivers,creeks,mountains,plains. There was a time when the pioneers followed the trail across Texas plains by the mounds of new made graves.The scars of wagon ruts,the old ones levelled by storms of wind and rain,could not have served them.There was sickness and there was weakness of men and women.Oxen died under the yoke;wagons broke down;flour and bacon,armchairs were left along the road.Great herds of buffalo charged down upon the wagon trains. Then the clouds burst.Women baking bread beside the trail holding umbrellas over the little ovens,the streams raged into a flood.Yet,life,not without its beauty,went along the seething highway;marriages were made;children were born; banjos were plucked,and fiddles bowed under the stars.Young feet danced on the prairie carpet around the camp fires. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 87 The covered wagons have all passed,but what they have graven on the continent is not obliterated.The roads are im- mortalized to the pioneers,land and man,who expanded and built the continent and gave us the blessings we have today. With the same trails,seamless highways with fast traveling motor cars,have made one man like another. The villages sprang up along the Old San Antonio Road since Austin had selected the central lands of the State be- tween the Brazos River and the Colorado,bounded on both sides by rivers,and small streams running through and above,bound- ed by the Old San Antonio Road,this the location of his first Empl"eSario Grants. The villages were the heart of the American continent from the time of its founding.....Even south of that excellent riv"cr,the Potomac that harbored the General Store,the cracker barrel,and the post office,and on Court days,the County Seat. A horse was tied to every hitching post and fence panel. In my memory of my Texas village native home,and the horse and buggy,is etched indelibly a picture of a dusty street, of weathered houses,once painted white,the little knots of loaf- ers about the store.That picture carries with it the mingled odor of leather,cheap calico and salted pork,and the tongue of country speech so naive to childish ears,that not all of my trav- els have effaced the familiar tune of it. The village was not made of all one piece;it grew house by house and little tearings down.The first industry which cre- ated the village was the general store,of course.In the begin- ning of the village,the tavern sometime became the hotel,to the school house,the barber shop,the drug store,firehouse, photograph gallery,bicycle shop,blacksmith shop,and shoe- maker shop. These have been the great things that have been made to fill the gap in the attic of one's memory,where half the forgot- ten things belonged to the past are stored. THE AMERICAN COLONIES IN TEXAS ITS COLONIZATION LAWS We have seen how the English settlers became Americans and spread from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sabine River,and how they became acquainted with the land west of the Sabine through the filibustering expeditions of Nolan,Magee,and Long. 88 CAMINO REA~OI..D SAN ANTONIO ROAD It is now time to learn how the government at last threw open the doors and allowed a stream of Americans to flow in and peaceably occupy Texas. MOSES AUSTIN GETS PERMISSION TO ESTABLISH A COLONY In 1820 Moses Austin went boldly to San Antonio and asked the governor the year before Mexico established its independence This was the year before Mexico established its independence and took Texas away from Spain.The governor may well have been surprised at Austin's politeness in asking his permission, for the Americans had always before tried to force their way into the country without anybody's consent.Nevertheless,as he did not have power to grant the request,he refused eyen to talk about it,and ordered Austin to get back to the United States as quickly as he could go.Finally,however,he was per- suaded by Austin's friend Baron Bastrop to forward the petition to the proper authorities in Mexico to see if they would grant it. And with this plan,though by now he had little hope of its be- ing successful,Austin was forced to be content.He decided to return to his home in Missouri to await the answer,and there on the tenth of June,1821,he died of pneumonia caused by ex- posure to the weather during his journey.Only a few days before his death the notice came that his petition had been granted,and one of his last requests was that his son,Stephen Fuller Austin,should carryon his plans. STEPHEN AUSTIN ESTABLISHES THE COLONY Stephen Austin was on the way from New Orleans to San Antonio when he heard of his father's death,and of his wish that the plans should not be given up.So,with a very sad heart,he kept straight on,and asked the governor to let him carry out his father's wish.The governor consented.With the Colonization Law still pending,Stephen Austin stated,"Tex- as is all chaos."There must be defined a central base of settle- ment and boundaries to the Colonist grants.The government consented and they conquered space.The earliest Colonist Grants set down on Austin's maps are Edward's Colony;Aus- tin's first and second colony;DeWitt's Colony;DeLeon's Col- ony;McMullin and McGivins Colony.The San Antonio Road lVIIGRA TIOX TO TEXAS ",;",,:;r--' l-::.1.', "..-""' ,.,- I.-'I \...}.o ~\T.\Y T 1:", l~~,-:\1~ T.~~\q\,\\1\ i:I}\ . :\j).\.'1'}J I \'~ r "("T .~V -1'\r-.- " STEPHEX F.Al'STIX,TIle Father of Texas CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 89 figured in all the boundaries of the Early Colonies with Austin's Colony.The base all the following grants were in Central Tex- as above or below the Old San Antonio Road on boundary. After choosing a place for the settlement between the Colorado and Brazos Rivers and south of the Old San Antonio Road,this remarkable young man,then less than twenty-eight years of age,went to New Orleans and advertised for settlers.His pro- posal was liberal,indeed.To everyone who would settle in his colony he offered six hundred and forty acres of the best land in the province for the ridiculously low price of twelve and a half cents an acre.He was soon able to start back to Texas with some of the three hundred families for which his contract called.Many poor people and some well-to-do ones went with him,and all hoped to better their condition in this land of prom- ise.They arrived in December,1821,and settled on the Brazos, in what is now Washington County.At last Americans had a foothold in Texas,and they had come to stay.Some of us had great-grandfathers in this settlement. MEXICO INVITES AMERICANS TO TEXAS After the Mexicans gained their independence from Spain and established a republican form of government,they felt a momentary glow of friendly sympathy and admiration for the Americans who had only a short time before flung off the yoke of England.And while they were still under the influence of this feeling they passed a law cordially inviting Americans and other foreigners to come to Texas.Every married man who would settle here was offered a league of land (4428 acres),and any- body who would bring in a hundred families was given a premi- um of twenty-three thousand acres.In many parts of Texas today a league of land is worth a hundred thousand dollars,so that this looks like a very generous offer,but you must remem- ber that in those days land had little value because there were so few people here to use it. THE EMPRESARIOS In order to earn the large'premiums a number of men has- tened to make contracts with the government to bring hundreds of families to Texas.The Mexicans called these men empre- sarios,but we may call them by the more familiar title of con- 90 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD tractors,for in the present sense that is what the word means. Stephen F.Austin himself at different times made new con- tracts to bring in altogether more than fifteen hundred families. Some of the other contractors with whom we must become ac- quainted were Hayden Edwards,Green DeWitt,Martin de Leon, Benjamin R.Milam,David G.Burnet,Lorenzo de Zavala,and two Irishmen named McMullen and McGloin.Edwards ar- ranged to settle eight hundred families around Nacogdoches,but he soon got into trouble with the government and his contract was canceled.We shall learn more of this in another place. De'Vitt agreed to settle three hundred families between the Guadalupe and Lavaca Rivers.Gonzales became the principal town in his colony.De L€on contracted to settle a hundred and fifty Mexican families in the present counties of Victoria and Lavaca.And McMullen and McGloin established an Irish col- ony between the San Antonio and Nueces Rivers.San Patricio became the chief town of this colony.A study of the map will show where the other contractors started their colonies,but as they did not succeed in settling many families we need not fur- ther notice them now. THE AMERICANS RAPIDLY SETTLE TEXAS Soon a stream of American settlers began to pour into Tex- as,tempted by the liberal invitation of Mexico and the glowing advertisements of the contractors.Every boat that landed at Velasco or Matagorda brought settlers,while others came by land in wagons or on horseback.From New York,Pennsyl- vania,Virginia,and Ohio they came;but most of all they came from Tennessee,Mississippi,Alabama,and Georgia.The wealthy open-handed southern planter,with a band of slaves to dig a second fortune from the fertile bottom lands of the Trinity,Brazos,and Colorado;the frugal northern farmer, wealthy in the possession of a family of sturdy sons;the "poor white,"with hardly more than the shabby clothes upon his back; bridal couples on their honeymoon journey;young adventurers; lawyers,doctors,merchants-all sorts and conditions of men came to Texas.And to all of them it was a land bright with promise and hope.By 1835 there were between twenty-five and thirty thousand Americans in Texas. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 91 STEPHEN F.AUSTIN Stephen F.Austin,popularly knov.-n as the "Father of Texas"has too long occupied a dusty niche in history.His char- acter,his career,his accomplishments have been veiled by the years.Dr.E.C.Barker,of the University of Texas,has,after a painstaking study of the facts of his life,presented an evalu- .ated accomplishment of his career and a glimpse into the char- acter of the colonial founder,now dead for 108 years.He has discovered a collection,heretofore unconsulted,of documents and source papers of great value-a mine of new information about Stephen F.Austin and about the period of which he was the leader.The result of this research has added to his reputa- tion as a scholar and a careful study of the past-a vigorous pictUl"e of a man with faith,initiative and courage that give thoughts of a man full of years and honor. GOVERNMENT OF THE FIRST COLONY AUSTIN'S CODE The first colonial grant to Austin directed him to collab- orate with the governor of Texas or a commission appointed by the governor,to designate and divide the land among the colonists.Austin was authorized to locate a town at a place central to the colonists,which should serve as the seat of gov- ernment of the colony.Above all,the colonists must be Roman Catholics of steady habits.He established the seat of govern- ment for his colony at San Felipe on the Brazos,now in Austin, County,which remained the Capitol until the advance of Santa Anna's army in 1836,when it ,vas burned by Captain Mosely Baker under orders from General Houston. EMPRESARIO GRANTS The word empresario means contractor,and was applied to those who were given contracts to locate colonies in Texas. Austin's first grant provided that no other grant should be made until the passage of a state colonization law for Coa- huila and Texas,and that all subsequent grants should ema- nate from the state government.The other empresarios (or con- tractors)were therefore compelled to await the organization of the state government.These would-be empresarios who fore- 92 CAMINO REAlr-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD gathered at Mexico in 1821 migrated to Saltillo,the little capital of Coahuila,and in March,1825,when the first state statute was passed authorizing such grants,there was no dearth of ap- plicants at Saltillo.On the 15th day of April,1825,the first state grants were made.On that day,Green DeWitt received the contract to locate 400 families between the Guadalupe and the Lavaca;Robert Leftwitch,400 families north of the San Antonio Road and between the Brazos and the Colorado;Frost. Thorne,400 families in East Texas.On the 18th,Hayden Ed- wards,who had been waiting and watching four years for such a concession,had permission to locate 400 families in East Tex- as,in the neighborhood of Na.cogdoches.On the 27th of the same month,Austin received a concession for his second colony, which gave him permission to locate 300 families within the bounds already occupied by his scattered first colonists. Many other grants were made during this and succeeding years,so that between 1825,when the land office was opened at Saltillo,and 1835,when it was closed by the Revolution,there had been thirty-two grants,covering a large part of the terri- tory now embraced by the State of Texas.The great majority of them were never fulfilled.Austin afterwards received two other colonial grants,his third colony covering the territory be- tween the Brazos and the San Jacinto.During the first few years no grants were made within the gulf littoral,which in- cluded a strip ten leagues in width,from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Sabine.When Austin came to locate his fourth colony,however,he got permission to locate it entirely within this gulf littoral and it extended from the mouth of the Lavaca to the mouth of the San Jacinto. Martin De Leon,a Mexican,procured permission in 1825 to locate a colony,and did locate it,founding the City of Victoria, which was settled at first by Mexican colonists. McMullen and McGloynes procured a grant between the Nueces and San Antonio rivers,and located an Irish colony there. Some of these grants were early forfeited and relocations made. Many of them were made the basis of wild land speculation in the United States. Three large contiguous grants,covering practically all of Southeast Texas east of the San Jacinto River,were made to Burnet,Vehlein and DeZavala.The land covered by these grants extended from Galveston Bay along the Sabine River to the Nacogdoches Road,and Burnet's grant lay north of that CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 93 road.The three grants embraced 1,000 leagues,a territory al- most as vast as one of the Southern states.These gentlemen conveyed their holdings to trustees,among whom were William H.Sumner,of Boston,United States Senator from Massa- chusetts,and a company was formed,known as the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company,which took the title of the em- presarios to the property,and stock was issued and offered for sale.They procured the opinion of no less an authority than Chancellor Kent as to the validity of these grants,and their plan of operation,and started on a scheme of wild land speculation. Austin protested very bitterly against these things.It created a had impression in Mexico.He had started out to bring a bona fide colonists,people who would settle and develop the country. This land speculation,which began as early as 1826,is often given as one of the causes of the Revolution. The Old San Antonio Road is for one thing a historical set- ting in the Texas colonization during the time Moses Austin and son,Stephen,passed through open war from Natchitoches, Louisiana,to the City of Mexico to confer with the authorities of the capitol. Moses Austin,has taken the oath of allegiance and became, by that simple ceremony,a Spanish subject on the Missouri and Arkansas frontiers when the dispute over the boundaries at St. Genevive and the transfer of Missouri to the United States led to stimulation of emigration to Missouri.Business expanded, and Austin prospered.Stephen was born in 1793.Now in 1804 Moses Austin had great ideas for his son. In 1812 Mrs.Moses Austin went to New Orleans to educate her children.The War of 1812 paralyzed all business by 1813, when she and the children returned to St.Louis,Missouri. Stephen F.Austin was elected Representative on Terri- torial Legislation for Missouri in 1814,and served by successive elections until '1820,when Missouri was admitted to the Union. In 1819,Congress organized the territory of Arkansas,and thus sprang the signal for a rapid emigration from Missouri and other Eastern and Western States. More than a year before,we find Stephen F.Austin visiting James Bryan at Natchitoches,Louisiana,who had set up trad- ing establishments in Louisiana and Arkansas.In 1820,Gov- ernor Miller apopinted him Judge of the first Judicial District of Arkansas.This was the beginning of Stephen F.Austin's career preparing him with pre-meditation and purpose. 94 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD He was 27 years old,well educated for his day;experienced in public service and in business,patient,methodical,energetic, fair spoken,and acquanited from childhood with the charac- teristics that mingled on the Southwestern border.It was sig- nificant that his family had unquenchable faith in the frontier. From Massachusetts,Virginia,Missouri and Arkansas they had lost out,but there was still Texas,and their minds were ready for a new beginning. A great migration was taking place since the greatest hu- man migration that had ever been in the United States and the world,that of Europeans into this country.The Seventeenth Century that marked the advent of the English and the French into North America,to contest with each other and with Spain, over the new continent.Initiating a struggle leading to one of the fundamental phases for the founding of San ...d~tonio,and the shaping of Texas. The arrival of LaSalle in Texas in 1685,and the building of Messina,and the Romance of St.Denis of Louisiana coming in,were a great epoch in the history of the Southwest and Texas. Moses Austin,in 1818 and 1819,had made trips over Texas and into Mexico on an inspection tour.When the idea was conceived along this time to enter into colonization,the title to Texas was fixed,and all doubt settled as to the site of the D'Onis Treaty, and on the 17th day of January,1821,the Spanish command- ant at Monterrey approved the petition of Moses Austin of Mis- souri,to bring the American colony into Texas. This was the real beginning of Texas history and on the first day of January,1822,the advance guard of Austin's colo- nies reached a territory of the Brazos in what is now Washing- ton County,and camped there,naming it New Year's Creek,a name it bears today.This was a more important event in Am- erican history than the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth,. two hundred years before.It was only fourteen years from this humble beginning to the Battle of San Jacinto,and the freedom of Texas from Spanish and Mexican rule. The lure which drew people to the West was,of course,the cheap and fertile land that could be bought from the Federal Government on easy terms.The first current of population set Westward with the establishment of the first English settlement on the Atlantic coast.For a century and a half the movement was necessarily slow up the rivers beyond tidewater into the Piedmont.T'ilE:Appalachian 1,![ountains served as a dam to hold CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 95 venturesome frontiersmen back from the country beyond.By the beginning of the American Revolution,they had begun to trickle across the barrier into Kentucky and Tennessee. The next migration was in 1800,and had spread over Ohio, Indiana,and Mississippi.In 1810,the number of people in the area of settlement had increased to include Michigan,Illinois, Louisiana,Arkansas and Missouri.A great credit system naturally stimulated individual speculators,and after the War of 1812,with wildcat banking unrestrained,a veritable frenzy swept over the country.During this time many bold and ad- venturous persons from the United States came into Texas with the avowed purpose of wresting it from Mexico. That country became independent of Spain in 1821,but at once plunged into a career of anarchy,which was kept up for years. As soon as the world learned that Moses Austin had been granted the petition to colonize Texas,the great migration be- gan.A new race and a new environment now brought great hordes into the Texas wilds.Man's natural curiosity knew no bounds.From time immemorial,mountains,lakes and oceans have challenged his urge to see what is on the other side.Slow- ly,and painfully,often at terrific cost,he has crawled and climbed and sailed over most of the surface of the globe,even seeking out the things that have been hidden,ever lifting his eyes to new and wider horizons. To break and destroy the magnet which was drawing the people of the Northwest to the blooming region of the West, Thomas Benton of Misssouri,in the House railed at Senator Foots'suggestion of discontinuing:the surveys as a scheme to limit sales by the Government. The Western states were extremely sensitive to any meas- ure that might check immigation in the slightest degree,and the frontiersmen demanded virgin land of limitless area upon which to fix their location.The stage was well set,therefore, for the migration to Texas.The stream of population was flow- ing westward with resistless momentum and had reached the borders of Louisiana.From Louisiana one had only to step across the neutral ground and set up on the Texas side. Before Moses Austin could return from Mexico,Governor Martinez was at San Antonio awaiting his return,Baron De Bastrop had issued two hundred and seventy-two titles to S8t- 96 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD tlers in the first colony.Between the Brazos and Colorado Rivers Austin had selected for his first colonists'location. Meantime,Moses Austin arrived in San Antonio with the assurance his petition to the government would be granted.The road to Sabine and to Natchitoches,returning to meet Son Steph- en ,vas a hard trip at best.He fell in with a company of men who,after gaining his confidence,over-powered him and robbed him of everything he had and left him in the wilderness to die. Entirely exposed to the weather,and without food,except such as he could find along the way,he suffered great hard- ships.By the time he reached the Sabine,he was so ill he had to remain at the house of Hugh McGuffin on the American side of the river for three weeks. From here he dispatched a letter home and to Stephen at New Orleans,Moses Austin now planned to go to Natchitchoses and home to complete arrangements for his colonization. Stephen Austin left New Orleans to meet his father,and on the way learned of his death.His father's last request was that he carry out the plans to colonize Texas. It was now necessary for Stephen Austin to have himself recognized as his father's successor.He must go to Mexico City at once and obtain a confirmation of his father's grant;from Monterrey to Mexico City he had one companion,Lorenzo Christi,and with his passport,he had very little difficulty en- route in explaining his identity to officers wherever they were encountered. In Mexico City he found Iturbide's revolution for power an approaching crisis.Into such a mass of intrigue,the quiet man- ered young stranger walked.He possessed neither money,nor influence. On learning what was going forward in Texas,the regency had decided that Martinez of San Antonio had exceeded his pow- er in designating the amount of land each settler was to receive. This point the Regency said had to be settled by a law of Con- gress. Austin found others on the ground seeking colonization con- tracts.J ames Wilkerson,erstwhile chief of the army occupying Fort Jessup at the Sabine River,Hayden Edward was there des- tined to playa disturbing part in the future of Texas Adven- tures.Soldiers of fortune,gamblers and speculators had gath- ered at the capitol of the New Empire seeking whatever profit J .\1\1BS lJU\\T!~,Une of the Herues uf the .Alamu CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 97 the situation might offer.Green DeWitt,who was the same type of man as Austin,was also there. INITIATE PROJECT HERE It was at San Antonio that the project of American coloni- zation was initiated.Moses Austin arrived there in 1820 to in- terview Governor Martinez,having ridden horseback 800 miles from Missouri through an almost trackless wilderness.Angrily ordered away at first,he finally succeeded,with the invaluable aid of the Beron de Bastrop,in obtaining the sanction of the Governor and his council,or aynutamiento.It was from San Antonio that Stephen Austin in 1822 undertook that perilous ride on horseback of 1,200 miles to the City of Mexico,with only one companion,to obtain after difficulties and delays which only his own invincible patience could have survived the approval of the central authorities. The Bowie brothers,Rezin P.and James,organized in 1831 an expedition to search fQr the silver mines reputed to be near the site of the San Saba mission,during which expedition oc- curred the Indian fight that made the prowess of the Bowies forever memorable. Sam Houston appeared in 1833,accompanied by James Bowie,to arrange with the Comanche chiefs for a consultation looking to a treaty of peace with the American colonists. In October,1834,the first revolutionary meeting was held in Texas to protest against the dictatorship of Santa Anna and the over-throw of the Federal constitution in 1824. In December,1835,the Texan army of 300 after five days' fighting of the most desperate character,hand to hand,and from house to house,using crow bars and picks to dig loop- holes in the thick stone walls,compelled the capitulation of Gen- eral Cos with his force of 1,200.The Texans under Burleson and Bowie and Fannin had been fired with resistlessness en- thusiasm for the assault by the ringing appeal of Colonel Benja- min R.Milam,who set their spirits ablaze with the cry:"Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?" Now the stage is prepared for Santa Anna to throw off his mask of devotion to his country,and the ruin of himself,and land with the states government abolished in 1835,Texas fell under Government rule.The Colonists held meetings and ap- pointed committees of safety.Martial laws prevailed with reso- 98 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD lutions and convening of conventions,set ablaze the smoulder- ing fires of the Texas Revolution. A cannon that had been given to Texas to outstrip the In- dians,is demanded by hurrying post,there came the volunteer troops from New Orleans,Mississippi,Kentucky,Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia,when first they had heard Santa Anna had declared war against his native soil,to drive out all Ameri- cans.From the East to the West,the horses tramp and thrill- ing neigh was heard,as across the State they came. They saw the skirmish at Gonzales,the hardy Texans there draw up the cannon in view of the enemy with a placard,"come and take it,"a gauntlet flung in the face of the king and his councelors. Men poured in,bringing their rifles and shotpouches,and joined General Burleson to whom they looked for immediate action. The old town of San Antonio,the Military Plaza,and the streets that opened out were barracaded and guarded by a can- non,and above the citadel waved a Mexican flag.On the east bank of the river was the fortress of the church of the Alamo. With no warning of a near approach of the enemy,a cry from the sentinel startles the stillness,the alarm bells burst into a clanging peal,the Mexicans are pouring down the western slopes of San Pedro creek.Col.William Travis is in command of the fort with James Bowie second in command.Too,there is Col. James Bonham of South Carolina,with David Crockett of Tenn- essee. We behold Colonel Travis drawing a line with his sword: "Whoever is willing to die like a hero,let him cross the line."Within the fort,their strong nerves yield,they give up to meet death,their doom-the events too well known to repeat. Now the curtain is raised on the Americans. Phillip Nolan,who wrote his name largely with that of Thomas Jefferson in 1797,when gathering horses in Texas,be- cause of his untimely death,never realized his deam.Other Americans began putting things to their own use. Born of the neutral ground agreement,while conquering the freebooters,Augustus Magee leads in an expedition to his senseless slaughter,when the Spanish soldiers swept the coun- try,venting their wrath,not alone upon men but also upon help- less women and children.At Natchez,Mississippi,in the mean- time,the citizens were displeased at the action of the United CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 99 States Government,agreeing to give up all claims to Texas if Spain would sell Florida,and organize an expedition to invade Texas with Dr.James Long as the leader,arriving at Nacog- doches with three hundred men,declaring Texas a free Republic, and their record adds lustre to the history of our Republic. In August,1805,with a force of hardy fighters of unques- tioned courage,General Wilkerson of the United States Army, who had come from New Orleans up to Natchitoches,Louisiana, marched his army to the east bank of the Sabine River,on the King's Highway and camped.General Herrera,commanding the Spanish troops,with Cordero marched in with twelve hun- dred men at his back,and camped on the west bank of the river, just opposite.All was in readiness for the battle to resist the siege,but in the hush of night,in secret council,the affair was peacefully settled.Here in the neutral ground was born the pick-pocket,the desperado in shooting up towns,the raider leav- ing a trail of carnage behind,from all of which,unkindly,the cowboy of Texas received a bad name.During the pillaging ex- peditions in Texas,there was many a resolute follower along the old San Antonio Road,and many a conflict ensued when many of them were clain.For to kill and wound,was the game at which they played. GREAT REAL ESTATE DEAL To understand the political origin of Texas,we must turn to what perhaps was the most remarkable treaty ever executed, a treaty which may justly be termed the most gigantic real es- tate transaction ever known,the treaty of Tordesilles,made be- tween Portgual and Spain in June 7,1494.By that treaty Portu- gal was to have all the lands that might be discovered thereafter west of the line from the Artic Circle to the Antaretio,the line running 370 degrees west of the Azores,passing title to Green- land,St.Helena,Brazil,Mrica,Mabalar,Ceylon,Arabia,Persic, India,the Malay Archipelago,while Spain was given all land discovered at that time,or thereafter west of such line includ- ing North and mosi!of South America. It was in order to reduce to permanent possession the heme- sphere thus assigned her that Spain divided the two American continents into four great vice-royalties,New Spain,New Gran- ada,Buenos Aires and Peru.New Spain extended from Gua- tamala to what is now Vancouver's Island,contairJng four di- 100 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTOl\,TIO ROAD visions.Mexico,New Galicia,Nuevo Negno de Leon and Pro- vincias internas. TRAGEDY OF THE ALAMO It was in San Antonio that about three months later oc- curred the world-famous tragedy of the Alamo.The victory of December had apparently driven the usurper from the prov- ince and only a small garrison was left to guard San Antonio. Late in February,Santa Anna himself with an army of 2,000 fell suddenly upon the city.The little body of 183 Texans,led by Travis and Bowie and David Crockett,retired within the walls of the Alamo,a stone rectangle 190 feet long and 122 feet wide,with the old church of the original mission of Valero in the southeast corner for quarters and magazine. The next day Travis sent out a call for help that has been pronounced "the most meroic document among American his- torical records."It was as follows: "Commandancy of the Alamo,Bexar,February 24,1836. To the People of Texas and all Americans in the World: "Fellow Citizens and Compatriots:I am besieged by a thou- sand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna.I have sus- tained a continual bombardment and cannonade for twenty-four hours and have not lost a man.The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion,otherwise,the garrisons are to be put to the sword,if the fort is taken.I have answered the demand with a cannon shot,and our flag still waves proudly from the walls.I shall never surrender or retreat.Then,I call on you in the name of liberty,of partiotism and everything dear to the American character,to come to our aid with all dispatch.The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt in- crease to three or four thousand in four or five days.If this call is neglected,I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country.Victory or death." "William Barrett Travis" Lieutenant Colonel Commandant. DAVY CROCKETT'S DIARY Another pathetic document relating to this siege is the diary kept by David Crockett until the day before the Alamo was taken.I make the followin!!nartial auotations:-~- THE ALAMO To the left is a gateway leading into what formerly was an inner court of the fortress.The Alamo onginally was a Mission. CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 101 "March I.-The enemy's forces have been increasing in numl?er daily,notwithstanding they have already lost about 300 men in the several assaults they have made upon us.*** "March 2.-This day the delegates meet in general conven- tion at the town of Washington to frame our Declaration of In- dependence.That the sacred instrument may never be tramp- led upon by the children of those who have freely shed their blood to establish it is the sincere wish of David Crockett.*** Some imagine independence to be a natural charter,to exercise without restraint,and to their fullest extent,all the energies, both physical and mental,wit hwhich they have been endowed, and for their individual aggrandisement alone,without regard to the rights of others,provided they extend to all the same privilege and freedom of action.Such independence is the worst of tyranny.. "March 3.-We have given over all hope of receiving as- sistance from Goliad or Refugio.Colonel Travis harrangued the garrison,and concluded by exhorting them in case the enemy should carry the fort to right to the last gasp,and render their victory even more serious to them than to us.This was fol- lowed by three cheers. "March 4.-Shells have been falling into the fort like hail during the day,but without effect.About dusk,in the evening we observed a man running toward the fort,pursued by about half a dozen of the Mexican cavlary.The bee-hunter imme- diately knew him to be the old pirate who had gone to Goliad, and calling to the two hunters,he sallied out of the fort to the relief of the old man,who was hard pressed.I followed close after.***.We dashed among them and a bloody conflict ensued.They were about twenty in number and they stood their ground.After the fight had continued about five minutes a detachment was seen issuing from the fort to our relief,and the Mexicans scampered off,leaving eight of their comrades dead upon the field.But we did not escape unscathed,for both the pirate and the bee-hunter were mortally wounded,and I re- ceived a saber cut across the forehead.The old man died with- out speaking as soon as we entered the fort.We bore my young friend to his bed,dressed his wounds and I watched beside him. He lay without complaint or manifestation of pain until about midnight,when he spoke,and I asked him if he wanted any- thing.'Nothing,'he replied,but drew a sigh that seemed to rend his heart,and he asked:'Poor Kate of Nacogdoches!'His 102 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD eyes were filled with tears as he continued:'Her words were prophetic,Colonel!.And then he sang in a low voice that re- sembled the sweet notes of his own devoted Kaite:'But toom earn'the saddle,all bluidly to see,And hame earn'the steed,but hame never came he." He spoke no more,and a few minutes after he died.Poor Kate,who will tell this to thee? "March 5.-***No time for memorandums now.Go ahead!Liberty and independence forever." It is doubtful whether in the entire range of human litera- ture a parallel may be found for this rarest and most tragic of memoirs.The fact that Crockett could pause amid such turbu- lence and such despair,surrounded by the last agonies of the brave,the breath of the tomb on his brow,and with such calm- ness,such self-mastery,such precision and such charm,sight into the philosophy of liberty,reduce such observations to manuscript,is a tribute to his greatness that nothing else may equal or approach. ALL CROSSED THE LINE The siege of the Alamo lasted from February 23 to March 6.About three days before the end Colonel Travis drew a line on the ground with the point of his sword.He invited every man who had resolved to stay and die step across it,giving all who might so desire the privilege of endeavoring to escape.Im- mediately Tappley Holland stepped across,followed by every man in the fort but one,who fled.Colonel Bowie was ill,but asked his comrades to lift his cot across the line,and others who were ill did the same.On the morning of March 6,came the crowning tragedy.Overwhelming the little band at last the besiegers,thousand strong,swarmed over the parapet and into the fort.One by one,the remaining Texans died,fighting to the last. Thus was consecrated in the blood of patriots the new Tex- as,whose independence had been proclaimed a few days before. The news of this slaughter and of a similar massacre at Goliad some three weeks later filled the Texans with such determina- tion and such fury that on April 21,at San Jacinto,their revo- lutionary army of 800 untrained,half-equipped and poorly sup- plied,defeated the flower of Santa Anna's troops,an advance force of 1,400 in a single charge.The nature of the victory will DA VY CHOC'KETT,Another Who Fell at the Alamo. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 103 be better understood when it is known that of the enemy 630 were killed,208 wounded,730 captured.Less than sixty es- caped,Santa Anna himself being among the prisoners.The Texans had two killed and twenty-three wounded.It was one of the most remarkable triumphs in the records of battle.The power of the dictator was broken and Texas assumed its place among the nations of the world. Twice during the decade in which Texas maintained an ex- istence as a separate republic San Antonio was occupied by Mexican armies,which,however,soon found their position un- tenable and retired. .With annexation to the United States in 1845 began a de- velopment for all Texas that has each year assumed a more rapid and comprehensive sweep. 'While there had been several conflicts during 1832,what may be properly considered the first battle of the Texas Revolu- tion was that at Gonzales,October 2,1835,Colonel Ugartechea~ in command at San Antonio,sent a company to Gonzales to take possession of a cannon,but the Mexicans were attacked by the Texans and defeated. The news of this battle spread and volunteers poured into Gonzales.It was decided to march on to San Antonio and on October 11,Austin was elected commander in chief.In the mean- time,on Gceober 9,a small band of volunteers had surprised the Mexican garrison at Goliad and captured a store of military supplies. A detachment of Austin's army had a light engagement with Mexican cavalry at Mission Concepcion,October 28,and on November 26 the so-ca11ed "grass fight"occurred south of San Antonio. This skirmish was occasioned by the rumor that an ap- proaching burro train carried silver for the pay of the Mexican garrison at San Antonio,but when captured the burros'bur- dens proved to be hay destined for consumption by Ugarte- chea's cavalry horses. In the meantime a gathering of representative colonials was held at San Felipe and a provisional government set up with Austin,Branch T.Archer and Wi1liam H.Wharton selected to go to Washington and ask for the assistance of the United States. This withdrew Austin from command of the army,which was beseiging San Antonio,and General Edward Burleson was 104 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD placed in command there by an election.Henry Smith was elect- ed provisional Governor of Texas and a council was organized. While Burleson had been chosen to lead the army at San Antonio, General Sam Houston was named by the gathering at San Felipe as commander in chief to succeed Austin. At San Antonio the siege dragged and preparations were being made to abandon it,when Colonel Ben Milam asked for volunteers to attack the fort,organized about 300 men and after fighting from Devcemher 5 to Decemb~r 9,1835,forced General Cos,who had arrived from Mexico and taken command,to sur- render with the agreement that he was to return with his en- tire force to Mexico. The garrison at San Antonio dwindled after the capture of Cos,despite the fact that it was known that Santa Anna was marching on San Antonio with the pick or the :Mexican Army. Santa Anna arrived there about February 23.The town was de- fended by about 150 men under command of Colonel Travis.The foIlowing plea for help was sent out: To the People of Texas and An Americans in the World: "MeIlow Citizens and Compatriots:I am beseiged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna.I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man.The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion.Otherwise,the garrison is to be put to the sword if the forst is taken.I have answered the demand with a can- non shot and our flag still waves proudly from the waIls.I shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you in the name of Liberty,of patriotism and everything dear to the American character,to come to our aid with all dispatch.The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days.If this caIl is neglected,I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never for- gets what is due to his own honor and that of his country.Vic- tory or death. Signed:William Barrett Travis. P.S.:-The Lord is on our side.When the enemy appeared in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and have got into the wans in sight we had not three bushels of corn.We have since found 20 or 30 head of beeves. Signed:TRAVIS. MIRABEAU B.LAMAR.From An Old Etching CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 105 Though Travis appealed repeatedly for aid,but the pro- visional Government was at odds with itself,the council being arrayed against the Governor,so nothing was done.In fact~ little provision had been made for meeting the oncoming enemy. About thirty men from Gonzales under the command of Capt. Albert Martin broke through Santa Anna's lines March 1,rais- ing the little force which had been centered at the Alamo to ap- proximately 180.It was this little band that held the Alamo against overwhelming odds for five more days in what is proba- bly the most heroic struggle to be found in the annals of Ameri- can history.On March 6,Santa Anna stormed the Alamo with something like 3,000 men and the last of the little band of Tex- ans died fighting.Among them were Travis,James Bowie, Davy Crockett and James D.Donham. In the meantime,part of the army which had forced the sur- render of Cas at San Antonio had gone to San Patricio,where it was surprised and all but annihilated by the Mexicans under General Urrea,who had advanced from Matamoros at same time that Santa Anna was advancing on San Antonio.Another force of Texans under Colonel J.W.Fannin had gone to Goliad and erected fortifications.Fannion received appeals from Travis before and during the siege of the Alamo by Santa Anna and after some delay started for San Antonio,but reconsidered because he was informed that the Alamo had been entirely sur- rounded,and returned to Goliad. TREATY OF VELASCO On May 14,the Treaty of Velasco was signed by which the Mexicans were bound to retreat beyond the Rio Grande and Santa Anna was to be released on promise to return to Mexico and intercede with his Government on behalf of Texas Independ- ence.President Burnet found himself unable to carry out the last part of the treaty,however,because of popular sentiment against Santa Anna and the Mexican President was held pris- oner for about six months before he was released. THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS During the next ten years the Republic of Texas existed under the successive administrations of Sam Houston,Mirabeau B.Lamar,Houston in his second term and Anson Jones. 106 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD But the little Republic was beset with difficulties.Mexico had not relinquished its claim and constantly offered a menace, even sending over one or two military expeditions;difficulties were experienced with the various Indian tribes,and the public debt mounted.The value of the Texas paper dollar fell to about 2c.Hence the offer of the United States to annex Texas was readily accepted at a convention which met in Austin July 4, 1845.On February 16,1846,President Jones retired in favor of Governor J.Pinckney Henderson. HISTORIC FRENCH EMBASSY BUILDING AT AUSTIN ACQUIRED BY DAUGHTERS OF REPUBLIC Relic of Texas'Days As Independent Nation To Be Preserved As Shrine and Museum at State Capital The Daughters of the Republic of Texas in Austin have ac- quired through the Texas legislature the building and grounds of the French embassy to be preserved as a Texas historic shrine and museum.Visitors should never fail when visiting Austin to view this historic relic,which from a Texan'::,viewpoint is one of the most interesting to be found in all the southwest. This is the "Old French Embassy,"still stands on the wood- ed hill in East Austin,where it was built more than 10{)years ago. Texas,as everyone knows,was once a republic,and a re- public of such magnitude that all the powers watched its career with interest.France was quick to recognize the new nation, and to send a representative to Austin.Her envoy was Alphonse Dubois de Saligny,afterwards the Count de Saligny,who estab- lished his residence in Austin as charge d'affaires of France in Texas. . Indians Gave Trouble He had been secretary of the French legation in Washing- ton and arrived with his household in Austin in 1840.He found himself in a wilderness-I~dians still gave trouble to the few white settlers.But De Saligny,with but short intervals in which Viscount J.de Cramyel held his post,remained until Tex- as became a state. He was a polished gentleman of the world,gay and {jebo- nair.What tales he must have told when he returned to the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 107 brilliant courts of Europe.What a future he perhaps pictured for the rich,but rough young republic. Beautiful Tract From an old manuscript of the Texas embass:r: "M.De Saligny designed the 'Old Embassy.'The tract of land he selected,was then,as now,one of the most beautiful in the city.The legation grounds had an area of 16 acres. The house was substantially built,of handsome logs,cut in a saw pit near Bastrop,and hauled here by oxen.The story- and-half structure contained a wide hall,with hvo rooms on each side,an attic and a cellar-a cellar noted far and wide for the excellence of the French wines held in stock.Doors,win- dows,hinges and other hardware came from France,and were hauled overland,as was the furniture,by wogan from Houston. A front gallery,enclosed with a pretty old-world lattice,com- pleted the dwelling,and over the door stood the words,"Lega- tion de France."This has been removed,the only change in all these years that has been made in the appearance of the house. Even the original colors,white with chocolate trimmings,are still used as exterior finish." American Citizen The house came into possession of Dr.J.,,y.Robertson,father of the present owner,Miss Lillie Robertson,in 1845.T,vo quaint old deeds,one in French and one in English,evidenced the transfer,and that which was once a bit of French territory became the property of a plain American citizen. In this old house are many antique furnishings that give the rooms a distinction and an atmosphere of courtly old days. \Vherever possible,the original furniture stilI stands in its ac- customed place.On the hand-carved mantel shelf is a lOO-year- old clock,and ancient brass fireirons guard the fireplace.Spin- dle-legged chairs and rare mahogany tables,old-time mirrors that have reflected the beauty of the belles of the Republic,and an old four-poster bed that is the envy of collectors,add to the charm of the interior,breathing the romance of the past. Open To Visitors The residence was always hospitably open to visitors,Miss Robertson willing to share it with the state which she,as a 108 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Daughter of the Republic of Texas,adores.It is her pride for the Daughters of the Republic to have the ownership and the pride of Austin,this quaint home that links the historic past to the present-a premier relic of the days when the flag with a singie star was the flag of an independent nation. The republic of Texas-a nation,was born at Washington, on the Brazos,on March 2,1836,and the span of its life was but two weeks less than ten years. National growth and vitality came from the roots of the republic,which were its common folk,that gave to its life and its substance to do and to create.From this free association of the people came the legislators,the judges in the courts and in- deed the highest ruler of them all the president,who once said "The office is a public trust,"a trust of the people. The humblest citizen again took an active part since Texas independence had been won.The roots for Texas annexation to the American union began spreading and the people never let up.They thought every day on the question of annexation as the natural common sense thing with the British and French diplomats gathering along the Brazos. President Tyler of the United States discovered Texas,and foreseeing a shrewd diplomatic duel and fully advised as to Eng- land's and France's plans,President Tyler sent Andrew Jack- son Donelson,nephew of General Jackson,a man of unusual force and sagacity,to Texas to further the interests of the Unit- ed States. Former Sea Captain The British government for some years had been repre- sented in Texas by Charles Elliott,a former sea captain,who had been so long in the country as to be well acquainted with its people and its public men. The French government was represented by Compte de Saligny,who had found Austin an uncomfortable place to live and after quarreling with everybody in town,had removed him- self to New Orleans with French friends.From there he looked after French affairs in Texas at a long range. Texas Admitted The last act of the great drama of annexation came after many extraordinary sessions at Washington on the Brazos,when the convention formuiated our constitution in July and present- CAMINO RE~OLD'SAN ANTONIO ROAD 109 it through President Polk to the American congress.In De- cember,1845,U.S.formally admitted Texas into the union and on February 16,1846,the first legislature of the state of Texas met at Austin and President Anson Jones formally closed the ~\affairs of the republic and surrendered his office to Governor Henderson,the first governor of the state of Texas. The Texas commission of the Texas Memorial museum has announced a plan of celebration memorializing "Texas Centen- nial of Statehood of 1946." By the treaty Texas retained its public lands and its area included the present eastern half of New Mexico (that portion east of the Rio Grande),that part of Oklahoma of today lying north of the Texas Panhandle,Southwestern Kansas,a large portion of Central Colorado and a section of Wyoming.After the close or the Mexican War resulting from the annexation of Texas,this territory was sold to the States by Texas for $10,000,000. SECEDES FROM;UNION Texas from the first had been a slave state.Its climate and agricultural industries,like those of the old Southern States, were readily adaptable to slavery and,indeed most Texans were natives of the slave States east of the Mississippi.Hence,the growing bitterness between North and South was of much anxiety. There has always been much speculation among our his- torians as to what,if any,understanding existed between Hous- ton and his friends and patron,Andrew Jackson,who from 1828 to 1836 was president of the United States.During,and for years after the San Jacinto campaign,it was charged openly that Houston did not want to fight the Mexicans on the Colorado or on the Brazos,but that he was leading his army designedly into the Red Lands toward the Louisiana border with the prom- ise,or at least with the expectation,that he would have the help of American soldiers from Fort Jessup just across the line in Louisiana,who had been stationed to join him conveniently at the critical hour.Many suspicious circumstances point to some understanding of this kind,but the true facts probably never will be known.We do know that Jackson was as fond of Hous- ton as though he were his own son and that he kept in the closest touch \vith the movements that went on in Texas during his ad- 110 CAMINO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ministration.We also know that during his entire administra- tion he continually carried on fruitless negotiations with the ever changing governments of Mexico for the purchase of Texas. FAMOUS DISPATCH FOUND The night following the battle of San Jacinto,Houston wrote in iead pencil a dispatch addressed to President Jackson and sent it by messenger to General Gaines at Fort Jessup.The same messenger carried a letter from Rusk to Gaines,asking that Houston's dispatch be forwarded on to Washington.Gen- eral Gaines sent a young lieutenant by the name of Hitchcock with instructions to ride with all possible speed to Washington, and deliver Houston's dispatch in person to the American Presi- dent.For 24 days this young cavlary officer rode hard through Louisiana,Mississippi,Alabama and on up the Atlantic seaboard to Washington bearing this pencil message,for this was many years before the era of electric transmission.On the evening of May 16,1836,the rider alighted in front of the White House and hurriedly sought an interview with Jackson.It was a cold, inclement day and the old warrior president,recovering from a spell of illness,sat alone by an open fire.When Houston's mes- senger was admitted to his presence the old man tore the seal and read the dispatch with enthusiastic delight."It is Hous- ton's writing,"he exclaimed over and over again."I know it well,Sam Houston wrote this.Where is San Jacinto?"Then he called for a map and he and the lieutenant spread it on the floor and bent over it in an effort to find the place where the great battle has been fought.He ran his finger over the map. "Here it is,"he exclaimed."No,it must be over here,"and finally gave up the effort to definitely locate it.His enthusiasm was so great that Lieutenant Hitchcock told that he expected the old man to promote him to maj or ship of dragoons on the spot. Jackson's administration took ten long years and one of the most tumultuous battles fought in American politics to bring Texas into the Union. The closing hours of Jackson's administration were filled with great incidents in the life of Texas.These were the days of the Tennessee dynasty.Jackson,a Tennesseean who had been the dominating figure in the American military and politi- callife for a quarter of a century,was nearing the close or his ANDRE\V JACKSON,President of the United States CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 111 remarkable administration and had declined the presidency for a third term,though he could readily have had it.Houston,a Tennesseean,formerly Governor of that State,was now Presi- dent of the Republic of Texas;James K.Polk of Tennessee,soon to become a president,was speaker of the House of Representa- tives.Houston sent William H.Wharton,formerly a Tenn.. esseean,and like himself a close friend of Jackson,first min- ister to Washington,and almost the same day that Wharton's commission was sent to him and he started on his long trip via New Orleans to Washington,the Texas President sent General Santa Anna across the country to Washington,a quasi prisoner with a military escort.And while Wharton was hurrying to the capitol to urge congress to recognize the independence of Texas, the captured president and dictator was being sent by President Houston with a message to President Jackson,that Texas should be free.Houston had exacted of the dictator as part of the price of his freedom that he would deliver this message in per- son to the American President and he did so.In his memoirs Santa Anna writes that Houston wanted him to visit Jackson and since he,Santa Anna,was under so many obligations to this strange and remarkable man,he could not deny Houston's whim and visited Washington merely to please him. HOUSTON CHANGES HIS PLANS Though Houston no doubt hoped to fight the decisive battle in the Red Lands or on the Louisiana border,yet we all know that he gave up this plan the day he turned south and crossed Buffalo bayou at Harrisburg.The night before he wrote a let- ter to the committee of safety at Nacogdoches complaining that had not come from the Red Lands,but announcing that tomor- row they would cross the bayou and fight Santa Anna.The Mexican president,flushed with victory,had ridden south past Harrisburg the day before in a mad chase after Burnet and members of the fugitive Texas government.There were 783 men in the Texas army when it crossed over on the 19th of April. Dispatches had been captured which indicated that Santa Anna intended to cross the river at Lynch's ferry and go on to Ana- huac,from where he had planned to send the major portion of his army back to Mexico by sea.The Texas army moved down to cut off his retreat and pitched their camp on high ground at the margin of a good place which overlooked the ferry,the river 112 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD and the bay below and gave a commanding outlook to the south whence the enemy must come.Santa Anna in his memoirs writ- ten during his last exile 40 years later says that he had under- stood that Houston intended to escape across the river at this point and that he counter-marched from Morgan's Point to cut off the escape of the filibuster. The San Jacinto battlefield where these two armies camp- ed within a mile of each other on the 20th day of April,1836, is one of the fairest spots that ere the sun shone on.It lies at the confluence of the bayou and the San Jacinto River and they merge into a bay forming a body of water that half encircles the landscape which is alternatively dotted with high woodlands and interspersed with bayous and everglades.Houston's horse was shot from under him and he was wounded.On reconnoiter- ing the battlefield even now one can readily te1l that since the Mexicans kept so sentinel posted,they did not know of the ap- proaching of the Texas army until it was 400 yards away.The sudden advent of these determined frenzied men threw wild confusion into the Mexican camp.A young Mexican lieutenant who afterwards wrote an account of the battle says,"and I saw his exce1lency wringing his hands in confusion and unable to give an order."His excellency,however,vaulted a fresh horse and rode hard toward Harrisburg and would have escaped to join Filisola's forces on the Brazos but for the timely destruc- tion of Vince's bridge a few hours before. THE ENEMY DESTROYED Following along the line our army went on and reached the point where Houston was wounded near the grove of sturdy oaks which still shadow the camp site of the Mexican comman- der.It was in this grove that Castrillion,who had led the as- sault at the Alamo,was killed.Here the gallant Almonte tried in vain to ra1ly his cavalrymen,but the fear of God and the Texans was upon them,and they fled down the hill slope beyond. Down this hill slope leads to an everglade where tall grasses and water lilies grow and across this little valley on high ground beyond is a deep wood profusely draped with Southern moss. One standing on the high ground in the margin of the wood at the site of the Texas camp,can see the tops of the grove of everlasting oak a mile away where the Mexican president had made his camp.Facing that low land bordering,carrying CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 113 out this plan,they nominated James K.Polk of Tennessee on a platform that declared not only for Texas,but for Oregon as well.In the great referendum which followed,Polk was elected by a narrow majority of only 40,000 votes.It seems therefore authentic to say that the battle of San Jacinto coming at the time it did,not only brought Texas,but California as well,into the American Union. As Santa Anna turned back from the bay front on the 9th day of April,he was the master of an empire so vast that no man had marked its boundaries.But when he rode from the battlefield at the close of the day a million square miles of ter- ritory had been lost to him. In 1836 Texas celebrated its first Christmas.Religious serv- ices were held in the small settlements of the State,none of them at that time large enough to be regarded as cities.Some,in- deed,were true "outposts of the wilderness."General Sam Houston,the idol of his fellow Texans,made a speech at Wash- ington-on-the-Brazos,in which he said a republic could be found- ed only by a sober and industrious people.The hero of San Jacinto knew the virtue of sobriety,although in his sometimes turbulent and always picturesque career,he frequently forgot to practice it.General Houston was also pleased to tell his au- diences in the straggling little settlements on the Brazos that Santa Anna,whom he defeated in the battle of San Jacinto,was a prisoner of the American government. There was no prohibition law in Texas then,and after Gen- eral Houston finished speaking,a big party was held.Eggnog flowed freely and the revelers danced late.Simple presents were exchanged.Transportation difficulties were such that the early Texas had to resort to many makeshifts.Texas was farther away from the country's center of population then,be- cause of poor transportation facilities,than Europe is now.Even if the toys were few and most of them handmade,the children and the young people had a good time.Christmas was cele- brated mainly by eating,drinking and merrymaking. A single musical instrument,a fiddle,belike,would furnish music enough for a dance that might be rude and boisterous or even culminate in a fight,but,the upper stratum of Texas so- ciety comported itself with the dignity befitting its position. Chroniclers of the time describe social events that were quite elaborate,all things considered.Some of these affairs may have 114 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD been exaggerated,somewhat in retrospect,but it should not he forgotten that Sam Houston was a national figure before he went to live with the Indians and turned up in Texas to found a new republic and a new state of the American Union.Houston was at home in the select society of \Vashington,a close per- sonal friend of President Jackson,an imposing figure in con- gress,a governor of Tennessee. The commentators say the Christmas of 1836 was very cold. Rain made the roads more impassable than they usually were, and further contributed to the discomfort of travelers.Indoors, however,Texans gathered about roaring fires,sang,danced, ate wild turkeys and other fare and had a good time. Transportation had improved somewhat by 1838,so that a Texan could get his favorite brand of liquor from New Or- leans,Memphis,Nashville or some other distributing point. Christmas day was observed quietly at Washington-on-the- Brazos.Christmas,1839 was cold and rainy.Christmas sup- plies could not be obtained from New Orleans,Galveston or In- dianola.In 1840 the French tricolor and the American flag were raised in front of the capitol of Texas,denoting that the infant republic had been recognized by France and the United States. In 1846 Texans rejoiced at the news that the United States had ratified the Texas Annexation Bill. By Christmas,1850,Texans had begun to put on air in good earnest.Masque balls and confetti carnivals were the order of the day.Luxuries were more common,in some of the larger towns and cities a number of elaborate balls and soirees were held.Texans danced the square dance,the Virginia reel and other dances of the period.The official caller was an important functionary,and he often had as much liquor in his stomach as that useful organ could conveniently carry.Christmas trees were numerous.The young ladies and gentlemen wore daz- zling costumes,the young men going in rather strongly for mustaches and whiskers. And so Texans celebrated Christmas through the years, when it was a young republic,when it was a younger member of the American sisterhood of states,through the trying period of the Civil War and reconstruction down to modern times.Tex- ans have ever loved good cheer.They still love it. King's Highway,Old 'San Antonio Road,takes its way down and up the banks of some eight or ten rivers,between the orchards and piney woods or Central Texas,when it began as a CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 115 foot-path made by the tread of moccasins,the hoofs of bisons and of deer.The put-put of horses'shoes and the crunching of the wheels of the covered wagon (The symbol of the Pioneers), the rattle of the stage-coach wheels and the farm carts travell- ing the road,have left dents of history that cannot be erased. Since those foot prints and wheel ruts have for so many years been wiped away in fields and abandoned crossings of rivers,and now restored by the D.A.R.and the State of Texas Highway road work.The road truly has had very little time for memories.It has been too busy carrying the same loads, holding the same foot-prints and wheel-tracks in the surveying of the road.Its earth is now covered with concrete and its rivers bridged. The yesterdays and the todays once sat together to tell the story of pioneer transportation to Texas.In her moment of in- terest my mother began telling me the story I have tried to set down here. In the summer of 1853,James Berry Olive and wife,Nancy Utley,and four children started on their journey to Texas. James Berry Olive was a great-great grandson of James Olive, verginal grantee of Raleigh,N.C.,territory and James,a great great-grandson of Thomas Olive,proprietor with William Penn and Edward De Cour of William Penn's Colony from London. James Berry Olive and Nancy Utley were married in 1832, Raleigh,N.C.,and started for Tennessee on their wedding trip. When later they removed to Holly Springs,Mississippi,for the educational advantages to be had there.With five covered wagons loaded with household goods,supplies,and slave attend- ants and a three seated hack for the family to travel in they set out for Natchez,Mississippi,in 1852,and were joined by a Mr.Blair and family,an acquaintance,bringing up the rear. They followed a well-worn trail,no one could tell how many generations mapped by moccasin feet and rutted by horses hoofs until it lay about a foot or two under ground.The foot- paths were about 18 inches wide.It followed high ground when possible for the road must be kept dry.All the land be- tween Holly Springs and Natchez was tracked by foot-paths, war-paths at times led by the Great Sun King of the Natchez. The woods were full of nuts and grapes and along the Mississ- ippi River the Indians were fishing with a three pronged stick catching three fish at a time.The Natchez Indians were travel- ing in every direction of the by-paths. 116 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTO:NIO ROAD The cattle brought with them were tied between the cov- ered wagons,and the slaves were instructed to keep watch for the Indians. One big meal was cooked every evening,when wagons and teams were corralled in a circle,and baking ovens and fires were made all set for cooking the evening meal. Mother related grandfather always knew the next farm house to ask for lodging for family,and along the trail meat, chickens,eggs,butter,milk,corn,and vegetables were found to feed the family and slaves. They crossed the Mississippi at Natchez on a ferry boat and journeyed to Harrisonburg and on to Red River.The coun- try being low they had some trouble with the wagon wheels getting stuck in the swampy mire and the slaves worked hard to get them going again.Always I was told they were looking for Indians.The falling of a leaf sounded like the crack of a distant musket on their startled ears.The chirping of a cricket or singing of a bird,a note of friendship. With the crackling fire lighted they sat beside it and ate their good supper.The horses unharnessed could be heard jingling their bells they wore on their yokes,to warn other drivers after dusk and at night on the dark road.The horses and cattle munched loudly as they nosed in their feed bags.The covered wagons were not painted for fear if painted they would attract the Indians and left more money for the supplies for the journey. At Natchitoches and along the road into Texas that the wagon trains followed were small Inns where food was good and cheap,smoked ham cut in thick slices,spicy ginger bread,drip- ping honey comb,golden pumpkin pie and big baked juicy ap- ples.A shilling or so paid for their beds and the horses oats. They would start at dawn.The horses rested they drive 12 to 15 miles a day from the Inns along the way in Eastern Texas. The grist and saw mills and the stone houses with their big chimneys alld great barns,always distant music was heard,a fiddler scraped,a Jews harp,the strumming of a banjo or guitar, announced they were nearing a settlement. From now on through Central Texas,the land was like the one they had left.That was all needful for food,nuts,wild geese,turkeys,and patches of wild strawberries. 'IlIe ground of trail was sodden hard beaten from centuries of travel by the Bison,explorers,soldiers of fortune,colonists, Col.Josiah Pugh "\Vilbarger,born 1S{)1 in Bourbon County,Kentucky, defending Kentucky in Indian wars;coming to Texas in 1827 as member of Austin's Little Colony,settled Wilbarger's Bend in Eastrop County,First American MartYl',1832,bodily pained by the Indians when surveying Texas Lands,Living fourteen years afterwards,teaching school.a mathematician working to make perpetual motion in Cotton Mill and Agricultural machin- ery,A slave holding planter,supporting the Texas Republic;dying in 1846. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAK ANTONIO ROAD 117 and the defenders of the Alamo when they poured into Texas, down through Virginia,Alabama,Mississippi,Louisiana,with Bowie,David Crockett,Travis and others to their feeding.- My mothers'parents on reaching Bastrop,their final des- tination,placed their daughter Dorothy Olive in a boarding school,Mrs.Garnett,and then bought a farm of 1,000 acres in Wilbarger Bend,Postoffice site,Utley,Texas,named for his home. James Harvey Wilbarger,son of Josiah Pugh Wilbarger, inherited Wilbarger Bend,married Dorothy Olive in 1855,built a home in "\Vilrarger Bend and inherited 5,000 acres of land, built a long string of houses for slaves'quarters,great barns, bought furniture and piano out of Philadelphia,a closed coach man's carriage from Millers in Austin.The roads rough travel- ing killed horses out and carriage resold to Millers stables.Wil- bargers Bend was always called a Principality Plantation,as back in the Southern States of Tennessee,Georgia,Mississippi, a Principality Plantation had to have 5,000 to 10,000 acres to be entitled to be known as a province principality. OLD TIME MUSIC A1\,'1)SQUARE DANCES Old time music ::<I!.1square dances and peddlers have all dis- appeared.Oil and kerosene lamps are being sought for,as old fashioned lamps,as antiques. Probably the lamp will last a long time yet,an electric light is immovable and there will always be need of a lamp that can be carried about.Yet can one be certain that the oil lamp will survive? Examples of passing things,wooden Indians,iron deer and the like can be preserved.But there is another thing more perishable.About many oldtime institutions there is a lore- as a rule little of it is in print today.It resides only in the memories of men and women who are fast aging.Such lore should he taken doyv'11before it passes forever from the earth. At this moment two incidents of American life stand out,that were common,but are now one with Ninevah and Tyre.The institution known as the little German band and the German peddler.Is there today anywhere in America a peddler,one who goes about the country roads on foot,carrying upon his back a pack of true peddler type?The pack was almost as big 118 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTOmO ROAD as a trunk and hardly less heavey and was wrapped in black oil-cloth. On the floors of farmhouse kitchen,the peddler would un- roll the oil-cloth,and on it display his wares-bright colored clothes,ribbons,braids,neckties,elastic to make garters,hair- pins,hat pins.If it were late in the afternoon,the peddler would ask the privilege of sleeping over night on the kitchen floor,and the privilege was gladly granted,for the sake of the peddlers conversation about the outer world. If there is no peddler still peddling,when and where did the last one trudge the roads?I think it most likely there are men still living who were peddlers.It is possible one might find ex- peddlers as the heads of important businesses.Institutions in America had their origin and not very remotely,in a peddler with his pack. I have been told that several of the largest wholesale houses and department store-chains,are but one or two generations re- moved from peddlers,who established honorable permanent busi- nesses,caused them to grow and handed them on to sons and grandsons,such testimony is at once to the honorableness of the peddlers practiced and the opportunity for growth that America affords.At least a few words of the familiar song "Ach de Lieber Augustin'(also known as "Buy a Broom")are about the German peddler: From Deutschland I come, With my light wares all laden, Oh,Listen,Fair lady, And young pretty maiden, Oh buy of the wandering Ba varian,a broom. The origin of this song and how close it was to the Associa- tion of the peddler,and the song,it sold the broom. The German peddler has not entirely left the land and just last year I came across a couple of peddlers in a remote part of Louisiana carrying their pack.One can see how the German peddler succumbed,-first to the trolly car,then to the automo- bile,which made it easy for the farmers to go to town.Every American village and town learned to look for the peddler at the budding of spring.They were celebrated in a song once as familiar to the affections of America as the institutions itself was. Dot leedle German Band,dot leedle German Band, CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 119 De beoble cry and say,"Oh,My,"as ve march drough de land. Ve go around de sdreeds almost every day, Und get de beoble vild mit de music do ve blay, "Good-by Sweetheart"and "Hime Sweet Hime,"ve pla;y so fine But we always do our best ven ye blay, The "Die Wacht am Rhine,""Good bye Swar-heart"and Hime S\veet Hime, Be blay so fine "Good-by Sweetheart,"a popular song so many years ago. Persons wrote songs about the German Immigrants-"Green Norms,'"they were called-used to impart to them a racial trait of getting American words inverted thus: The "little red school house"celebrated in scores of songs and poems,biographies,and patriotic speakers,is passing fast. The one-room school everywhere,whether red or white,whether brick or wooden,is succumbing by hundreds every year to the "consolidated school"to which boys and girls are brought in busses.Some literary person ought to collect an anthology of the songs and poems about the old-time country school.The best known,of course is Whittier's: Still sits the schoolhouse on the hill, A ragged beggar,sunning. COAL OIL LAMPS GONE If the wooden Indian has entered the category of antiques and becomes valuable what will be the next to reach the cate- gory? How about the red and white striped poles which were once the universal sign of shops where barbers shaved and cut hair, but did not "Bob"?How about those glass bowls filled with colored water,several of them one above the other in a vertical column,which were once the signs of "apothecary shops,"be- fore they became "drug stores"-which sell very few drugs but much soda water,tobacco and lipsticks. Will the still familiar oil lamps,the kerosene lamp,become as rare,as much an antique as the candle mold already has been for some years?The electrification of America is going on with furious rapidity.The extension of wires to farms in a large way is just beginning.Within a time incredibly short,substan- tially eve"y farmhouse in America will be wired for electricity. 120 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD DECLARA TION OF INDEPENDENCE OF TEXAS IS AN INTERESTING DOCUMENT TO ALL TEXANS TEXAS DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE-SIGNERS As adopted by the delegates of the people of Texas,in gen- eral convention at the town of Washington,on the 2nd day of March,1836. When a Government has ceased to protect the lives,liberty and property of the people from whom its legitimate powers are derived,and for the advancement of whose happiness it was in- stituted,and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of their inestimable and inalienable rights,becomes an instru- ment in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression;when the Federal Republic Constitution of their country,which they have sworn to support,no longer has a substantial existence,and the whole nature of their Government has been forcibly changed without the consent,from a restricted Federative Republic,com- posed of sovereign States,to a consolidated central military despotism,in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and the priesthood,both the eternal enemies of civil lib- erty,the ever ready minions of power,and the usual instruments of tyrants;when,long after the spirit of the Constitution has departed,moderation is at length so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance of freedom is removed,and the forms themselves of the Constitution discontinued;and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded,the agents who bear them are thrown into dungeons and mercenary armies sent forth to force a new Government upon them at the point of the bayonet;when,at the point of the bayonet;when,in con- sequence of such acts of malfeasance and abdication on the part of the Government,anarchy prevails,and civil society is dis- solved into its original elements in such a crisis,the first law of nature,the right of self-preservation,the inherent and in- alienable right of the people to appeal to first principles,and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right toward themselves,and a sacred obligation to their posterity,to abolish such Government,and create an- other in its stead,calculated to rescue them from impending dangers and to secure their future welfare and happiness. Nations,as well as individuals,are amendable for their acts to the public opinion of mankind.A statement of a part of our. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 121 grievances is therefore submitted to an impartial world in usti- fication of the hazardous but unavoidable step now taken,of severing our policical connection with the Mexican people,and assuming an independent attitude among the nations of the earth. The Mexican Government,by its colonization laws,invited and induced the Anglo-American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness,under the pledged faith of a written Constitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth,the United States of America.In this expectation they have been cruelly disappointed,inasmuch as the Mexican Nation has acquiesced in the late changes made in the Government by Genera!Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna,".vho, having overturned the Constitution of his country,now offers us the cruel alternative,either to abandon our homes,acquired by so many privations,or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny,the combined despotism of the sword and the priest- hood.It hath sacrificed our welfare to the State of Coahuila, by which our interests have been continually depressed,through a jealous and partial course of legislation,carried on at a far- distant seat of government,by a hostile majority in an unknown tongue;and this,too,notwithstanding,we have petitioned in the humblest terms for the establishment of a separate State Government,and have,in accordance with the provisions of the National Constitution,presented to the General Congress a Re- publican Constitution which was without just cause,contemp- tuously rejected.It incarcerated in a dungeon,for a long time one of our citizens,for no other cause but a zealous endeavor to procure the acceptance of our Constitution,and the establish- ment Gf a State Government. It has failed and refused to secure,on a firm basis,the right of trail by jury,that palladium of civil liberty and only safe guarantee for the life,liberty and property of the citizen. It has failed to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources (the public domain),and although it is an axiom in political science that, unless a people are educated and enlightened,it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty,or the capacity for self-govern- ment.It has suffered the military commandments stationed among us to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny, 122 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD thus trampling upon the most sacred rights of the citizen,and rendering the military superior to the civil power. It has dissolved by forse of arms the State Congress of Coahuila and Texas,and obliged our representatives to fly for their lives from the seat of government,thus depriving us of the fundamental political right of representation.It has de- manded the surrender of a number of our citizens and ordered miliatry detachments to seize and carry them into the interior for trial,in contempt of the civil authorities and in defiance of the laws and the Constitution. It has made practical attacks upon our commerce by com- missioning foreign desperadies and authorizing them to seize our vessels and convey the property of our citizens to far-dis- tant ports for confiscation. It denies us the right of worshiping the Almighty accord- ing to the dictates of our own conscience,by the support of a national religion calculated to promote the temporal interests of its human functionaries rather than the glory of the true and li ving God. It has demanded us to deliver up our arms which are es- sential to our defense,the rightful property of free-man,and formidable only to tyrannical Governments.It has invaded our country both by sea and by land,with intent to lay waste our territory,and drive us from our homes;and has now a large mercenary army advancing to carryon against us a war of ex- termination. It has,through its emissaries,incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife to masacre the inhabit- ants of our defenseless frontiers. It has been,during the whole time of our connection with it,the contempt able sport and victim of successive military revolutions,and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak,corrupt and tyrannical Government. These and other grievances were patiently borne by the peo- ple of Texas,until they reached that point at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.They then took up arms in defense of the National Constitution.They appealed to their Mexican breth- ren for assistance.Their appeal has been made in vain;though months have elapsed,no sympathetic response has yet been heard from the interior.They are therefore forced to the melancholy conclusion that the Mexican people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty,and the substitution therefor CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 123 of a military despotism;that they are unfit to be free,and in- capable of self-government.The necessity of self-preservation, therefore,now decrees our eternal political separation. We,therefore,the delegates,with plenary powers,of the people of Texas,in solemn convention assembled,appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition,do hereby re- solve and declare that our political connection with the Mexican Nation has forever ended,and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free,sovereign and independent Republic,and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent States;and,conscious of the rectitude of our intentions,we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme Arbiter of the destinies of na- tions. Richard Ellis,President;C.B.Stewart,Thomas Barnett~ James Collingsworth,Edwin Waller,Asa Bringham,J.S.D. Byron,Francisco Ruis,Antonio Navarro,Jesse B.Badgett,S. Clark,Jr.,John Fisher,Matt Caldwell,Wm.Motley,L.de Zavals, H.C.Robertson,Geo.C.Childress,Steph.H.Everett,Geo.W. Smith,William D.Lacey,Wm.Menifee,James Gains,M.B. Menard,A.B.Hardin,Bailey Hardiman,J.W.Bunton,Thos. J.Gazeley,R.M.Coleman,Robert Potter,Thos.J.Rusk,Chas. S.Taylor,Jno.S.Roberts,Robert Hamilton,Collin McKinnee, Alb.H.Lattimer,Martin Palmer,Elijah Stapp,Claiborne West, Wm.E.Scates,E.O.Legrand,S.W.Blount,Syd.O.Bennington, W.C.Crawford,J.Power,Sam Houston,David Thomas,Edward Conrad,John Turner,E.Briggs Goodrich,G.W.Barnett,James G.Swisher,Jesse Grimes. DECLARATION SIGNER JOHN W.BUNTON By Lorena Drummond Forming the nucleus for a noteworthy collection of pictures, possessions and personal documents of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence,Mrs.Mattie Austin Hatcher, archivist of the University of Texas,has secured a number of memorabilia of John W.Bunton who came to Texas from Tenn- essee in 1833 at the age of 25 years,and settled near his old friend,Edward Burleson,in what is now Bastrop County. Among the effects of Mr.Bunton,all of which have come to the University library through the efforts of his grand-daugh- 1'24 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ter,Miss Brewie Bunton of Kyle,are his photograph,his cattle brand,the "Turkey Foott"brand,brands of brothers and those of several of his sons,and a letter written to him in 1837 by J. Pinckney Henderson,then a special agent and minister from Texas to the English and French Courts.Mr.Bunton was born, reared and educated in Tennessee.He belonged to the State militia of Tennessee and took an active part in the Indian fights on the Tennessee frontier.When he came to Texas he found the colonists needing men of his type to help combat the en- croachments of Mexican tyranny.The first steps toward an independent organization in Texas were made through commit- tees of safety,according to a sketch of Mr.Bunton by an his- torian dealing with the signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence,Mr.Bunton active in organizing one of the first of these committee,that at Mina,later known as Bastrop,in May,1835, and was chosen as its first secretary. The same historian declares,"This committee was selected by a mass meeting of the settlers of Mina.There were a num- ber of colonists who took part in this mass meeting who after- ward became conscpicuous in the affairs of the republic.Mr. Bunton was a man less than 30 years of age,strong and vigorous and filled with enthusiastic desire to render service to the coun- try.He was a man of commanding personality,accustomed to hard and arduous labor. BUNTON BECOMES LEADER "Mr.Bunton soon became prominently identified with the settlement and development of the country and joined in its de- fense against Indian raids.So active did he become in the coun- try's defense that he was soon recognized as a leader in thought and action."When a consultation of all the people was called in 1835 to meet at San Felipe he was urged to permit the use of his name as a candidate to represent the municipality of Bas- trop.He was elected by a large majority over two opponents. He attended the convention and joined in proclaiming a Declara- tion of Independence from Mexico and was a signer of that in- strument.When a committee was formed to draft a constitu- tion Mr.Bunton was appointed on that committee.He was ap- pointed chairman of a special committee to report on the con- dition of the regular army. . "After the adjournment of the convention Mr.Bunton join- THE CAPITOL The Natural .Mile~tone from which All Distances Should Be Made " CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 125 ed Company C,First Regiment Texas V olunteers,and partici- pated in the Battle of San Jacinto.He made a record for bravery and daring in the precipitous charge against the Mexican breast- works.His towering form,said Captain Billingsley,could be seen amidst the thicket of the fight.He penetrated so far in the ranks of the defenders of the breastworks that it is miracu- lous that he was not killed.But he came out of the deadly con- flict unscathed." After Mr.Bunton's return to his home,following the vic- tory at San Jacinto,he was elected a member of the First Con- gress of the Republic and was again chosen a member of the Third Congress.He died about 1872. THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS One of the first official acts of Sam Houston as President of the Republic of Texas in 1838,was to place Texas under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.His first agent made known his wishes and wants.In 1841 another trial was made; soon after this,another.Envoy with powers were sent.Noth- ing,however,was accomplished. In 1845 the Oregon boundary was up and causing great confusion in the country and Texas dispute was at its height. The war with Great Britain being threatened,and the Texas controversy ended with a war with Mexico.President Polk's administration now had settled the northwestern boundary question.A joint resolution had taken place in Congress with the result of annexing Texas to the Federal Union.General Zachary Taylor was ordered to the Rio Grande on the 11th of March to commence correspondence with Mexican Dictator Paredes on the true boundary of the new state. The debate to admit Texas into the Union had been warm in both houses of Congress,and the excitement attending the final passage of the bill was intense. Men were more occupied with magnifying the dangers to be apprehended from a possible extension of the slavery question than in contemplating the grave importance in every aspect of public economy and of National agrandizement of possessing such a great territory for future improvement and use as the soil of Texas,its commercial value was lost sight of.Its com- mand of the gulf trade,o_rthe most western parts of the Atlan- tic,was overlooked,and only a few men dared to maintain that 126 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the wants of posterity would render the new state an invaluable possession.Against all of the dread that was debated,and deemed of little iml;>ortance in the turbulent expressions of the slave trade,involving the perpetuation of African servitude. Daniel Webster said of the new state,"The great and vast and immitable Texas."A prophesy was made by Mexican news \vriters,"Texas is gone-gone forever-beyond redemption to our natural enemies,the Anglo-Americans." The Mexican prophesy was fulfilled and the wisdom of Gen- eral Sam Houston was more than fulfilled,who had patiently sought and confidently persevered.After this,we find Senator Houston debating on Texas of her vast domain and multiform resources.The soil and climate as such that the state is now looked upon as the "Garden of the V/orld." Another point Senator Houston made,"Texas is the Great Commercial Isthmus,by which the nations of the earth will pass ere long to the Pacific Ocean." Back to Texas Republic Road Bill.General Sam Houston had a law passed in Texas Republic to improve Old San Antonio Road.President Lamar vetoed the bill. Debating in United States Senate,he says,"A military road is now needed to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,and to run over the great Isthmus of Texas to California by the Government for purposes which prudent statesmen can easily comprehend as possible,and a wide policy will not neglect so important to us as a commercial people,and as a Nation,the money expended by the Government is repairing forts and build- ing fortifications on the western frontiers might be disbursed more judiciously in the construction of military roads which would be safe highways for the great tide of emigration sweep- ing westward.The question of the Province of Congress with respect to internal improvements does not trench upon this species of enterprise,for the wants of the people and the de- mands of humanity alike suggest that the Federal Government should make some provision for opening ways across the coun- try to our western shores.Our design is to show that Texas is the ground over which the "Great National Road to the Pacific" must pass,and so well assured are we of this that we advert to it as another proof of the great importance of Texas to the Union. The conformations of continents and oceans must make Texas the highway from New York to San Francisco. There are other reasons for estimating the acquisition of CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 127 , Texas as a National blessing.When we reflect upon what she might have become had we refused her admission to the Union, we can look upon the past only with mingled feelings of dread and thankfulness.Had the sectional animosity that opposed the admission of Texas prevailed,the most serious consequences might have ensued.Happily the luxuriant and swelling prairies, the fertile hills,and the beautifully irrigated valleys of that de., lightful country are our own.Happily that coast which stretch- es along the Gulf of Mexico is ours for the enlargement of com- merce and for the protection of our southern borders.Happily the jurisdiction of the United States,though it has no power over her domain,as in some other territories,can be exerted to extend the benefits of legislation to her people and to those who hereafter may desire to become residents of that State,or journey in it on their way to the extreme West.Whenever the road to California is completed,then over this Commercial Isth- mus of the continent,the American people will appreciate how far superior to all minor questions are those great national ones which involve the happiness of millions upon millions of men, and which tend to perpetuate the security of the Nation;at any time liable to aggression from nations desirous to check of our advancing prosperity between the two oceans which gird our shores. Already,thousands of persons have emigrated to that State where all the enjoyments and privileges of refinement and civil- ization are rapidly increasing to open an inviting way,hy an overland route to California,and thus to secure to the United States the full measure of prosperity promised by the discovery and acquisition of the gold regions of the Pacific.Health and its preservation are not trivial subjects of importance,and emi- grants will select the road through Texas in preference to any other,when it is built,because it will offer the greatest number of facilities for a speedy and safe passage to the Pacific Coast. Should then the future establish Texas as the great gate and highway to California,how much reason have we to congratu- late ourselves on the annexation of Texas,once seemed so dis- astrous,and how pitiably insignificant in comparison to the slavery question as a harrier to the march of all nations toward increased happiness and prosperity. On the whole,we may rejoice we have Texas in the Union, and learn also from the outcry made against her admission how important it is to believe the North is the differer by what is 128 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD said to be the extension of the "peculiar institutions"of the South.May the day come when the agitation on this subject shall cease,that involuntary servitude may perish from natural causes,and not be made stronger by the very means employed to destroy its existence. POLITICAL FATHER The call of Texas came to General Sam Houston,our Em- pire builder,to make the Old San Antonio Road the open road across Texas,the National Highway.The road from the be- ginning had an official standing in the Texas Republic days.We have had a revival,revivified and reproduced it,and dedicated it to our Empire Builder,General Sam Houston,who loved his country and state,and worked to portray the soul of the nation in every position he filled.He was the forest hero,the Empire Builder that visioned and designed for a greater Texas. SCRAPBOOKS TELL OF FIRST TEXAS INAUGURAL BALL Yellowed San Augustine Paper Describes Colorful 1846 Scenes at Austin Thousands Trek to Capital in Anticipation of Celebration Marking Annexation to United States Early February,1846,saw every narrow road and winding trail in East Texas leading toward the new outpost capitol of Texas at Austin,which but a few months before had been actual- ly threatened with invasion by savage Indians.From little Jasper,from old San Augustine and quaint historic Nacog- doches;from the village of Beaumont and the huddle of homes that was the town of Liberty they were traveling westward, some in covered wagons,the majority horseback but moving across Texas with happy faces....For they were going to witness the passing of Texas,the Republic,and the inaugura- tion of an East Texan as the new state's first governor,and they were going to dance-young and old,dressed in buckskin and broadcloth,jeans and homespuIls,by candlelight at the greataet hall Texas ever witnessed. To a man,and to a woman,they saw the importance of the \ C\PlTOL CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 129 occasion.They visualized the colorful character of the original Texas counties,only a fragment of the number today,was to be represented. Those who couldn't go were to build bonfires,ring bells, shoot guns and hold their own little dances in log school houses at home....But if there was a way at all they were going to Austin to see J.Pinkney Henderson of San Augustine become the first governor as the great Anson Jones,last president of the republic,stepped down with.the words,"Texas is no more I" They went from every corner of the republic,but the greater numbers and the greater names were to represent the old coun- ties of East Texas between the Trinity and the Sabine,for that country was the Texas cradle land. In a few old scrapbooks in Beaumont and San Augustine are yellowed accounts of the spectacular first inaugural ball and the names of some who attended.But even cemented more firm- ly in the folklore of the pineys is the memory of stories told by grandmothers at firesides of the day and night of February 16, 1846,when Texas was born as a state and the Lone Star flag was dipped above the low hanging eaves of the little capitol of the junior American republic. Crowds had been arriving at the 'capitol for days,one East Texan wrote of the event,in anticipation of the festivities.Some few had come in rather stately,in mud be-spattered family coaches drawn by four or six mules,and accompanied by a caval- cade of outriders,male and female,for in those days it was neigh- borly (and much safer)to travel in companies large enough to intimidate prowing Indians,or to awe the "knights of the road," who piled their lucrative profession at the very gates of the cap- itol....Though put in moderate language,what this East Texan meant was that there was still much danger from the In- dians and even more from highwaymen,especially as they left the protective hills of East Texas and struck across the blue- bonneted plains. The picture,especially because it concerns the grandsires of many an old family of the eastern tier,captivates.You hear a banjo,a guitar,and a voice singing "Suzanna,"or the notes of a fiddle doing the San Jacinto song "Come to the Bower." They were happy,odd though it might seem to some tday, that Texas,the Republic,was going out....If you will follow Grandma and Grandpa to the primitive capitol and stand with 130 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD them as Dr.Anson Jones brings the republic to a close,you'll learn why. But we're "still on the trail marking for little Austin on the Colorado.Many came packed like sardines,the chronicler says, in the great bodies of the ambling,pitching prarie schooners and leisurely creeping into the town drawn by yokes of seem- ingly clumsy oxen-Longhorns from the first Texas herds. Little Anahuac,on Trinity bay,was there,represented by Thomas Jefferson Chambers,the general who was soon to be assassinated. But the majority rode gaily on horseback with their ball gowns and regimentals securely packed in satchels and saddle- bags,and strange,often ludicrous handboxes dangling grote- squely at the saddle bows. Venerable old dames and gallant old beaux describe the decorations of that ballroom,and the gorgeous attire of the ladies and gentlemen present....Myriads of tallow candles in primitive candelabra made of cross pieces of boards nailed to a central rod,the latter securely fitted to the great log joist sup- porting the heavy roof,illuminated the scene "with soft and re- fulgent splendor." And the orchestra?Two fiddles and a harp composed it. The dances were the quadrille,the Contra Dance,and the latest innovation,welcomed quite as heartily as a new dance would be today,the Lanciers,brought from France. And the crowd which danced Old Alcalde,Henderson, Blount,Cartwright,Broocks,and many a lesser figure to Texas. "On his arm (the editor is speaking of Houston)and with her beautiful face aglow with the varied emotions suggested by the significance of the celebration,rested the delicate hand of Mrs.Anson Jones. In the grand march that opened the ball,this noted couple led the beauty and bravery of that peerless society.The couples fell in behind the illustrious leaders,and the paradoxes,and grades of society were exemplified in the costumes and deport- ment of that motley but heroic company. Though the age of realism in writing hadn't quite shown its head,our editor nevertheless touched,if lightly,upon the fact that all who were there,though Texans,couldn't have qualified for the Texas social register of 1846. "Governor Henderson,erect,stately,superbly appareled held on his arm the young and beautiful daughter,who not long CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD )IT: after was to become a princess by her marriage into the royal family of Prussio....Capt.Jack Hays,small,slight,mildeyed and graceful as a willow,jangled his cavalry spurs and shone resplendent in his full suit of Indian wrought buckskins. Capt.Sam Walker in the picturesqure uniform of a Texas ranger,chatted and danced with the fairest....The stately Lamar,and debonair Bell bowed and pirouetted and uttered bon mots and smiled at the titlle-tattle of their youthful partners as though the end of tribulation had come and there was to be no tomorrow." Haughty belles from great Brazos river plantations were there,with perhaps some from Louisiana.It behooved them all to have made the long and dangerous pilgrimages to the capitol as the First Society of the State, Many who didn't come kept open house along the highways for the travelers. Texas had in reality passed from a republic into American statehood December 29,1845,but it was to be these numbers under the flickering candle light beneath the great log joists! A remarkable company,perhaps the most remarkable in the his- tory of the southwest. There were matrons and maids,old men and young,some bearded;statesmen and soldiers,adventurers a plenty who would have gladly died with Crockett at the Alamo.Some whose repu- tations were a little shady;more than one outstanding Texan who was to take his own life later,wealthy planters from the Brazos,but tonight they are just one great crowd of Texans.... For a moment they are all looking forward,and they have for- gotten Alabama,the Carolinas,Mississippi,the Volunteer Ten- nessee,for Texas hasn't finished her fighting yet,and even Santa Anna is coming back into the picture once more. Crowds passed that handsome fellow of 27 in the rather narrow doorway,which faces the speaker's dias.It's 89 years ago,but they'll let us in....There's old Sam.But Houston, though not as slim as he was,is resplendent tonight.-The general is in finest broadcloth tonight,the coat a swal- low tail with deep rolling collar,thickly padded chest and shoulders,waistcoat cut heart shape and fastened with seven .velvet buttons,and displaying a wealth of tucked shirt front. His trousers are very tight and fastened down very securely with straps over the well turned bOuts.He carries a large ebony, 131 132 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD cane,headed with solid gold and wears a broad,low beaver hat with a broad cloth black ribbon about the crown. But we'll let,we'll say,the editor of the old newspaper of San Augmstine describe it.Perhaps he didn't know it when he wrote his squibs in the 40s,but they were to become too precious to repose anywhere but in the archives of the University at Austin.Anyway,San Augustine should write the piece,for it had contributed Roberts,the nearly two months later that final action would be taken and the gavel of the president fall for the last time. And it fell,some few hours before the inaugural ball opened in the same room,in the first rude state house.Together sat Dr.Jones cultured and dignified,and the equally chivalrous J.Pinkney Henderson of San Augustine;whose old home you may see there today.He was a linguist of ability,and familiar with the exclusive courts of Europe.Before them were scores of the supporters of the government of Texas through its strug- gles and perils. "All was joy in the new state,"wrote the reporter of 1846. "In every hamlet and every town,in the country school houses,and in the campgrounds;in the pretentious cities along the coast (some of which have since become ghost towns,the people assembled to the firing of cannon,the ringing of bells, the shouts of boisterous youths,and the singing of women and girls,and gave free vent to their gratitude and delight. "All day the festivities continued,and at night bonfires and flames sputtered,and orators of many localities paid ex- travagant eulogies to the friends of annexation in the older states and congratulated their friends upon the culmination of all their political sorrows." The greatest reason for these feelings was that Texas,from the Rio Grande east to the Sabine,could throw off its cloak of fear. They had seen that not much longer could Texas make it alone.Now she was a chick under a great mother's protecting wing.That mother was the United States. Without her she could not much longer stay the forays of the hawk-Mexico.The republic to the south had warned all other nations to keep hands off Texas. And then it had been plainly shown that many in the United States did not want to take Texas into the Union.But in 1844- 45 in the partisan campaign between the arrogant whigs and CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 133 the true democracy of the United States,the slogan which the democrats hurled at the republic whigs was "Polk,Dallas,and Texas !"No song ever carried a sweeter refrain to the listening Texans'ears,and it won and congress annexed Texas. The formal conclusions of a treaty of annexation was con- summated between Texas and the United States by Upshur,and the commissioners sent from Texas,April 12,1844. March 1,1845,the treaty in the case was that Texas was growing wearisome of the burdens of the republic and fear of Mexico.Her credit,never good,had steadily declined.Her bonds to the amount of $'5,000,000,had sought the markets of America and the sources of Europe in vain,for purchasers were warned off by the open declaration of Mexico that Texas was her "rebellious department."When England loaned Texas $5,000,000 it charged her a million in interest. But June,1840,paper issued by Texas for internal currency had fallen to 17 cents on the dollar,and at the close of that year it dropped to 14 cents.These promissory notes drove all specie out of active circulation. Its leading coins had been Mexican silver dollars sawed into four quarters which passed for 25-cent pieces.In 1841 the imports reached one and a third million dollars,but exports amounted to little more than $200,000.A deficit of more than a million confronted the government. Then there was internal strife,and the republic had tried to descend upon Santa Fe in New Mexico and take that terri- tory in one of the strangest acts in all the history of the south- west. The sixth congress brought laughter upon itself by an act "extending the boundaries of Texas to include Tamaulipas,Coa- huila,Durango,Simaloe,and the whole of New Mexico and the two Californias."So actually,by congressinal law,Texas did once extend to the far Pacific Coast. Even the eastern boundary had not been perfectly defined, and the "No Man's Land"of the Sabine then existed.Plainly, the scattered settlers were fearful of Mexican arms.They had a right to be. So,with the final act of annexation ready to be completed, Texas was indeed joyous,and East Texas with the rest of the state,traveled horseback to Austin to celebrate. 134 CAMINO REAIr-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD WAR WITH MEXICO The annexation of Texas,accomplished in February,1846, brought on a war with Mexico which began in the following April. The war with Mexico was not regarded with favor in the North and East,where the abolition leaders saw in it a scheme to extend slave territory.The poet Whittier,hearing of the terms of peace which the Polk administration would impose on Mex- ico,and that they would take the country west to the ocean, wrote a note of sympathy to the Mexican people,warning them that the invader was coming: "Let the Sacramento herdsmen heed what sound the wind brings down, Of footsteps on the crisping snow,from cold Nevada's crown, Full hot and fast the Saxon rides,with rein of travel slack, And bending o'er his saddle leaves the sunrise at his back." Anticipating that war with Mexico would follow annexa- tion,President Polk sent General Zachary Taylor with a small force to Corpus Christi in July,1845,and in March,1846,he marched down to the Rio Grande where he was met by a Mexi- can army. In May the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de La Palma were fought on the Texas side of the river. The President offered commissions to both Senators Hous- ton Houston and Rusk and when they declined,he named the new Governor J.Pinckney Henderson to command the Texas troops.Many of the survivors of the San Jacinto campaign were in Taylor's army,among them ex-President Lamar,Wood and Bell,who were afterwards governors of Texas.There were about eight thousand Texas~troops in the Mexican war-the celebrated regiment of Rangers commandfed by Colonel Jack Hays being among them. At the close of the war the United States took not only Tex- as,but the country to the west to California and Oregon. SAM HOUSTON I will tell of Texas'part in the Confederacy and her politics in the beginning of the fifties. This era was the beginping when Texas adopted the "Am- SAMuEL HOUSTON CAMINO REAL--OLD'SAN ANTONIO ROAD IS!) erican Plan"of party alignment,where men and issues were de- bated and decided in noise and tumult and whose party affilia- tion is higher than reason or principle. In the colonial days of Texas there had been an issue be- tween those who were sincere in their adherence to Mexico,of whom Austin was the leader and a radical element which favored independence,and,were impatient for the time to come to de- clare it.The Whartons were the leaders of this element.Hence the reference to the Austins and the Wharton faction was found in The Chronicles of the time. During the ten years of the Republic,Houston was the dominant force,and for six of the ten years he was President, and the nearest approach to party lines was between those for and those who were against him. The first four Governors of Texas were chosen for personal reasons.Henderson,the first Governor,was elected in 1845 without opposition,and retired after a year.His successor was George Tyler Wood,had served under ray lor in the War of 1846,and elected by his comrades.In 1849,defeated by Peter Bell also soldier in the War of 1846 and San Jacinto Battle,re- elected in 1851 and the following year was chasen to represent the Western District in Congress and James Smoky Henderson of Houston,filled out a small remnant of his term,serving one more month. Coming mostly from Southern States,our people then were Democrats and there were too few dissenters to raise issue dur- ing the first ten years of Statehood.Then too,the Democratic party had brought about annexation over the opposition of the Whigs,and this was an added reason,if one were wanted,to make our people adhere to the Democrats.That party had backed the war with Mexico which all Texas regarded as a holy crusade. The first Democratic convention ever held in Texas met in Austin,February 21,1848,to select delegates to the National convention in Baltimore.Thirty-five counties were represent- ed.The delegates chosen supported General Cass of Michigan for President,and in the November election in Texas he re- ceived 10,668 votes while General Taylor,the Whig candidate received 4,509 votes.Senator Houston's objection to the Kan- sas-Nebraska Bill met violent oppositin in Texas,where the Demcratic leaders had announced it as a great party measure. So ,against Houston,a Corsicana paper published a statement 136 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD that he had basely and treacherously betrayed the cause of the state and asked:"Will Texas endorse this course and tamely submit,not only to be misrepresented but have her interests assailed by Houston in conjunction with his abolition allies?" Is there not enough of the spirit of 1776 and 1836 in Texas to defend against the attacks of our own Sepator?No fewer than 22 counties of conventions held in the fall of 1855 adopted reso- lution of Kansas-Nebraska Bill and disapproving Senator Hous- ton's attitude,many of the counties recommended the State Legislature demand his resignation from the Senate.Even his home county,Walker County,demanded the Legislature to in- struct him to vacate his seat in the Senate. 11118G7 a straight Democratic party ticket ,:vas named and Harden Runnels of Red River County was appointed then,then Harden Runnels was Lieutenant Governor of Texas.The activi- ties of General Houston and opposition to his affiliations led to this party which was a defiance of General Houston's power and place.Houston immeditely accepted the challenge announc- ing Independent Candidate for Governor.Opposing candidates stumped the state.All the venom and fury of such campaigns found the bitterness to charge General Houston after twenty years of laboring for the state that he was a coward and traitor, and had only been forced to win the battle of San Jacinto only because he was drunk and had been forced to fight and victory was won by others. Judge Regan was the Democratic candidate for Congress against Lemuel D.Evans and in the joint debate,Evans could not answer a letter. Regan produced only by drawing his pistol.Judge Regan calmly drew his pistol and said:"Evans,I do not want to kill you,but I want to go to Congress."General Houston was de- feated for Governor by Runnels but two years later he defeated Runnels for Governor by 9,000 votes. In 1860 a call by P.M.Roberts for the Secession Convention with the signatures of more than seventy-five Texas leaders in politics,for January 28,1861.The meeting opened with "Lin- coln has been elected President and it will bring a crisis upon us." Seeing that this convention would assemble,Governor Houston convened the Legislature for January 21st.He was now convinced to present Secession was in vain but he urged the people should be given the opportunity to pass upon what- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 137 ever plan the convention promulgated.The plan was one to elect delegates to be held in January.Mass meetings,barbe- cues were the order of the day,and the union and the dis-union seakers argued the issue everywhere.But the union element had no strong aggressor leaders except Houston and the Union sympathizers seemed to have lost their cour~S'e and did not vote. The aggressive leaders on the other hand carried everything before them. The convention met on January 28,1861,and adopted the Ordnance of Secession..The two grounds slated for the with- drawal from the Union were the failure of the Federal Govern- ment to give protection to the people upon the frontiers of Tex- as and the recent development of affairs evidencing the inten- tion of striking down the interest and prosperity of Texas and her sister slave holding states.This resolution was adopted by the convention by a vote of 167 to 7. Throckmorton,delegate from Collin County,spoke out in strong opposition to the Ordnance as he had opposed Secession in the Legislature a few months before. The resolution provided for its submission to the people of Texas on the 23rd day of February,1861,and unless rejected by a majority of the votes cast,it was to become effective on the 2nd day of the following March.At this election in Febru- ary,39,415 votes were cast for the Ordnance and 13,841 oppos- ing.Texas was out of the Union,twenty-five years from the day of its Independence from Mexico was declared at Washing- ton on the Brazos,and incidentally on General Houston's 68th birthday. The arrangement,now General Frank Lubbock and Terry procured a commission to raise a Texas regiment.When Texas was divided into thirty-three military districts,General Lub- bock estimated in the fall of 1861 Texas had twenty thousand men in arms.No arsenal established at Austin,where cannon were manufactured,copper for which was brought from Mexi- co.A cap and cartridge factory was established in the Su- preme Court Chambers. Galveston was captured by Federal troops in October,1862, but recaptured in January,1863.In 1863,the Federals made a second attempt to subjugate Texas by an army of about six thousand from New Orleans to enter the state by way of Sa- bine Pass.From this point the Federals planned to advance to. Beaumont and Houston.The little fort at Sabine Pass was held 138 CAMINO REAL-.OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD by Lieut.Dick Dowling and forty-seven men and when two Fed- eral gun boats-the Clifton and Sackim-attacked it on Sep- tember 6,they were disabled and the other four gun boats and twenty-three transports with the six thousand soldiers hastily retreated to New Orleans.The two gun boats and their crews of three hundred and fifty men were captured.This defense of Sabine Pass has ever been claimed one of the most brilliant events of the Confederacy.It saved Texas from invasion and was a victory won against overwhelming odds.The third at- tempt from along the Rio Grande.This caused by five of the Federals of the French joining the Mexicans in Mexico.The fourth attempt was forces sent out from New Orleans to invade Texas but was defeated before reaching the Texas border.Tex- as strained every nerve to help the Confederacy with men and supplies. On January 5,1863,the record revealed 68,500 Texans in service.One hundred thirty-four officers above Lieut.Colonel who were from Texas.Among them were Albert Sidney John- ston,Lieutenant General John B.Hood,Major General L.B.Max- ley,John A.Wharton and Tom Green in Texas.There were 32 Brigadier Generals and 97 Colonels in the Confederate Army. TEXAS AT WAR The Secession convention immediately appointed a commit- tee of public safety which began immediately to rid the state of the Federal troops.A large part of the standing army at that time was stationed in various parts of the state.At San Antonio,Brownsville,along the Rio Grande and Indian Fron- tiers.The Veteran General David E.Twiggs who had been in the army since his youth was in command of the Department of Texas with headquarters at San Antonio.He was a Geor- gian and his sympathies lay with the south. Now Judge Regan who had withdrawn from Congress to participate in this convention.He called on Governor Hous- ton to urge that the State Government throw no obstacle in the way of the people of Texas who were overwhelmingly in favor of Secession.The Governor replied,"I was born and have been reared in the South,and have received all my honor from the South and I will not draw my sword against-my own people,but our .people are going to war to perpetuate slavery and the first gun fired in the war will be death knell of slavery." CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 139 On March 2nd,the convention required the people to pass a decree of oath to !'mpport Secession.Sam Houston,Governor, and E.W.Carn,Secretary,failed to appear and subscribe to the oath for Secession.Thus it was recited,Sam Houston,Gover- nor and E.W.Carn,Secretary having refused to appear and take the oath,therefore,be it resolved,the office of Governor and Secretary of State had failed to sign the required oath,the of- fice of Governor and Secretary be left open.Thus in his old public life Houston passed as a figure in consistent dignity which today amounts to a grandeur.A career which for hu- man dignity and interest and lofty achievements has no paral- lel in all history. As we go on down to the Texas at War,the sub committee of States at Washington made a demand again.General David E.Twiggs having fears he was now about to accede to the de- mands of Texas when he was removed,and Colonel C.\V.Waite appointed instead. President Lincoln sent special commissioners to Austin to confer with Houston to render assistance necessary,but Houston declined. The last days of war and the prophecy of all the evils by Sam Houston had now come to pass. The confederacy had fallen.Lee had surrendered and Joseph E.Johnston hard pressed by Sherman was retreating with a remnallt of what was once a mighty army. The Trans-Mississippi commanded by General Kirby Smith had fifty thousand men of whom were Texans,most of them at Houston and Galveston where were General lVfagraders head- quarters.There were schemes on foot to offer an alliance with Austrian Emperor McMillian of Mexico who knew the U.S. would be after him as soon as the south.Suppressed in this way it was hoped to involve the Government at Washington in a war with the Austrian Government. President Davis and cabinet left Richmond on the night of April 2,1865,and on the 11th conferred with Joseph E.John- ston.Davis was told Sherman had sent word that he could have the country by way of Cuba and he would assist him.This President Davis refused as his cabinet hurried along through North Carolina,Georgia and other states,the cabinet members took leave,going in different directions.Judah Benjamin de- claringhe was bound for Cuba if he could get there but landed in London... 140 CAMINO REAI~-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Judge Regan who still clung to the sinking ship having had at Attorney General the chest of war turned over to him. The treasury contained $80,000 in Specie,and 800,000 in treas- ury notes;a large part of the silver was divided among the sol- diers who escorted the cabinet and the gold was delivered to a Naval Officer who hoped to be able to ship it abroad to some fiscal agency of the Confederacy.When Judge Regan reached Georgia,he had the boxes of treasury notes brought to his room. He ordered a fire built in the open grate and alone he burned the last of the Confederate money,winding up the fiscal affairs of the Government. THE LAST DAYS OF THE WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION AGAIN FACES THE UNITED STATES The cession of Louisiana to Spain in 1762 removed France as a contestant for territory,and pushed the boundary from the Sabine to the Mississippi,where they found a new neighbor in England,a neighbor to be replaced only two decades later by the new nation which the English colonists had set up as the fruit of revolution-the United States of North America. Spain saw the first evidence of a new peril when in 1800 eleven citizens of the United States were marched through her streets of San Antonio in chains,the survivors of an armed ex- pedition into Texas led by Philip Nolan,who had been killed and his followers destroyed or captured.In the same year Louis- iana was re-delivered to France to be sold by Napoleon to the United States in 1803.So Spain again faced the United States, and this time at the Sabine instead of the Mississippi. From the first friction arose as to the boundary,the United States later reviving the French claim that the rightful western border of Louisiana was the Rio Grande. The missions had been secularized and practically discon- tinued.New settlers were thronging in,Spaniards,Creoles,na- tive Mexicans,Frenchmen,Americans,Indians of both pure and mixed extraction. San Antonio was beginning to develop that cosmopolitan character which today so emphatically distinguishes it-prac- tically every race being now represented within its limits.Hun- dreds of troops were permanently quartered there,a recognition of the military and strategic value of San Antonio,a value CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 141 recognized today by the United States in maintaining there one of the largest army posts in the Republic. Already its wonderful climate,health laden beyond descrip- tion,its mild and sunny winters,its uniform and delightful tem- perature,had begun to attract people from all parts of the world. It is little wonder,therefore,that it has become today,nearly 120 years later,one of the notable tourist centers of the Nation, its hotels having an equipment and a hospitality that make them one of its most attractive features. In spite of Spain not allowing its habitants to trade with their fellow colonists in Louisiana,there was a continued coming and going of traders,trappers,gold-seekers,monks,Indians and now and then the ,,,hite face of the American trader,traveled westward driving before them trains of mules loaded with ingots of silver sewed up in rawhide sacks,on their way to Natchito- ches,one thousand miles distant. Through this pathway,now the garden spot of Texas,in 1719,began the many contests over this trail for the conquest of the Texas country. At the close of the Mexican Revolution in 1821,by the tri- umph at Iturbede,the Missions firmly established by Spain for a hundred and six years for the retention and defense of nearly two thousand miles of frontier were allowed to decay. Mexico,on adopting the Constitution in 1822,enacted the first colonization laws,and Stephen F.Austin,having received his grant for a colony,passed over the San Antonio Road into Texas and planted his colonists on the banks of the Brazos River.It was the first of a long procession of similar migra- tions.Through the long days of the 30's and 40's this highway carried thousands and thousands of population who sought homes,peace and plenty.As the caravans wound their tubu- lous way toward the sinking sun,the Indians along the route often became troublesome and strict guards were often sent by the Army Post at Fort Jessup,lest a foraging band capture the horses and cattle. With the discovery of a nugget of virgin gold in a ditch at Sacramento,California,in 1848,the westward movement was quite different in character.A horde of adventurers,mostly young men,made their way from Missouri,Tennessee,Mississ- ippi and Louisiana,down the Natchez Trace to Natchez,and across Texas over the mail route from San Antonio to San Diego, California. 142 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Life became a cheap and futile thing,and out of the condi- tions arose a grim fearlessness that knew nothing but the thrill of success,or the d€'ep oblivion of death.It was the Indian whose stealthy step or startling war cry set the blood of the pioneers running like icy water through his veins.For the redman show- ed no respect for the dead and left his victim mutilated-a thing of horror on the plains. There are thousand of nameless graves forgotten on Texas prairies,and there are thousands and thousands of crumpled bones mingled in the surface and the soil.But,out of all of this chaos of a past existence,one thing remains.Here and there across the hills and prairies where the plow of the farmer has not broken the sod,are deep ruts in the earth-ruts cut by the wagon wheels of the pioneers. When we study the lives of Buddha,Confucius,Moses,Plato, Washington and Lincoln,in their travel activities on the high- ways of life,I can think of nothing more illuminating as a guide to human conduct than human history.History does not repeat itself,the forms matter takes and the work energy performs do change.The organic needs and hunger drive man today as yes- terday,as in pre-Combian days,they drove their ancestors.Man alone can get men free,and only life itself in human beings can renew its youth and speed up the race for freedom.The high- ways are the arteries through which man has explored and re- mold the world.The rivers and oceans were the highways that chartered the unknown for the discovery of America by Balboa and Columbus.The Mississippi River for La Salle and other adventurous spirits of the Southwest. Fast-yes,we live at an incredible speed.Experience is disseminated,and things and beings are transported across lands and seas,unknown a few centuries ago,and inconceivable to the pioneers of the Pony Express. We have for our State the romance of its heroes,of its sac- rifices,of its valor.Another source we have overlooked is the romance of religion,to be included in our Statehood Centennial celebration,if we are to rehearse the origin and beginning of our progress.Through knowledge we behold the world's creation. In carrying "The cross into the wilderness,""The light of the world,"from darkness to light,lighting up the mountain sides of Eastern New Spain,now Texas,by the Spaniards,when they built the first mission on this soil to Christianize the Indian and hold the Texas Domain,called Tehas in Spanish.Over in East- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 143 ern Texas at San Pedro Springs,near Crockett,Houston Coun- ty,the first mission in Texas was built by De Leon,a Francis- can priest in 1690,twenty years before the San Antonio Mis- sions were built. This was real religion,heroic in effort,dealing with a uni- verse,a stern old Sphinx who had to be wooed and won,and as long as there was death,pain and disillusionment,there was adventure of the most stirring sort with the attempt of the Franciscan Priest and Spanish soldiers to be friends with it. Today in Texas this spot is but the frozen echo of the silent voice of God.I would designate "The Shrine of Faith,"by hav- ing a park east of the Trinity River on the Neches,or upper Angelina River,where lived the Hasainai Confederacy of In- dians,composed of 16 tribes,16 chiefs and a King called Xenesi, who iound and gave the name Texas,and tied it to our horizon. They were barbarians.Unlike the savages that roamed the forests and plains,they had a fixed habitation between th~ Trinity and Sabine Rivers and were found here in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Dionysius puts it,"We possess our true being in one another and history in one another."In De Mezures travels across Tex- as in 1778 Dr.Bolton tells in the foreword: "West of the Sabine River,on the Angelina and upper Neches,was the Compact,the Hasainai Confederacy of Indians, consisting of 16 tribes,of which the best known were the Hainai, Nacogdoches,Nebadache,Nasoni,Nadaco,Neche Aia.None of the tribes lived as far West as the Trinity River.They lived in scattered hamlets,agricultural villages in large conical com- munal grass lodges,and raised extensive crops of corn,calu- baches and sun flowers.The Caddoan tribes of Louisiana were allied to the Hasainai Confederacy.On the Rio Grande were the Coahuilitan tribes.At Natchitoches,Louisiana,was the French Trading Post.At Nacogdoches the Indian Trading Post.At San Antonio an Indian Post.Hence the romance of the road in the origin and beginning of Texas history,called King's Gam- ino Real,Presidio Road,Mission Road,(Old San Antonio Road now chartered)and has been designated by Governor Dan Moody "The Great Centennial Highway." Dr.Bolton,in De Mezures,1778,says: "Between France and Spain the Hasainai Confederacy fur- nished the question of international interest.It was the coun- try of the Hasainai Confederacy that was the scene of direct 144 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD and continued competition between France and Spain.It was a constant factor of internal politics between the competing na- tions in spreading their influence and missionary domination over the Hasainai Confederacy.Having a settled habitation the Hasainai Confederacy was a constant factor in the pur- suance policy to obtain a hold on this country. It was LaSalle who first won the Hasainai Indians love for the French,trading with them and later the Spanish had the love of the French to combat.The French weapons were the trader and presents.The Spanish defense was missions and priests. The domination of the North Eastern tribes,"The Hasainai Confederacy,"the Kingdom of the Texas,was the object of France and Spain.To Christianize and to hold this country,the first Christian experience of the races,was to plant this mission in Eastern Texas among the Compact of the Hasainai Confed- eracy. In the Handbook of American Indians,Dr.H.Bolton states: "The word 'Texas'was the greeting of the Hasainai Con- federacy Indian,meaning friends,allies,united we stand,"stat- ing the same word as "Commili to"of the Romans,meaning "friends,allies,united we stand."Rome has immortalized the wolf everywhere that nourished its founders,Romulus and Remus. Cannot we perpetuate the Hasainain Indian Confederacy, who gave us the name Texas,his greeting to the world that is- sued out of his inner life according to what he felt in his heart, "Friendship to the world,"and tied this name to our land,and housed and nourished and fed the world. The first Capitol of Texas was at Adae,now Robeline,Louis- iana,and later moved to San Antonio and continued the Capitol until Texas became a Republic.San Augustine and Nacog- doches were then the gateway into Texas. Texas has unguessed gifts.To find them is the quest in education.From this starting point,the naming of Texas by the first race,begins to chart a trail through creative education, building up of something already fine,to something finer. SELECTS SITE FOR OOLONY Moses Austin having selected a site on the Brazos River for his first colony,his son,Stephen F.Austin,at the request CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 145 of his dying father brought the first 300 colonists over the old San Antonio Road from Red river traveling to Midway,Texas, where the road forked with the Goliad road,traveling the Goliad or Bahia road to Washington-on-the-Brazos,called the first Capitol of Texas,then designated by the colony. Let us recount the history of Washington-on-the-Brazos in the dedication of a state park building on the site of the first colony of Texas,to the Texas pioneers. "There is a tide in the affairs of men Which,taken at the flood,leads on to fortune; Omitted,all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries." And there are opportunities in the lives of towns which, if grasped,lead to the development of cities of great religious, educational and commercial importance,'Washington on the Brazos,is one of the biggest and most prominent places in Tex- as during the middle of the last century,is an example of a town that sat idly while its chances passed by.Nature intended that this historic spot should be a great business center,for she en- dowed it with many advantages.It is situated on high bluffs at the junction of two rivers,and is a place of natural beauty. It was here that the patriot fathers in the presence of danger and disaster,signed the Declaration of Independence,and the Lone Star of the Republic arose on the horizon of nations.Actua- ted by feelings of patriotism and sentiment the Young Men's Business Association of Brenham,Herman Y.Neu,president, and W.D.Notley,Secretary,passed resolutions to perpetuate the interest which centers around Washington,and addressed communications to Representative S.D.W.Low and Senator Paul D.Page,asking that they introduce a bill in the Texas Legislature for an appropriation for the establishment of a state park of fifty acres to commemorate the many and great histor- ical events that happened in this famous old town. One hundred nine years ago today fifty-eight men represent- ing people of Texas assembled at Washington and attached their signatures to the famous declaration of Texas Independence; these brave and resolute delegates solemnly declared the polit- ical connection of Mexico and Texas forever ended,and as repre- sentatives of the pioneer colonists,they constituted Texas a free, sovereign and independent republic,fully vested with all the rights and privileges which properly belong to independent na- tions.There are many other facts clustered around this ancient 146 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD town that are of great interest to the students of history.In addition to being the birth place of independence,the constitu- tion was framed and adopted at Washington;it was twice the capital of the republic-the first capital and the last capital; the first president,David G.Burnet,was elected there,and he and the last president,Anson Jones,were both inaugurated at this interesting old place.Washington was the seat of the gov- ernment ad interim;while the Mexican invasion of 1842,was in progress the capital was removed from Austin to Washington, and with the exception of the session of congress held in Hous- ton in the fall of 1842,Washington remained the capital until the end of the republic in 1845.So the old town is in reality the cradle and the tomb of the republic of Texas. Weesache now grows in every nook and corner.A shaft of gray Texas granite erected by the school children of Washington County on April 21,1900,tells that "Here a Nation Was Born." Down where the Brazos sings a low,sweet song Of the glory of the vanished years, When Washington was once so great and strong, And faced the future with no fears, There stands a monument of granite gray, To mark a spot of hallowed earth, And tell of Texas Independence Day, When a nation had its birth. It's no cloud-capped,lofty,towering spire, But just a shaft of modest gray, Erected there by the children's greatest desire To commemorate the liberty day. It marks the tomb of a nation that is dead- For the Texas republic is no more- And her heroes their silent tents have spread With all the hosts long gone before. Sad isolation reigns around this spot, Twice the capital of a nation; It's glorious story ne'er will be forgot, For it is of heroes of every station. Straight stands the shaft,while Time unrolls her scroll, And alone;for everything has gone; There's nothing left but Fame's bright honor roll And the shaft to tell a nation was born. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 147 On its way to the gulf the Brazos river goes, In spring and summer,winter and fall; Upon its banks so high the weesache grows, And hoary oaks stand grim and tall, While the monument keeps watch by night and day O'er the lonely place where memories tread, And e'er the river sings along its way A requiem for the town that is dead. -Mrs.R.E.Pennington. Stephen F.Austin's first colonists arrived at the La Bahia crossing of the old Spanish road,on the Brazos river,at its junc- tion with the Navasota river,late in December,1821.They were the first settlers in this section;they did not establish a town,but opened up farms.The first colonist who came to the west side of the Brazos was William Dever-and he swam the river.Andrew Robinson and his son-in-law,John W.Hall,lo- cated on the west side of the Brazos,opposite the mouth of the Navasota river,and on the site of Washington,Robinson built in 1822 the ferry which carried so many famous men and women and only succumbed to decay in 1889. In 1824 Austin and Baron de Bastrop gave Robinson a for- mal conveyance of league of land as a colonists,and this grant included his ferry,and the land on which the town of Washing- ton is situated.Robinson was to build a town,and in 1833 he had the site surveyed and platted,and Washington was so named by Dr.Asa Hoxie after Washington,Wilkes County,Georgia. The following year Hall purchased the remainder of Robinson's land for $1,000. Unsuccessful efforts were made to have the general con- sultation of 1835 meet in Washington but when the consultation adjourned at San Felipe,it fixed Washington as the place of holding the conventions which drew up the declaration of inde- pendence,and the constitution of the republic of Texas.The delegates met promptly on March 1,1836,all of them coming on horseback and many riding from great distances. The youthful town then contained only one house large enough to accommodate this body of distinguished men;this was a two-story blacksmith shop,about 25x50 feet,which was built and owned by Elder N.T.Byars of the Baptist Church, and was located a short distance from the ferry on what was known as Main Street,the only street in fact.The structure 148 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD was framed and weather boarded with clap-boards.On a long rough table,extending almost the length of the room,the public documents and papers were laid,with the delegates seated around.Spectators entered at will,and all the proceedings were "open and above board."The declaration was written by George C.Childress and followed closely Jefferson's learned document of 1776,and it was adopted on motion of Sam Houston,and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of March 2,1836,the delegates signed it.Richard Ellis was president and H.S.Kimble secretary of the convention. The next week of the convention was the framing of a con- stitution to be adopted by the people,and the election and in- stallation of the following officers:David G.Burnet,Presi- dent;Lorenzo de Zavala,Vice President,and Sam Houston,Com- mander-in-Chief of the army.The men who composed President Burnet's cabinet were Samuel P.Carson,Secretary of State; Bailey Herdeman,Secretary of the Treasury;Thomas J.Rusk, Secretary of War;Robert Potter,Secretary of the Navy,and David Thomas,Attorney General.The day of the installation, March 16,a courier arrived from Houston with the sad news of the Alamo and of Goliad. The next day,as the convention was ready to adjourn,some alarmist rode through Main Street at full speed,shouting in stentorian tones that Santa Anna and the whole Mexican army were within a few miles and rapidly advancing on the town.The fright became general.Every man,woman and child who could obtain an animal or vehicle of any kind joined the procession that hurriedly moved eastward across the Brazos river,carry- ing luggage of every description.It is said that every citizen of Washington fled,save one Jesse Lot,who kept the tavern.The cows lowed restlessly,the horses neighed and sniffed the air, and the very dogs,with their tails tucked,whined as if in reali- zation of the danger which threatened the country.This was the most hopeless time in the early history of the town.Confu- sion was created in the convention hall,and the delegates left hastily without a formal adjournment.In the excitement the original manuscript of the declaration of independence was lost, but was found by Chief Justice Seth Shepherd,formerly of Wash- ington County,in the archives of the state department at Wash- ington'D.C.,in May,1896,and by him returned to Texas,June 11,1896,when Culberson was governor.The famous document bore the following endorsement:"Left at the Department of AXTOXIO LOPEZ DE SA!\TA AX;'\A ___~,'-_'_.a.- ,T, "-' '.--,,,="y ~ -\..\(~~, ! iJ, Ij j, .~'~;~.~~:u\~i. ."\-r-~."!1T ,..\.:~.':.,'.. I _..,,. ~ " CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 149 State,May 28,1836,by Mr.Wharton.Original."Colonel Whar- ton was sent at this time to \Vashington for the purpose of ne- gotiating the recognition of Texas Independence. Fortunately,Washington did not long remain in the chaotic condition in which it was left by "the stampede,"for the people gradually returned,and with the fall of Santa Anna's army at San Antonio,April 21,1836,confidence was quickly restored. It came into prominence again as a candidate for the capital in 1837.The first anniversary celebration of the signing of the Decleration of Independence was given at Washington,and took the form of a ball,which occurred in the convention hall.The invitations,some of which are still extant,read:"Washington, 28th February,1837.-The pleasure of your company is respec- fully solicited at a party to be given in Washington on Thursday, 2d March,to celebrate the birthday of our national Independence. Devereau J.Woodlief,Thos.Gay,R.Stevenson,W.B.Scates, Asa Hoxey,James R.Cook,W.W.Hill,J.C.Hunt,Thos.P. Shephard,Managers."People came from great distances to this affair;the blacksmith shop was illuminated with sperm candles, and the music was supplied by a few stringed instruments,to which the merry company danceu Lhe Virginia Reel,knockGd the backstep or cut the pigeon wing,just as they saw fit. In 1842,when \Vashington became a capital for the second time,many people .of note lived within its confines.President Sam Houston and his family lived there for a time,and the last President of the Republic,Anson Jones,resided a few miles in the country.Nearly every prominent man in Texas came to Washington during this period.Religiously,educationally,so- cially and commercially it forged rapidly to the front,and many brick business houses,some three stories high,were construct- ed.Mrs.Jack Hall,wife of the first chief justice of the juris- diction,taught in 1837 the first school.In 1839 Judge W.H. Ewing opened a school in a double loghouse.Rev.L.P.Rucker of the Episcopal Church in 1841 established an academy in a beautiful post oak grove in the western part.of the town;this school was under the control of the Masons,and obtained a state- wide reputation.In 1839 Rev.A.Buffington began the publi- cation of the Tarantula,which was followed in different years by the Texas and Brazos Farmer,by G.H.Harrison;the Na- tional Vindicator,by Raymond Johnson;the National Register, by Miller &Cushney.In 1845 Judge William H.Ewing com:' menced the editions of the Lone Star and Southern Watchman. 150 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD The Texas Ranger was published in 1847.The Washingtonian American was edited by W.J.Pendleton in 1852.D.H.Rankin published the Southern Watch Tower,which he moved to Bren- ham in 1853,and rechristened the Brenham Enquirer.Some copies of these old newspapers are still in existence,and they are creditable to the craft. On January 3,1837,Z.N.Morrell of the Baptist Church preached the first sermon ever heard in the town of Washing- ton,after which he organized a church with eight members. The American Baptist Home Mission Society of New York sent William Melton Tryon to Washington,and he and Judge R.E. Baylor held one of the most remarkable religious revivals in this or any other town.The meetings were held in the old conven- tion hall,with the gratifying result that everybody,save two or three people,joined the church.The candidates for baptism were immersed in the Brazos river.Brother Tryon was chap- lain of the Texas congress during its first sessions at Washing- ton. Navigation of the Brazos river was commenced in 1833,but did not assume any business proportions until about 1842,which witnessed the appearance of the stern wheeler "The Mustang." Some dozens steamers were put regularly on the river and it was no uncommon sight to see as many as three steamboats docked at once at the large wharves at Washington.The two side wheelers,"Brazos"and "Washington"were placed in commis- sion during the late '40s.The finest boat that ever sailed the river was the "Fort Henry."Thousands of bales of cotton,and much produce were shipped to Velasco and Quintana;and many passengers made trips back and forth. Washington was a great political center,when this country was erected in 1837 it became the first county seat,and so re- mained until it was removed to Mount Vernon,and later,in 1844, to Brenham.At the close of the '40s and in the early '50s this almost extinct town reached the zenith of her glory and attained its greatest commercial importance.The old town was prosper- ing and building on safe and sure lines until in 1858,a bonus of $11,000 to the Houston &Texas Central Railroad was re- fused.The railroad officials then abandoned the route which had been surveyed through the Brazos bottom from Hempstead and built the road to Navasota.There were only two or three people in the town who favored the advent of the railroad.A CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 151 majority of the citizens claimed that it would interfere seriously with their river traffic. The American people owe a debt of gratitude to those hardy pioneers who struggled to advance our boundary to the Pacific, and the road they traveled,marked with their blood,should have its memory religiously pursued,not only to be of value in com- paring our deeds as generations and individuals,but to be- queath to future generations,as a memorial to Texas Pioneers that they may know at what sacrifice this heritage was attain- ed,and as an inspiration for continued service for the land of their fathers. More than a million boys and girls are out on their way when vacation time comes with little or no supervision or direc- tion given them.Playgrounds must be allocated them. In congested areas where the greatest numbers of children live there is too often not even a place to play,except the street. One police director of a large metropolitan area has said that an adequate program of sports and games could be provided for half-a-hundred boys with the money required to jail one boy for a midsdemeanor.And how much cheaper it would ultimately be to provide that supervised entertainment for the fifty boys be- fore they became infected with the evil thoughts and intentions of one bad boy. Learning to play is as necessary as learning to spell or to figure.To observe the rules of the game,to be a "good sport," and play fair and clean,are character building elements that will stand the test of an emergency.To consider the rights and feelings of others,to be considerate,to play the game,is an art that few grow-ups can boast of possessing.Teaching these vir- tues to growing children is the only way of safeguarding and insuring them for tomorrow's torchbearers. Even with the wider spaces to play in afforded by less populated areas,unsupervised play does not militate toward the best development derived from recreation.Centers where games and sports and recreation may be taught under good directors, with a few features for the adult children,would be a paying in- vestment for any community.The instinct to play is one that is vital and necessary and should be encouraged along the proper channels.The energy spent in mischief turned into safe lines will bring a return that is large and satisfying.And incidentally such a program might aid the many teachers who otherwise might have to spend their summers as aimlessly as the children. 152 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD SOME QUEER CHARACTERS OF RECORD IN EARLY TEXAS :MUSTANG GREY. Who came from South Carolina in January,1835,aged 21 years and fought in the Battle of San Jacinto.A leader among those bold daring and ruthless raiders who preyed on the Mexi- can ranches between the Nueces and the Rio Grande,and be- came known as Cow-boy.Thus as Frank Dobie has stated,not only contributing a name to the men whose occupations were to make Texas famous,but also fixing on them a reputation that the public at large has never forgotten. TIO RANCHO MALO. The story of Tio Rancho Malo was current all over the Southwest playing his music and expounding his theories.When the good ladies accused him of cruelty towards his burro,say- ing that he made the poor skinny creature work,sought the Judge. Said Tio Rancho Malo:"These ladies have not stopped to consider that I also am poor and skinny and have to work.The donkey and I live for each other,without me he would starve, without him I would die of hunger.We work together,one of us is not any good without the other.If these ladies prevent his working both of us will starve and that in my mind would be not only cruelty to animals,but cruelty to me." THOMAS OCHILTREE OF NACOGDOCHES. A man of record,a lawyer,who hung out his sign,"Thomas Ochiltree and father."His father said,"Once,twas said, I was the son of my father and now I am the father of my son." JOHN TAYLOR. An itinerant lawyer came into Texas in 1832 traveling horse back and two horses tied head to tail followed loaded down with knap sacks and luggage moving over Texas,never having a set place to live or to work.He hung out at Court Houses and was known as the "Roving John Taylor." CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 153 THE GREAT STRATEGIC MILITARY HIGHWAY EI Camino Real-The Old San Antonio Road My Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Those of you know,who have visited the Gulf Coast,that when the great sun lifts himself upon the horizon,a breeze springs up from the waters,and with the new light a new breath from heaven walks upon the face of the land.So it was in Gal- veston when the coming of the Daughters of the Twelfth An- nual Conference of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Texas,met in session on the morning of November the ninth, Nineteen Hundred and Eleven,there was a new spirit moving up- on the face of the land,a new light that shone of "Suns that long ago have set."A new epoch is at hand.The sentiment is to perpetuate-that the spirit of the patriotism may shine out in permanent memorials,to show our love,honor and gratitude to our country. The Daughters of the American Revolution in Texas believe that the Texas people have sufficient interest,energy and knowl- edge of her rights to take her place among the States of the Union for the perpetuation of its history and with this great truth in mind,it culminated in the Daughters of Texas,under- taking the work of preserving the outlines of the Old Presidio Road in Texas,made famous by the passing of noble wayfarers and intrepid pioneers,and making the writer the chairman of this committee. With four hundred weary years of progress in civilization, have left unimpaired the tremendous energy which gives con- tinuity to the human race. It takes but a touch to make the long silent chord vibrate anew between the gap of centuries,and bring back to us the money of the days and deeds which made us a nation of free men and women. Long before the American Revolution that vast region lying eastward of the Rio Grande was an unknown country.To read of those brave men who first traveled these unknown lands and waters,from Cabazu de Vaca,who in 1535 was the first white .man to cross Texai,to the journey of Coronado who in search of the mythical "Golden Cities,"to tell of Ferdinand de Soto, who led his men into the State from Louisiana in 1543,while many others Espijo,Soca,Ornate,Vaca,would be delightful, 154 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD but space forbids,and while these fortune seekers failed to ac- complish their purpose,they did far a better thing-explored the new world and made known its untold resources.The souls of men were fired by stories of it.As Spain had failed to push the advantages given her by the wonderful westward raid of De Soto,France in exploring the St.Lawrence and the Great Lakes,. had forwarded in the person of La Salle down the l\lississippi and repeated the discovery of De Soto,winning thus the favor of his great King.LaSalle was sent at the head of a royal ex- pedition to plant a fortified post at the mouth of this great river. Sailing beyond it,he reached what is now Matagorda Bay.Tak- ing this as the mouth of the l\lississippi,he landed and erected a fort,called St.Louis on a river named by LaSalle,La Vacha. LaSalle made two trips westward.The flag of France now float- ed over the Texas soil,but to no avail,as he was assassinated by one of his own men.The settlement on the Lavaca did not last long,when the Spaniards found it-in 1689,they found it de- serted.Once aware of the existence of a French fort in Texas, the Spanish authorities in Mexico had sought for it by land and sea,until Captain DeLeon accompanied by Manzanet,a Francis- can Friar,marched from Monclova across Texas and reached the deserted fort.The fortifications were destroyed and with the four survivors of the French Garrison,they set out for the Country of the Tejas,and then established the :Mission of San Francisco de Lo Tejas.The flag of Spain now moved in the breeze,far to the eastward of the spot,in which the flag of France had fluttered. On the coming of the Spanish missionaries,the word Texas had wide currency among the tribes of Eastern Texas,its usual meaning was "Friends,"and later attached to a group name to designate a large member of tribes who were allied against the Apaches.It was their form of greeting to the Spaniards,to show they were welcome guests.Thus the tribal name "Texas" gave the land its abiding name. This missionary impulse of the Vice Regal government was casual and passed quickly when the fear of French occupation proved groundless.The savages became threatening,and even openly hostile,and after many appeals of the Friars to Mexico for relief,which was unheeded,they abandoned the Missions on October 25~1693.Father Manzanet and the few Priests and soldiers,burying their'guns;bells and iron implements.return- ed to Mexico..Upon the abandonment'of the missi~l1s,San CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 155 Francisco and Sanitisima Monroe de Mario,Texas reverted back to the Indians.For more th~n twenty years its history is a blank. Out of this apathy there appeared another disturbing menace to Spanish authority,in the person of M.Louis Juche- rans de Saint Denis at the very gates of Mexico.The French were moving westward from Louisiana after the establishment of Fort Biloxi in 1699,the precursor of New Orleans,and as trade with the Indians was the life of the colony exploring par- ties were sent out to form treaties of friendship with the Indians. In March,1700,Louis De Saint Denis with a party of twen- ty-five Canadians set out to explore the eastern province of Tex- as,returning in May,was again directed by the French Gov- ernment to proceed westward with twenty-five men and keep watch on the Spaniards.In 1705,Saint Denis again led another party up the Red river to the Natchitoches,and thence to the Asinnis and across Texas to the Rio Grande.All of this activity of the French,their incursions into Spanish territory,and the rapid westward extension of French influence,the Spaniards of Mexico remained ignorant. In 1712,Antonio Crozat received from the King the grant of a monopoly of the Louisiana trade for fifteen years.Crozat and the Governor Lamotte Cadillac,were eager for commerce with the Spanish colonies.The way was at last opened by the religious zeal of Fray Francisco Hidalgo.This missionary,long- ing to re-occupy the country of the Tejas,and appealing in vain to the home authorities,made up his mind to take advantage of the commercial covetousness of the French.The church was to be aided by the establishment of a mission among the Hasainai or Asenais,and the French were to get commercial ac- cess to the Rio Grande. The undertaking was not an easy one,the way was long,the Indians were not always friendly,and the Spanish jealous and suspicious.It required the energy of a man of tact and ability, courage and experience.The leader chosen for the expedition was the brilliant Chevalier Louis Jucheran de Saint Denis,by reason of his familiarity with the westward routes of travel and knowledge of the Spanish language,seemed eminently fitted for the undertaking.He agreed to carry goods of Crozat's to the value of 10,000 livres and sell them in Mexico.From the ap- pearances the object was to buy horses and cattle for the Louis- iana colony,and the goods inadvertently carried along for ex- 156 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD change of them.With Canadian hunters and trappers attached he went from Biloxi up the Mississippi and the Red rivers to the head of the N atchitoch.With thirty Natchitoches as guides he 'began the overland travel across Texas to the Rio Grande. He marched westward to the Asenais,and traded with them for six months of the year 1714,and returning to the Natchez for more goods,then continued his march,the Asenais urging him to bring them Hidalzo and other missionaries.After a march of six weeks,he arrived at the Presidio of San Juan Bautista, two leagues across the river,a few miles below the site of the present Eagle Pass.The Commandant-Don Pedro de VilIesco, received him hospitably,but reported the situation to the Vice- roy. Saint Denis was removed under guard to Mexico,and re- quired to make a written statement of his aims.This incited the Spaniards to recommend that the French be kept out and that the decayed Missions be re-established.The object of es- tablishing missions and Presidio in Texas was a means resorted to by the Spaniards to obtain control of and convert the Indians from dangerous neighbDrs to profitable vassals,and to create a barrier to the incursions of foreigners into the country.An expedition led by Captain Domingo Ramon,twenty-two soldiers, Friars and lay brothers,St.Denis led the way over the direct route,afterwards known as the "Old Presidio Road,"famous in later days as the "King's Highway,"the "Old San Antonio Road,"whose windings across Texas were determined mainly by the old trails,stamped out by nature's engineers-the buffalo and the Indians,and the location of the Indian villages. The establishing of the missions and Presidios were of per- manent value in the evolution of Texas,for the maintenance of Spanish authority,as well as for the protection of the horses and cattle for the Louisiana colony.Missions,forts were estab- lished and troops stationed here in the wilderness subj ect to the call of every warlike emergency,and the first missionaries were from Naples.It was not the duty of the priest or soldier to labor with his hands,enough that the former brought the cross and the latter the sword."First,"wrote a venerable father,"We have to transform these savages into men;then labor for their conversion into Christianity." The Texas Historical Magazine contains the following: "On the 27th or April,1716,they started from the Rio Grande.They camped on the 15th of May at Springs then call- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 157 ed San Pedro Springs at the mouth of the San Antonio river. They found the Colorado swollen by recent rains,after crossing, they carne to the Brazos,then called San Xavier.On June 30th, they arrived where the first mission had been established by Father Manzanet in 1690,they set out to find a site for a new mission four leagues away.The 3rd of July the mission of San Francisco was established in the village of Nacogdoches.The Second Purisima Concepcione was placed at the pueblo of the Asinais nine leagues nearest from the first,and the third N ues- tra Senora De Guadaloupe was nine leagues southeast of the Concepcione in the village of Nacogdoches.A fourth called San Joseph was established among the Nouches,seven leagues north- east of Concepcione.Later when the Spaniards discovered the presence of the French on Red river,they built two missions still further east among the Adays,and is it a wonder that the owner- ship of Texas was settled with a road marked out that led from Coahuila to the plains of Southeast Texas,along which Spanish civilization could advance more surely?A correct idea of the geography of Texas was obtained,the most important rivers named,and their courses determined. All these facts were worth something when the time caIne at length to seriously undertake the task of opening the land beyond the Rio Grande for settlement.This old road was re- ferred to in defining the limits of the colonies. It will be seen from this review of the King's Highway that with the coming of St.Denis a I'oad for Commerce is laid out that reaches from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande.The ownership of Texas is settled,had it not been,the whole course of history in the Southwest would have been changed.When later the vast territory of Louisiana was transferred to the United States,Texas would have been included. Thomas Jefferson,that great American Statesman of Vir- ginia,was greatly interested in the exploration of Texas.His letters to that learned scholar,Philip Nolan,a leader of the first Anglo-American invasion of Texas,was active in obtaining his- tory of the animals and the plant life for him.As this was a land of wonder and mystery at this time,it held peculiar attrac- tions for Jefferson,and it is not strange that he helped to fa- vorably direct the attention of the people of the United States to Texas,by directing the adventures of Captain Zebelon Pike. Between April and August,1805,he was employed by Jefferson to explore the Mississippi river and establish friendly relations 158 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD with the Indians.Captain Pike separated from his company with twenty~three men,missed his route following the trail of the Old Presidio Road to the Rio Grande,where he was inter- cepted,deprived 'of papers,and escorted back to Natchitoches, Louisiana,over the same tracks the French explorer St.Louis De St.Denis had laid out. When Moses Austin,the father of American civilization in Texas,conceived the idea of founding a colony of his countrymen in this almost tractless wilderness,this old road was one of the defining limits to his grant.It is known he made the hazardous journey when he returned to Little Rock,Arkansas,in January, 1821,by this same route,swarming with hostile Indians,after- wards dying from exposure in crossing the State.His son, Stephen F.Austin,in assuming this work,traveled with the first colonists over this road,now made visible by wheels of trappers,traders,Monks and Indians,settling on their grants. But,not until the great Southwest migration in 1825-1827 did this road become a great State Highway.When the thousands of homeseekers drove slow oxen wagons,bringing whole fami- lies with their household goods,creaked on through the heat and the dust,in spite of hardships and accidents innumerable,those great hearted men,Austin and DeWitt were leading the way! A new land of promise,riches,fairer more fertile than the East was ahead.True westward moving Aryans were these pioneer settlers who followed the sun across the world into the "dim blue goodness,"as their race had done in quest of fairer lands. The Daughters of the American Revolution are ever mindful of "Man's divinest lore."It is their delight to wander amidst "Scenes that our earliest dreams have dwelt upon,"traversing its sacred soil,becoming familiar with those brilliant events which have made her heroism a proverb.The Daughters in Texas are united in making the "Old Presidio Road"an emblem of the events in Texas history,which time and association have sanctified. Realizing that an immediate move should be made for the preservation of the outlines of this noted highway which stretches from the Rio Grande to Nacogdoches,thence to the Sabine river,a~,d which are fast being obliterated,the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution in Texas brought the subject before their State Conference at Galveston,and it was decided that they take the initiative in this work. The object in marking this old historic road is the same as CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 1&9 marking any other great battlefield of history.Here we have a highway that tells of the first physical and moral conquests that were achieved east of the Rio Grande,when the contest for possession began between civilization and the wild Abori- gines,and those earnest missionaries who came with the light of Christianity to plant a new empire and redeem the wilderness by cultivation,down to the heroid age of settlement by Anglo- Americans.History does not record a battlefield of greater courage,neither is there a record of a road that has wrought such historic changes in the nation's growth.Here we have whole leagues and miles of Texas soil,rich in history,in asso- ciation,and in memories of the dead. The American people owe a debt of gratitude to those hardy pioneers who struggled to advance our boundary to the Pacific, and the road they traveled,marked with their blood,should have its memory religiously preserved,not only to be of value in comparing our deeds as generations and individuals,but to bequeath it to future generations as a memorial to Texas pio- neers,to mark their first coming in to the State,that they may know at what sacrifice this heritage was attained,and as an in- spiration for continued service for the land of our fathers. In making this recommendation that we preserve this high- way,we are but following the example set us by so many other states and countries in creating an interest in their history,and we must resort to a like purpose,and none of them have a bet- ter foundation upon which to build.Just imagine what a link it would make in the National Highway now under consideration by Congress,perpetuating one continuous chain of human deeds across the State from the Sabine river to the Rio Grande river. In Missouri,the Daughters of the American Revolution with the Good Roads Committee,won out in making "Boones Lick Road"and "Santa Fe Trail"the State's highway now sub- mitted to Congress. In Oregon,the Daughters of the American Revolution have succeeded in obtaining an appropriation for marking the "Old Oregon Trail.". Are we asking too much with this heritage in our hands to place a fitting and enduring memorial on our soil that will free Texas from the serious change of base ingratitude towards her past,and that she may rise into the sunlight of a grander and more perfect day? Stephen F.Austin,having received his grant for a colony, 160 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD passed over the San Antonio road into Texas and planted his colonists on the banks of the Brazos river.It was the first of a long procession of similar migrations.Through the long days of the thirties and forties this highway carried thousands and thousands of population who sought homes,peace and plenty. As the caravans wound their turbulent way toward the sinking sun,the Indians along the route often became troublesome and strict guards were many times sent by the army post at Fort Jessup,lest a foraging band capture the horses and cattle. With the discovery of a nugget a virgin gold in a ditch at Sacramenta,California,in 1848,the westward movement was quite different in character.A horde of adventurers,mostly young men,made their way from Missouri,Tennessee,Mississ- ippi and Louisiana down the Natchez tract to Natchez and across Texas over the mail route from San Antonio to San Diego,Cali- fornia. Life became cheap and futile,and out of the conditions arose a grim fearlessness that knew nothing but the thrill of suc- cess or the deep oblivion of death.It was the Indian,whose stealthy step or startling war cry,set the blood of the pioneer running like icy water through his veins.For the red man showed no respect for the dead and left his victim mutilated,a thing of horror,on the prairies. There are thousands of nameless graves forgotten on Tex- as prairies,and there are thousands and thousands of crumpled bones mingled in the surface and the soil.But,out of all this chaos of a past existence,one thing remains.Here and there across the hills and prairies,where the plow of the farmer has not broken the sod,are deep ruts in the earth;ruts cut by the wagon wheels of the pioneers. The King's Highway across Texas has been maintained and continued on ancient maps of Texas as the old San Antonio Road, and we can not blot that out.The old San Antonio Road is not treated with any reference,and it should receive some token of our regard.We can find no record of it save a few mentioned through printed text. The appellation of King's Highway is historic also correct, and like most historic tradition,if we look for its origin,we find it has a substantial foundation.To let it be known this road was laid out by the hands of the Franciscan monks to stem the westward course or the Anglo-American and to hold the Spanish empire-and our highway markers read: CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 161 OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD KING'S HIGHWAY CAMINO REAL 1697-1918 Erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the State of Texas. The Daughters of the American Revolution have no con- tention to make as far as the highway's title is concerned;they are seeking to perpetuate the San Antonio Road and let the world know it was the imperial way into the Southwest. On account of its intimate relation to the State's future history and the part it played in the expansion of the United States,Texas has placed the history of its highway before the world.It was the prey of military factions;it witnessed the rise and fall of six flags and the birth of a nation. The Daughters of the American Revolution propose when the road is resurveyed to get the exact location of the missions, where once placed amongst the different tribes of the Indian villages.This in itself will settle for all time the discussion with writers of Texas history where the Indian tribes and missions were located.Texas sends abroad each year for teachers in history that are bringing to light our great past,but it is impos- sible for them to attempt to acquire the great bulk of knowledge that has no immediate connection with their every day duties. Day by day,year by year,change and decay is going on, untill there is coming a time when nothing remains to tell of the places where occurred the greatest events in our Texas his- tory. In marking the King's Highway,the San Antonio Road, we wiH be laying corner stones for a structure of the ages.A foundation upon which future historians can set our cap stones and span our arches to mark the completion of the purpose of civilization,the highest culture,an artistic environment,a stimulus for learning. With the King's Highway-San Antonio Road fitly framed as a monument to the ages of Texas history and the object to be reached-the world-we will find the leading forces of this highway have grown into a natural temple for Texas heroism. 162 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD TO PERPETUATE EL CAMINO REAL DEL REY TO' AMERICAN PIO'NEER'S VIRTUES The Great National Highway to the Southwest Vs. EI Camino Road-Old San Antonio Road Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman of Western Division of National Old Trails Roads,D.A.R. The Daughters of the American Revolution have made a discovery of American in their heart and imagination,and are acting as torch-bearers to pass on their fire to others to im- mortalize the Explorers and Discoverers of Trails,as traveled by the pioneers of the nation in perpetuating the trails as memo- rials to the founders of the nation. The characteristic discoveries in the founding of the Am- erican nation is found in "Bornes Lick Road,""Cumberland Road,""Pocahontas Trail,""John Smith Trail,""Santa Fe Trail,""aregon Trail,""Natchez Trace,"and "Old San Antonio Road." As the history of the Southwest in Texas is older than the coming of the Pilgrims,the founding of Jamestown.The Span- iards and the French then in Texas (New Spain)Louisiana, and Florida,were competing for supremacy of the land by build- ing trading posts and missions among the tribes of Confederacy Indians,French Domain,to the Rio Grande.This country was called the EI Dorado,the Utopia,Arcady,and the Garden of Eden,the Fountain of Youth,to the French from the time of the coming of Ponce De Leon in 1513,to the coming of the Ameri- cans in 1820.With the coming of the Dons was the naming of the oldest and longest trail in the Southwest by the nobility,- EI Camino Real Del Rey,characteristics of the rank south of the times-Royal Highway,Road of the King."The aId San An- tonio Road"later borne over the old path "Camino Real"in Texas. Symbolically speaking,the DAR handed the fire to the Federal and State Highways for the making of "The National Old Trails Road"across the continent,from N ew York to San Francisco-the Ocean to Ocean Highway. Today an age of reason and enlightenment has come over the Daughters of the American Revolution of the National So- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 163 ciety to make "EI Camino Real De Rey"extending from San Augustine,'rexas,to the City of Mexico,"The Great National -Highway to the Southwest,"the Road of the Kings. King's Highway Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road in Texas is already a mark of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.They succeeded in perpetuating with 128 monuments across the state,when resurveyed by the state. The 41 Legislature placed it in the State Highway Department and it has a state chartered organization with 17,000 members. After fifteen years of stroke-work in Texas for the per- petuation of King's Highway Camino Real,or "Old San Antonio Road,"after surveying and relocating the road by placing 128 monuments across the state,the State Highway,the Federal Highway,and County Commissioners'Courts,are making "a strong pull,a long pull,a pull together"with the land owners, putting back their fences,through fields,and woods where monuments are erected every five miles.The State Highway is now grading and levelling the 100 foot width for the concrete through Central Texas.The Spaniards recorded the road- Camino Real,Royal Highway;the French,EI Camino Real Del. Rey,The Road of the King.It is the oldest road in America,400 years old running from San Augustine,Texas,to the City of Mexico. America was settled by the English and the Dutch.Its dis- coverers were the Italians,Portuguese and Spaniards.The Puritans settling New England conceived it to be their duty to wean the affections of their flock away from their place of exile, and to fix them upon the heavenly home eternal,until they should pass over the river into a ootter land.This ultimatum turned out to be the Knight Errant-the public spirit of its patriots,the human drive for the love of the country,was there. After the Dutch and English began to warm up to this country,over the land,they began to make plans in their ex- plorations to their discoveries,and they began following the sun in its westward course,as all mankind had done since the be- ginning of time. Paths were marked out and recorded from place to place as the best route of travel at the least resistance.Man in his explorations and making new discoveries has always had to blaze his trails or follow one already blazed.This is true of all 164 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD of his physical,scientific,physiological political and critical un- dertakings. Today with the unearthing of Capernaum,the highway le- apernaun,before the coming of Christ,is being restored.The question is asked,"What means these highways and whither came man and over the paths it leads them."The autograph of the world written across its lands. Then into Natchitoches,Robeline,many crossing the Sabine river into Texas at Pendleton,running to Milan,Chireno,San Augustine,Nacogdoches,Alto,Crockett,crossing Trinity river (leaving the junction of Goliad Road or La Bahm Road from Southwest)it continues westward to Normangee,Bryan,Cald- well,Paige,Bastrop,Cedar Creek,New Braunfels,San Antonio, running to Hines,Carrizo Springs,Cotulla,and Rio Grande, Baptista Mission below Eagle Pass on to the City of Mexico. The Daughters of the American Revolution are soon to com- mence the erection of three monuments to perpetuate the "Go- liad Road"or "La Bahm Road."A monument is to be placed at the junction of road with Camino Real or San Antonio Road near Trinity river where it emerges crossing with "The King's Highway"on to Crockett.Another monument at Madisonville and one at Navasota all towns on to Goliad then to San Antonio along the Goliad or the La Bahia Road. The entire trail from Texas to Mexico City was named and knO\vn in the records as El Camino Real Del Rey,"The Road of the King,the highway,the path to El Dorado,for the Spanish explorers,rich in gold,jewels and spices. To the Spanish Franciscan Priests,it was the Mission Road, Christ's Highway for Christianizing the Indians,and holding the country. To the French,it was the Royal Highway for Commerce by sending St.Denis with passport to cause a trading planet to exist in the Southwest. To Thomas Jefferson it was the Precision to send his agent Nolan,on the heels of the Louisiana purchase,to make inquiries for the "Approach of Time." For the Americans,begotten by their times to face the needs of their times-Camino Real to them was the Old San Antonio Road,the road to San Antonio,the Southwest.A land for home and haven. To build a strong frame of a state the colonizers brought into the state over this highway the descendents of the First CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 165 English and Dutch settlers of America,who had fixed a heaven- ly City of Exile by the Puritans,singing,"This is not my place of resting-mines a city yet to come."Yet the thought of the heavenly home after generations did not hold. All these men from Stephen F.Austin,De Witt,De Zarola, Sam Houston,David Crockett,Travis,Bonham,General Edward Burleson,Col.Josiah,Pugh Wilbarger,Jesse Billingsly,Randle Jones,and many others carried the torch of their race,binding the heart of the native inhabitant to his state. By the Texans,Camino Real was called the Old San Antonio Road,in defining the boundary of the colonists grants,a line of Demarcation,running through Central part of the State and laid down in an official capacity by the Mexican Government, when parcelling the land out to its colonizers.It was the only tracked and marked highway through New Orleans to Natchi- toches,the French trading post of Louisiana,the Spanish trad- ing post with Hasainai Confederacy of Texas Indians and the Caddo Indians of Louisiana,across Texas to San Antonio and the missions.It was the founding and beginning of our state and recorded in all of the Explorers Diary's of Spain and France, as of vital importance in conquest,and in maintaining the Em- pire by forts and missions. The Old San Antonio Road,(Camino Real)is the oldest land mark in Texas and is older than Texas.It was made first by the Indians,then the Spainards from the old City of Mexico to San Antonio to Nacogdoches,San Augustine on the Sabine. It crossed the river at Bastrop when it was a place of rest for the Spanish traders in crossing their dominion from Mexico to Louisiana.This road was latitude,longitude,meridian and compass to travellers,so far as geographical reckonings were concerned.The noted Sea Pirate General Le Fitte on his Island now called Galveston made his reckonings by land in case of invasion from the water by this old road.It marked the North- ern settlements of the Spainards and made a safe retreat to "No Man's 'Land." In the very beginning with the starting of commercial re- turns with France and Spain in the southwest it has held a conspicuous place in the history of the countries as a travelled route across the state. After Ponce De Leon came in 1513 the trail was known as "EI Camino Real De Rey,"the Road of the King. It was travelled over by Nuna De Gusman,1527,Ferdinand 166 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD De Soto 1528-1530,Francisco de Coronado 1541-1543,Luis de Moscosa 1542-43,Domingo de Mendosu 1684,Sieur LaSalle 1686- 87,San Miguel de Aguago 1686-87-88-90,Bernard La Harpe 1719,Don Domingo Teron de Los Rios 1720-21,Brig.General Don Pedro Riviere 1727,Capt.Joaquin Oribio Y Bastarra 1745, Father Calahorn Saenz 1754-1762,Father Gasper Jose de Solis 1768,Marquez Gasper de Messieres 1772,inspecting Tehas In- dians.. All of the libraries in the State of Texas:"When school children come in and ask for the Old Spanish Trail,a.S.T.his- tory,we tell them there is no ancient history of this highway as made and laid down by the State highway.No,that it is a trick name taken from the ancient Camino Real as travelled by the French and Spanish across Texas,known as the Old San An- tonio Road.Surveyed by the State and marked with 128 monu-. ments by the State and Daughters of the American Revolution. The O.S.T.applied to the Southern Route across Texas to give the highway a Spanish flavor of ancient times,when it is not. The Old Spanish Trail,a.S.T.leads from Santa Fe,New Mexico, via EI Paso to San Antonio,crossing the Camino Real at that place,otherwise it has nothing to do with the original trail. What really interests me is the deductions from history of the principles which govern the discoveries from age to age, in blazing trails,from point to point in the explorations.There is nothing worth while to perpetuate,but reality.Whatever it is,reality though it slay me! American was created out of our love and power,and when they wane,we wane. For a long time criticism outside of the school has lapsed into silence about Camino Del Rey.TO take any part of the earth's history into your heart,transfigures it for you,mingling its tender glamor forever,with the light of our common days. Texas is as large a lump of earth as I can hold,but it is my wish to choose to seize the torch and light a new vista,to place markers of interest along Camino Del Rey,telling the world as they motor along.It is the Dons Highway.The French and Pierre St.Denis at the Natchitoches Fort and mission,Fort Adae,the capital of Texas across Texas to Nacogdoches Fort, and mission on to Bexar Fort and San Antonio missions. From Natchitoches,Louisiana,Robeline (once capital of Texas)many crossing Sabine River at Pendleton,on to San CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 167 Augustine,to Nacogdoches,Crockett,Hennessy,Normangee, Bryan,Caldwell,Deanville,Lincoln,Paige,Bastrop,Cedar Creek, Mendoza,Reedville,New Braunfels,Braskeu,San Antonio, Sosoy at Cattarino,Cotulla Presidio Rio Grande. Four hundred years old to the Dons of Camino Del Rey; no fallacy.In the words of Napoleon,"Imagination rules the world." STATE MEETING DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Conference Held in Galveston,November,1911,After Attending ing the National Congress Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington,D.C.,April,1911. Propose that Texans mark EI Camino Real,King's High- way,Old San Antonio Road. The Daughters of the American Revolution,under the lead- ership of Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman of the Preservation on Historic Spots,will keep alive monument started for its per- petuation,as some of the persons whose interest has been aroused have asked that their contribution begin the work of defining this pioneer of roads,and to this end the Daughters of the American Revolution are asking all county officials and pio- neer residents through which EI Camino Real,The King's High- way,Old San Antonio Road runs to lend a hand in locating it. The Daughters have planned to place boulders of Texas granite five feet high,three and one-half feet by two and one- half feet in width,across the State,five miles apart,at the cross-roads and boundary lines of counties,at a cost of Twenty- eight Dollars per monument. Mrs.Norvell writes:Closely identified with the glorious history of Texas are the deeds and achievements of the com- munities peopling the route of its most historic landmark,the King's Highway--.;Old San Antonio Road,but the most brilliant chapter is to be chronicled by this generation,when the numerous cities and towns lying along that famous trail are dignified by monuments commemorating the land in the history making struggle across its borders.The bravery evidenced,the priva- tions endured,the results achieved,will then be familiar to all. As we have'become acquainted with those principles which 168 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD were the vital agencies by which this road is called The King's Highway-The Old San Antonio Road,and it is preeminent over all other history-making roads,with this knowledge of the laws, forces and agencies of our early physical state,I know of no more appropriate place for the beginning of the marking of The King's Highway-Old San Antonio Road,than at the crossing of the Sabine river in Sabine County where the Indians crossed before St.Denis journeyed through Texas from Louisiana two hundred and eight years ago,and which has been the theatre of some of the greatest contests in our civilization-the gate- way into Texas.Here was the scene of the great War Path be- tween the North and Southwest country when the Indians came down from the Great Lakes and through the gat~way,traveled the great war path of the Comanches to the Northwest,spurred on by the hope that they should succeed against their old-time enemy from the South-the Comanchees. Here Jacheran De St.Denis made the fatal error for France's supremacy when he came through the gateway of the great Comanchee trial and found his way across Texas to the Rio Grande mission,joining his cause with that of Spain,which for a hundred years thereafter made this overland route the foe of France and the Ally of Spain. Here began the dividing line between religious ideas as pre- sented to tlie Aborigines by the missionaries.Here began the dividing line between the law of Spain and the determination of France.Here was the dividing line of Mexican authority against the colonits'pluck.Here was the line where exultation and consecration met and regeneration took place,and here we will find many of our novelists will come to gather material in history and tradition for their romances after we have over- come those difficulties that have seemed unsurmountable. The object in commemorating this world-famous trail is to make it a harvest for our vision that will reveal to us those ideals of life,liberty and peace,and at the same time that we may be perpetuating our loyalty to our forefathers for the sacrifices made and renown given us. The Daughters of the American Revolution elect to immor- talize the King's Highway,EI Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road for the pre severance of the Monks,for the supreme owner- ship of Spain,for the Independence of JM:exico,for the unflinch- ing zeal of the Americans,for the fruitfulness of the Texans, CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 169 for the faith of the protestant itinerant,for the virtue of the Texas citizenship,and the fulfillment of its Constitution. TO MARK KING'S HIGHWAY Is the Object of the Texas D.A.R.National Old Trails' COMMITTEE.1912 The State of Texas will be asked for an appropriation to survey King's Highway (Camino Real)or Old San Antonio Road, across Texas,so that the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion can set up their signs at the cross-roads with a chain of stones marking "the way"from the East to the West borders of the State,as a permanent reminder of these forbears who dirst traveled the wilderness road,and to identify the D.A.R. work for all time,and to give its distinction. This memorial is presented by the Texas Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution,a patriotic society of national scope numbering more than one hundred and twenty- five thousand members in the United States,and more than six- teen hundred in Texas,the members of the Society being de- scendants of those brave and loyal men who fought in the war of the American Revolution. The trails across the continent traveled by the traders and pioneers from the time Anglo-Saxon civilization began to acquire the continent are being surveyed and marked by the National Old Trails Committee D.A.R.,to commemorate these men and women who traveled the wilderness,acquiring the land owner- ship of the United States,and as Texas is not the State to be last in any progressive movement the Daughters in Texas have taken the initiative in the work of conserving the outlines of the King's Highway (Camino Real)or Old San Antonio Road, by appointing a Texas Old Trails Committee.This committee has been actively engaged in the work for three years.They have studied this old highway's relative position to the State, and believe it impossible for such an agent of the past,conjoin- ed with the Spanish and religious life and military rule,not to have its roots ground deep into the soil of Texas history and to make it worthy of regard for students of American history. The King's Highway or Old San Antonio Road,was here at the coming of the Americans.It was traveled by the Spaniards after Spain had taken possession of the country,placing it un- der military and religious rule,by establishing missions and 170 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Presidios close to the French boundary at Natchitoches,Louis- iana,on the Red river..Here was located the capitol of the Tex- as Province at Adae Mission,fourteen miles West of Nachi- toches,now Robeline,Louisiana.When the road was traveled in the conquest of the country from 1716 to 1772,when the capital was removed to San Antonio and there it remained un- til 1836. The King's Highway (Camino Real)or Old San Antonio Road,was the permanent road in the land question,when Mexi- co opened its lands to American colonization. When the Anglo-Americans came and Mexico opened its lands to colonization,this old road,which was the main Camino Real across Texas,was defined as the Northern boundary of those Empresario grants lying south of the road;likewise the southern boundary of those lying north of the road. When Moses Austin returned from Mexico in 1820,he re- turned to the States by the way of this road,dying from ex- posure.His son Stephen Austin,in taking up his father's work, traveled over this road.to San Antonio and Mexico,when he was given permission to select lands between the Trinity and Colo- rado rivers,south of this old road. This road is shown on "Historical Outline Maps for Stu- dents of Texas History"in illustrating those periods of dis- coveries;its eras of filibusters,colonization,revolution,republic and State.It is always a straight line across the State,touch- ing only the points of Rio Grande Mission Baptists,San Antonio and Nacogdoches,when we know no farther. It is our desire not to blot out of our lives the story of the past history of this old highway that had to go,to make way for life,as it is not in the order of things that we should travel in the same old beaten paths of yesterday,nor those of today or tomorrow,but we would bring this old road back to its own by resurveying,marking stones to mark civilization's march from the savagery to the Anglo-American colonization on to the mill- innium. It is pertinent to note what other Western States are doing in work along similar lines.Take,for example,the Santa Fe Trail which stretches seven hundred miles from Missouri through.Kansas and Colorado to New Mexico.This is consid- ered one of the notable highways of our country,although less than the King's Highway across Texas ground,and fast dis- appearing,when the States,through which it passed,turned CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 171 their attention to certain conditions which had its effect in se- curing an appropriation with which to preserve its course.Those States have set up their "signs at the cross-roads"until today, the Santa Fe Trail shows a chain of stones marking the way from border to border,from State to State,a permanent re- minder of these forbears,who first traveled the wilderness road. The State of Missouri appropriated three thousand dollars to mark the one hundred and fifty miles of road.The State of Kansas,when the matter came before their Legislature,added their mite of one thousand dollars to the sum of $1,584.50,which had already been contributed by the school children of Kansas, in a "special penny collection."The railroads delivered the mark- ers free to all accessible points along their lines,and the enter- prise was received in every county,with the utmost interest and enthusiasm,and with few exceptions the County Commissions assumed the expense of setting the stones,thus making the small sum of $1,584.40 furnish and set eighty-nine markers. The State of Colorado has also accomplished a great work in this line,appropriating two thousand dollars,which sum was materially augmented through the efforts of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the State and by private citizens. More than thirty markers were placed,including a beautiful monument at Trinidad,toward which the City Council of that city voted $500.00. New Mexico has not only contributed liberally towards the placing of markers along the old trail,but it has taken the lead in contributing many thousand of dollars for a public road,along the line of the Santa Fe Trail. The State of Nebraska appropriated two thousand dollars towards marking the old Oregon trail.The Daughters of Ne- braska have placed all of the stones across the State.All the towns raised funds for handsomer monuments,as much as one hundred to three hundred and fifty dollars. The Natchez Trace in Tennessee and Mississippi is being surveyed and marked by the States.The D.A.R.'s in Louis- iana have planned this year to ask the State of Louisiana to sur- vey and mark,from Natchez,Mississippi,across to the Texas border,connecting with marking King's Highway on to the Sabine river. MAY SOLVE LAND PROBLEMS The D.A.R.'s believe that the investigation made by this 172 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD committee and the collection by it of the information gathered will be productive of results to Texas history,and will lead to the publishing of a book by Dr.H.E.Bolton of the California University and Professor W.E.Dunn of the Texas University which will solve many historic land problems,and which will be with us ever afterwards. While the national old trails committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution is pledged to resurveying and mark- ing historic highways,it does not by any means intend stopping here,but is now asking the Federal Government to make na- tional highways of these pioneer routes,and,as Miss Gentry of this committee writes,your King's Highway will be the great feeder linked with the Natchez Trace to the great Southwest. The D.A.R.will ask the State to form a commission by appointing the president and secretary of the Texas Historical Society and the surveyor,with the State regent,chairmen and members of the old trails committee,to carry out the work. COURAGE AND TRIUMPH OF TEXAS PIONEERS RECALLED Galveston News,March 3,1915 Minds of native Texans are turning back to the day,100 years ago,when representatives of the few hundreds of AnglQ- Saxons scattered over the vast acreage of Texas gathered at old Washington-on-the-Brazos,and solemnly declared the inde- pendence of the State from Mexican rule. Mexican oppression had grown irksome.Open battles be- tween the sturdy Texas pioneers and the Mexican troops had been staged on more than one occasion.Santa Anna's troops were pouring into the State by the way of San Antonio to sup- press the "rebellion"of the Anglo-Saxon settlers,a suppression that the settlers fully realized meant extinction for them. As the representatives gathered at Washtigon,news came of the fall of the Alamo.The blood of the patriots was fired and from the first there was little doubt that the occasion of the Texans would be for a desperate fight for complete liberty. David G.Burnet was chosen immediately president of the new republic.Sam Houston was made commander-in-chief of its army that was soon to annihilate the hordes sent against it. The spirit of the times that thrills Texans even to this day CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 173 was never more fittingly expressed than on that first day of the existence of the new nation by President Burnet. The classic still lives in the hearts of Texans.It follows: "Texas is,and has been for 18 years,the land of my pecu- liar affections;and to aid her in this day of her trial,and I trust, of her glory,would confer upon me a nobler gratification than could be derived from the attainment of any other earthly ob- ject.But I am only an individual among a host,and my single efforts would be impotent and unavailing.Texas demands the utmost energies of every citizen.We are engaged in an arduous and difficult contest;our enemy is powerful in numbers and in means;but we also are strong in the rectitude of our cause, and in that indestructible inheritance of gallantry which we de- rive from the illustrious conquerors of '76. "Ii the highest courage were alone sufficient to accomplish our great enterprise,then would Texas be safe,and her inde- pendence established beyond the utmost efforts of her enemies to impair it.But courage is only one among many virtues,and will not alone avail us in this solemn crisis of our affairs.The desultory efforts of brave men may be easily defeated when their united courage would triumph over all resistance.Let us then,gentlemen,lay our heads,our hearts,our hands together and,like a band of brothers,feeling one interest and one affec- tion,look with an eye single to one object-the redemption of Texas.Every citizen is deeply and irrevocably committed to the accomplishment of this end.To effect this object will re- quire the exercise of many and various virtues.The display of the rarest military powers is not alone sufficient;we must also show,by practical illustration,that we know how to exer- cise and appreciate the milder,less obscure,but more useful attributes of justice and truth,which render nations as well as individuals respectable under all the vicissitudes of time.We are about,as we trust,to establish a name among the nations of the earth;and let us be watchful,above all things,that this name shall not inflict a mortification on the illustrious people from whom we have sprung,nor entail reproach upon our des- cendants.We are acting for posterity;and,while with a devout reliance on the God of Battles,we shall roll back the flood of oppression that threatens to deluge our borders,let us present to the world such testimonials of our moral and political recti- tude as will compel the respect,if not constrain the sympathies of other nations. 174 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD "The day and hour has arrived when free man must be up and doing his duty.The Alamo has fallen!The gallant few, who so long sustained it,have yielded to the overwhelming pow- er of numbers;and,if our intelligence be correct,they have per- ished in one indiscriminate slaughter;but they perished not in vain!The ferocious tyrant has purchased his triumph over our little band of heroes at a costly price;and a few more such victories would bring down speedy ruin upon himself.Let us~ therefore,fellow citizens,take courage from this glorious dis- aster;and while the smoke of the funeral piles of our bleeding, burning brothers ascends to heaven,let us implore the aid of an incensed God,who abhors iniquity,ruleth in righteousness and will avenge the oppressed. SAN JACINTO DAY Four score and ten years ago there was fought on the soil of Harris County one of the most decisive battles of which there is any record in history. Editorial space does not permit of tracing in detail the causes which brought about that battle,but they were in sub- stance the same which brought about the rebellion of our fore- fathers in 1776 against the mother country. The inherent natural rights of Anglo-Saxons were denied them.They were made the victims of inj ustice and oppression. The government to which they had been loyal ceased to give them the rights to which they were entitled,and refused to allow them that representation which was their due.The result was a declaration of independence,and a struggle to obtain by force those rights which no government had the right to withhold from them. They determined to set up for themselves an independent nation.It was a b:.;ld resolve-30,OOO against 7,OOO,OOO-but they achieved their patriotic purpose. The declaration made at Old Washington on March 2 was confirmed and sealed with the blood of patriots on April 21. The man on whose motion that declaration was adopted led the army which won the victory of San Jacinto.There have been those who have spoken in terms of depreciation and dis- paragement of that battle,and have minimized its importance because of the numerical size of the opposing armies and the CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 175 small number of those who fell on the Texas side,but those who have done so have thought superficially. The philosophic student of history does not measure or gauge the importance of any battle by the number engaged or the casualties of the conflict. He applies to it the threefold test:What causes brought aoout the battle;what character of men were the victors,and what were the results which flowed from it? It established a new republic among the nations of the earth. The men who won the battle founded that republic with states- manlike wisdom and foresight,and showed themselves to be advanced thinkers and men capable of great achievements in the sphere of statecraft. It is conceded by all historians that that battle brought on the war with Mexico in 1846-7,and from that war resulted the extension of the terri.tory and jurisdiction of the United States to the Pacific Ocean.No more momentous results flowed from any battle fought on this continent since Cornwallis surrendered on the plain of Yorktown. Texas is the splendid and glorious fruit of the valor of the little band led by Sam Houston,and if this imperial common- wealth were the only result of the battle fought 90 years ago today,that alone would give it a lofty position on the roll of the great battles of history. In commemorating the anniversary,Texans honor them- selves.They would be unpardonably remiss in the performance of imperative patriotic duty if they did not do so. That battlefield is forever consecrated by the blood of men who loved liberty better than they loved life,and that soil is forever hallowed. When the people of Texas cease to observe and commerate each recurring 21st of April,they will cease to be worthy of rich inheritance bequeathed them by the courageous and un- selfish patriots who there won a victory of which countless mil- lions are the beneficiaries. My Dear Mrs.Norvell: You can hardly know how truly we appreciate your long interesting letter and the memorial accompanying it,which was read before the D.R.T.Convention and aroused much interest. There is nothing that appeals to my mind in all the work "ow being done by both the D.A.R.and the D.R.T.Sisters,and 176 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD I am painfully aware of the fact that our people will have to be "educated"to a proper understanding of this immense plan.So, J watched with intense interest the fate of your bill before the memorable "33." I succeeded in jamming the attention of your Daughters in the space of a half hour,and laid before them,as best I could in that brief time,the intent of your memorial,and I am sure each one present will carry home with her the determination to make the question plain before the members of the Legislature in her district.The importance of that survey is to appoint for the proper locating of all the historic roads,and your letter and memorial strikes the true note. I do hope we will all live to see results most gratifying. Poor nonagenarian,who was present (Mr.Darlington)arose leaning on his cane,and in his trembling voice,told us how he had,when a young man,traveled the King's Highway from the City of Mexico into Louisiana. I hope you are entirely recovered from your illness and that in some sweet day I shall meet you. Very truly yours, (Signed)MACIE B.URWITZ San Antonio 523 S.Flores Street April 29,1913. You cannot know the effort this Committee has put forth to accomplish our purpose,and bring back to the Society the re- ward.Not only have we labored to secure the markers,but to arouse an interest with people for its perpetuation. As Chairman of the Old Trails Road Committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Texas,I shall endeavor to tell you of the work so far accomplished by this Committee to make King's Highway,Old San Antonio Road. The Daughters of the American Revolution,in 1913,as you well know,lost out in their Legislation to secure the survey and location of this old road by the State.When we went to work immediately to secure the funds whereby we could begin this marking ourselves.Some six hundred dollars was pledged be- fore the EI Paso convention from the Chapters and individual members,and citizens of the State.The Conference pledged six hundred dollars,making twelve hundred.Since the sum has been augmented to sixteen hundred and eighty dollars by the Sub- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 177 scription Chairman,Mrs.Hal W.Greer,and members of this Committee. The San Antonio De Bexar Chapter,through Mrs.Stevens, Mrs.Dunn and Mrs.Bates,have secured the promise of five hun- dred dollars to cap the boulder fund,this from the State High- way Commissioner,Mr.D.E.Clapp. The National Chairman,Miss Elizabeth Butler Gentry, writes,"A bill is now before Congress to make an ocean-to- ocean highway across the continent.When this is finished,then the Natchez Trace and your highway to the southwest will be worked to make a national highway to the Southwest.We have learned the Old San Antonio Road,that was the Old Spanish highway,is well defined through Texas in the surveys of the early county maps,with the exception of a long stretch through the central portion of the State." The Chairman went to work in January,soliciting the sup- port of the County officials,the judges,commissioner courts and lawyers across the State,to make the survey of the road, and to accept the boulders from the railroad,and bear the ex- pense of hauling them and placing them. The Chairman of the Trail took up the work with the Min- isters and citizens along the route to help arouse interest. Many counties in Eastern Texas consented to do the locat- ing of the road,and place the boulders for us.The lawyers in the counties of Eastern Texas wrote in the County of Sabine, San Augustine,Nacogdoches,Cherokee and Houston,their field notes of the old road called for King's Highway back to 1870 and 1853,copied from old notes in the Land Office,and which they had surveyed,making the windings of the old Mission sites,where once located. The road is an open highway through the main residential street of Crockett to Robbins Ferry,now Clapps ferry,running across the northeast corner of Madison County,when it becomes the dividing line of Leon and Madison Counties,Robertson and Brazos Counties to the Benchly crossing of the Brazos River. Between the Brazos and Colorado Rivers,the road has changed out of its old course,as it was when the Americans came and when Mexico first opened its lands to American colonization. When this old Spanish highway,or San Antonio Road was the northern boundary to Stephen F.Austin's first grant and De- Witt's grant.Also,when in this open void the Counties of 178 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Travis and Bastrop were created,this road was the dividing line. When the Commissioners were appointed by the State to locate a site for the Capitol,they chose the hamlet of "Water- loo",now Austin,stating that by so doing,it would eventually close the pass by which the Mexicans had for ages past trav- eled across the State,and that it would increase immigration to that part of the State,as the town of Bastrop grew,the road ran there. We were told one of the University professors of the State had said we were accepting tradition in locating this road,and it was suggested that we have the County Surveyors survey the road,then ask the State to appoint a surveyor to go over this work and this we said would not be treating the surveyors right.While in the long run,their advice will be sought,as our plan had been to locate the Old Spanish Highway,or San An- tonio Road,in a county and mark it. The Committee is now working to secure an expert who is skilled in such work to go to the Land Office and go over the old documents and maps of those counties where the road has changed,as through Burleson,Lee and Bastrop Counties. This we hope to have lor you,if possible,by the November Conference.This Committee will endeavor to pay for such ser- vice,and it is our desire to try and secure this money for the map.We are going to give as much as possible so that this work will progress,and we can reach our goal-the completion. Mrs.Helen Hardin Wadsworth has very aptly stated-"My main object in founding our Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution,was to arouse American women to the importance of local history". THE TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Austin,Texas August 28,1914. Mrs.Lipscomb NorveIl, Beaumont,Texas. My dear Mrs.Norvell: I have just received your letter requesting me to undertake the construction of a map of the King's Highway,or to assist you in finding someone else to do it.Inasmuch as my histori- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 179 cal researches have not been in the field of the Spanish occupa- tions of Texas,I do not feel sufficiently well qualified for this work,though I thank you very much for the offer. I have just been talking the matter over with Professor Barker,and we are both of the opinion that probably the best thing to do would be to get Professor Bolton and Mr.Dunn to undertake the work jointly.Professor Bolton knows more about the old Spanish and Indian trails of Texas than anyone else, and Mr.Dunn also is thoroughly conversant with that period. Inasmuch as Mr.Dunn will be here on the ground,I think he is the best one to undertake the work in the Land Office.I believe that if you can obtain the services of these two scholars that you will be thoroughly satisfied with the results.Mr.Dunn has been in Spain this summer,but,according to recent letters, he is now on his way back to the United States,and should reach New York about September 10.He will probably not be in Austin before the twentieth. How would it do for you to have them make a map showing all of the various trails from the time of St.Denis on to the coming of the Anglo-Americans?The road as it existed in the. last period could be used for marking,but the map would show the whole history of the road from the earliest times.I think it would be a fine thing if this whole history could be written up with an accompanying map and published in a separate small volume either by the Daughters,or by our Texas State Historical Association.What do you think of this? I am glad that you are coming to Austin and look forward with pleasure to meeting you.1]think that Professor Barker should be in our conference,and I have taken the liberty of ask- ing him to go with me to meet you at Mrs.Hooper's next Thurs- day morning about nine or nine-thirty.I think you are well on the way towards accomplishing your cherished object,and I believe that not only historical students,but the whole state of Texas will owe you a vote of thanks. Very sincerely yours, (Sgd.)Chas.W.Ramsdell Cor.Secretary and Treasurer and Business Manager. 180 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD August 30,1914 Austin,Texas Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Beaumont,Texas. My dear Mrs.Norvell: I have explained your wishes to Mr.Dunn.He will no doubt write you shortly. Very truly yours, E.C.Barker. .. *** September 27,1914 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, Beaumont,Texas. My dear Mrs.Norvell: Dr.Barker has acquainted me with the most recent deveI~ ments of your undertaking to identify the old San Antonio Road, and of your desire for me to take charge of the investigations to be made concerning it. After considerable hesitation,on account of the press of work for this term,]have decided to undertake the work.It will be impossible for me to say now what would be a suitable compensation.I do not know how much material there is to go over in the Land Office,nor how much outside assistance I shall need.I can only say that you may be assured that I shall ask only a just and reasonable return for my time and labor. I wish that I were able to make my work a contribution to the enterprise,but under the circumstances I do not feel that I could do so.At any rate,r am sure that there will be no difficulty about the terms and expenses of the investigation. I have not heard from Dr.Bolton yet in regard to the pu~ lication of a small volume on the history of the Camino Real. The idea appeals to me very much,and I trust that some ar- rangement can be made to carry out the scheme. It will be at least two weeks before I can begin on the work, and in the meantime I shall be glad to answer any further quer- ies you may have to make. Very sincerely yours, W.E.Dunn CA""'M""INO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 181 The University of Texas Austin School of History March 18,1915. My dear Mrs.Norvell: I am glad to hear of the progress of the bill.Not having been able to learn anything about it,I feared that it had met a serious reverse. I shall be glad to have a little more time on the work.I have been compelled to drop it temporarily in order to prepare a paper which I am to read at the meeting of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association in New Orleans,April 21-23.The paper is almost finished now,and I shall be ready to resume full activities on the road next week. Yours very sincerely, (Sgd.)W.E.Dunn November 23,1914. My dear Mrs.Norvell: I have begun my investigations on the old Camino Real,and am becoming "orientated"to a certain degree.I should like for you to send me a formal statement as to what you expect me to do.This will serve as a guide,for I do not want to do a lot of useless work when I am so pressed for time.In other words, I want to know exactly what I am expected to do,so that no mis- understandng can arise in the future. It would be of much aid to me,]am sure,if you would send me the information you must have acquired since your interest in the road.Any correspondence or information of a local na- ture would undoubtedly be of importance to me,and would spare me some useless repetition,I imagine. Please let me know also the latest date I may have for the submission of my work. Hoping to hear from you at once,and reminding you that the expeditiousness of the work will depend to a large degree upon your prompt cooperation,I remain, Yours very sincerely, (Sgd.)W.E.Dunn 182 CAMINO REAIr-.OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Beaumont,Texas, Dec.17,1914 Prof.W.E.Dunn, Austin,Texas. Dear.Prof.Dunn: Your letter asking me to send you a formal statement as to what you are expected to do in getting out a map for the Daughters of the American Revolution of the King's Highway (Camino Real)or Old San Antonio Road is hereby given. The Daughters of the American Revolution want a correct map of the main traveled Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road across Texas,that has been known as the King's Highway from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande River. We want a map so that we can trace the road on the land where it enters Texas from Louisiana in Sabine County through San Augustine County,Nacogdoches County,Cherokee County, Houston County,Madison County,dividing line of Leon,Madi- son and Robertson County,and Brazos County on to San Antonio and Rio Grande Mission Babtista. 'We want this road as found by the Americans when they came and when Mexico opened its lands to American Coloniza- tion and so define this road in the beginning the northern boun- dary of Austin and DeWitt's Colony. Wherever there is any doubt of this road you are to decide just where it did run as between the Brazos River and New Braunfels,we are in doubt where it ran.We:find two roads running into San Antonio from New Braunfels;one running to San Pedro Springs going south to Main Plaza then south out Laredo Street going west to the Rio Grande Mission Babtista, another going from New Braunfels to Alamo Plaza across San Antonio River to Main Plaza then going west through now Pros- pect Hill to Rio Grande Babtista Mission.You are to decide which of the two roads we are to mark. We want you to obtain sufficient historical data and to find where the road lays today,through the Counties the EI Camino Real,or Old San Antonio Road,is supposed to have run; prepare us a map showing all of the towns so dignified by name along this road,where they are found today. In other words we want a correct map of the Camino Real, or Old San Antonio Road that we can give to a surveyor that can be traced on the land to know just where the old road did CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 183 run;to erect our boulders across the State of Texas from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande River. If you are satisfied with your investigation by March the first,and map completed,we will be pleased to have you submit the same. Enclosed please find check.Ii will collect the remaining amount and send you. Very sincerely, Chairman,Texas Trails Committee,D.A.R. (Sgd.)Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, The University of Texas Austin School of History November 27,1916 My dear Mrs.Norvell: Your recent letter to Dr.Ramsdell in regard to the Morfi Diary of 1778 has been turned over to me,with a request to answer it.I take pleasure in doing so. The Morfi diary does not cover the region between San Antonio and Natchitoches,.as the Croix expedition of which Father Morti was a member,did not go any further than San Antonio.Croix,who had been appointed Commandant-General of the new administrative division called the Interior Provinces, went to San Antonio in 1778 to hold a council,in which the de- fense of the frontier was discussed.Morfi was not a member of the council.He merely went along as a chaplain,and wrote a diary of the trip.I think I gave you the only part of his diary that throws light upon the old road.I published an article in the San Antonio Express two years ago,giving Morfi's descrip- tion of San Antonio.Now,if you wish the complete details of Morfi's diary from the Rio Grande to San Antonio,I can have it copied for you and perhaps translated.It is contained in a large volume with several other documents,and it would be rather impracticable to send the entire volume.If you would like to have the complete narrative by Morti,let me know,and I will get someone to do the work for you.But remember that it only covers the region between Coahuila and San Antonio,for the rest of the state was not traversed.I found a new map of this expedition in Spain last year,which shows the old road.It 184 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD does not change any of my previous findings,but,indeed, strengthens them. With best wishes,I am, Yours most sincerely, (Sgd.)W.E.Dunn. OLD TRAILS ROAD COMMITTEE REPORT My dear Madam Recording Secretary: I am very sorry I did not get my report to you in time for the Conference,and since it is important,though it carries no recommendation of the Conference,I think it is necessary that this report go into the year book,as a termination of the reso- lution passed by the Twentieth Conference-that was the plac- ing of the D.A.R.Trails Road Map of Texas in the Alamo. After the meeting of the Twentieth Conference at Austin, a request came to me from the Louisiana State Highway Com- mission asking for literature,and map of the Old King's High- way,Camino Real,and Old San Antonio Road,to help the Com- mission in getting a bill through the Louisiana Legislation,to open and make an extension of this trial a Highway from Pen- dleton on the Sabine River to Natchitoches,Louisiana,running across Louisiana to Natchez on the Mississippi,when I sent them the map.Just before the meeting of the twenty-first Conference at San Antonio I wrote the Commissioner asking for the return of the map and enclosing $1.00 when they re- turned to me the map. I felt I could take the privilege of letting the map go on a missionary journey,before I placed it in the Alamo,and I wish to assure the Conference it is my desire and great pleasure to still give the map to them for safe keeping in the Alamo. I have plans for a book on the history of our Texas Trail to bring before you at the coming Conference.I wish all to know who have written and asked about this book,that the 1914 Con- ference voted that we should get out,that to now execute such an undertaking will have to have a new ratification from that body.Very desirable Spanish records have lately been pub- lished on the Southwest by Dr.H.E.Bolton and the Bureau of American Ethnology will be used as a finish and round up on the work of the D.A.R.Trail Road Committee in Texas. Remarks on the King's Highway by Dr.W.E.Dunn when map.s and diary containing description of road given with league CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 185 distances and figures of the survey were presented to the Chair- man and I in return gave to the Surveyor appointed by the State to make the surveys. "From the Sabine River to San Antonio the Old Camino Real,or King's Highway can be accurately located for the whole way,because definite distances are called for in the old land grants,the field notes of which are on file at the General Land Office in Austin.In my study,however,I have not relied solely upon the old field notes,but studied first the old Spanish Records containing the road.I find that the field notes corroborate in every way the course of the old road as traveled by the early Spaniards in Texas.I have also utilized evidence contained in documents of the early American occupation,and it all goes to support the route as I have laid down on the accompanying maps.Contrary to general opinion there was no change of any material importance in the road from the time it was laid down in the grants of Austin Colony to the time when the later grants were made.Although the maps show all the evidence that is necessary in locating the road,I shall comment on a few points in my notes,in order to show the methods I have pursued in identifying the road on the maps. South of San Antonio it has been impossible to secure ac- curate evidence as north of the City.This is because the road did not figure in the old land grants.There is no question,how- ever,but that the lower Presidio Road was the original Camino Real.The upper road to Babtista Mission on Rio Grande,al- ways Presidio Road,and never Camino Real.It has only been possible to locate in actual figures the road on map from San Antonio to the central part of Atascosa County and from this point South by comparing the data with the course of the road as shown on the maps and by the actual examination of the country.The location of the road can be fixed and the gaps filled in the general course of the road as shown in the county maps and crossing Nueces River by the best local information and tradition in a personal investigation with the data,and cal- culating distances from town to town,the problem would be solved,especially with the accurate description of Morti's diary to aid in the work.The road continued through the well known land mark,Ambrosia Pass,and reached the Rio Grande at the crossing known as French Pass." State Chairman Old Trails Committee. Mrs~Lipscomb Norvell, 186 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD GREAT STRATEGIC MILITAR,Y HIGHWAY EL CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Beaumont,Texas 1913 To:The Daughters of The American Revolution The Chairman of this Committee,EI Camino Real-Old San Antonio Road,is very anxious to ask the Legislature for an ap- propriation to survey the road. Senator Louis J.Wortham has consented to present this bill and do what he can for the passage of it.Prof.W.E.Dunn is hard at work to secure a correct map of King's Highway, Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road,all verified as one and the same road everywhere across the State.He is now in Washing- ton and New York securing data from the librarians. I am asking each Chapter to write to the Senators and Leg- islators to secure their pledge for the bill when presented.With our money subscribed and correct map of Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road,issued by Dr.Dunn and Dr.Bolton,we ought to win out and secure the passage of the bill. Very sincerely, Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman Texas Old Trails Road Committee. MEMORIAL TO TEXAS LEGISLATURE THE GREAT HISTORIC IDGHWAY This memorial is presented by the Texas Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution,a patriotic society,of National scope,numbering more than ninety thousand members in the United States and more than twelve hundred in Texas, the members of the society being descendants of those brave and loyal men who fought in the War of the American Revolu- tion. One of the chief objects of this society is to preserve from oblivion the heroic deeds and achievements of our Nation build- ers,-by the erection of appropriate and enduring monuments~ that will perpetuate and keep green the memory where have occurred events of great importance to the Nation. -The trails traveled by the pioneers of the Nation in advanc- ing the boundaries of its western course are now being marked,. CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 187 and as Texas has made no memorial of her great step in the march,in extending her boundaries and seaboard settlements, the Daughters of the American Revolution in Texas believe the time has come when the King's Highway in Texas can not be left out,forming as it did centuries ago,scenes of the most pic- turesque life in the great Southwest.It being the most ancient highway in America,and the deeds in its path so daring,that they have resolved that the native merit of Texas is of far- reaching importance to the Nation and its people to be worthy of commemoration. The great historic King's Highway,stretching more than a thousand miles from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande River, has seen the pageant of centuries-the birth of a Nation and the rise and fall of six flags.Worn and trod by the bleeding feet of our heroic Nation builders,it is a sacred heritage of our people that is fast becoming obliterated. With this path leading from the City of Mexico to Zuizua- taro,San Luis Potosi,Saltillo,Rio Grande River,San Antonio, Bastrop,Caldwell,Benchly,Crockett,Weche,Alto,Nacogdoches, San Augustine to Pendleton-we find a highway of great sig- nificance,and one that has crossing of Sabine River;thence to Natchitoches,Louisiana,we wrought great historic changes in the Nation's growth. First,traveled by Spanish Expedition 1691,then by Jach- eran De St.Denis in 1716,for France to get control of the lands and to keep out the Spanish;to the end of keeping out the French,the Spaniards built Presidios and Missions across the State to repel the advance on them,and which settled the own- ership of Texas.Then,afterwards,it gave their successors, the Mexicans,to acquire a satisfactory government-laid bare by the American pioneer with his axe,when he became pos- sessed with the desire for newer and larged lands,it was ready for the American Cavalier,when the first gun of the Texas Revolution was sounded at San Antonio,they rode into the tour- nament of history over this highway and poured into her lap this valor and virtue,their talent and treasure,'that the Na- tion might triumphantly extend her arm to the great South- west. These pioneers,passing from the far East to the far South- west,braved all the known perils of those early days.So great were the heroic struggles in this path,that many a victim of valor the ploughshare hath passed over his bones,that sleep in 188 CAMINO REAIr-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the land of Texas.They faced death in a thousand forms. Many drooped and died,while their companions buried them and passed on-the time came when their bodies were left un- buried.Only the sturdiest and strongest hearted,enduring to the end,the hardships and terrors of that journey into the un- known country,into which they had hoped to find homes and peace and plenty.. Along this trail for years surged the advance legion of a Nation's traffic-traders,trappers,gold seekers,missionaries, soldiers and colonists,but with the building of the railroads; the old highway used in some of the countries,is rapidly becom- ing a memory. Texas is not the State to be the last in any progressive movement,and the Daughters of the American Revolution hav- ing scrutinized their relatives position to the State,have taken the initiative in the work of conserving the outlines of the King's Highway in Texas. It is pertinent to note what other western states are doing in work along similar lines.Take,for example,the Santa Fe trail which stretches seven hundred miles from Missouri through Kansas and Colorado to New Mexico.This is considered one of the notable highways of our country,although less than the King's Highway across Texas ground,and was fast disappear- ing,when the States through which it passed,turned their at- tention to certain conditions which had its effect in securing an appropriation with which to preserve its course.Those states have set up their "signs at the cross-roads"until today,the Santa Fe trail shows a chain of stones marking "the way"from border to border,from State to State,a permanent reminder of these forebears,who first traveled the wilderness road. The State of Missouri appropriated three thousand dollars to mark the one hundred and fifty miles of road.The State of Kansas,when the matter came before their Legislature,added their mite of one thousand dollars to the sum of $1,584.40,which had already been contributed by the school children of Kansas, in a "specia:l penny collection."The railroads delivered the markers free to all accessible points along their lines,and the enterprise was received in every County,with the utmost inter- est an enthusiasm,and 'with few exceptions the County Commis- sions assumed the expense of setting the stones,thus making the small sum of $1,584.40 furnish and set 'eighty-nine markers. The State of Colorado has also accomplished a great work CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 189 in this line,appropriating two thousand dollars,which sum was materially augmented through the efforts of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the State and by private citizens. More than thirty markets were placed,including a beautiful monument at Trinidad,toward which the City Council of that city voted $500.00. New Mexico has not only contributed liberally towards the placing of markers along the old trial,but it has taken the lead in contributing many thousands of dollars for a public road, along the line of the Santa Fe Trail. The State of Nebraska appropriated two thousand dollars towards marking the old Oregon trail.The Daughters of Ne- braska will have placed all of the stones across the State by January,1913.All the towns have raised funds for handsomer monuments,as much as one hundred to three hundred and fifty dollars.They have planned to have appropriate unveiling cere- monies along the route. The history of Texas is,in a large part,the history of El Camino Real,The King's Highway,which was the greatest de- velopment in influence we had,causing,as it did,the East to overflow through Texas into that great unknown Southwest beyond.To appropriately mark this longest and most historic trail in the history of Nation,and of the world,the Daughters of the American Revolution,in Texas most earnestly and re- spectfully request the aid and encouragement of the people of the State in the furtherance of their work,and that in harmony with the action already taken by the States of Missouri,Kansas, Colorado,New Mexico and Oregon,the Texas Legislature make a suitable appropriation to aid in marking the King's Highway in Texas,extending from the Sabine River across to the Rio Grande River. "Texans",let us then prove our truth,by our endeavor. Let us show ourselves worthy men and women of those mighty days,in which we meet this problem of our time.Let us then set up our signs at the "cross-roads"as our sister States have done,"Our King's Highway markers"which will at once mark this old trail and teach the children that come after us,that Texas takes pride in its history,and that we,too,have done our duty to those who were "borne to blaze,to testify their power,and to die". 190 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD STATE OFFICERS State Regent-Mrs.Harry Hyman,Hammond and New Braun- fels Streets,San Antonio. State Vice Regent-Mrs.W.H.Bell,Austin. State Corresponding Secretary-Mrs.E.J.Fellowes,702 San Pedro Avenue,San Antonio. State Recording Secretary-Miss Eleanor Henderson,Cameron. State Treasurer-Mrs.R.F.Andrews,1309 Cannon Avenue, Fort Worth. State Historian-IvIrs.Andrew Rose,821 Olive Street,Texar- kana. State Registrar-Mrs.J.S.Hawkins,Edna. State Chaplain-Mrs.Noble A.Sayre,2904 Brazos Street,Hous- ton. CHAPTER REGENTS Mrs.S.M.Ray,Agness,Woodson,Belton. Mrs.Neil Carothers,Andrew Carruthers,Austin. Mrs.H.P.Robertson,Betty Martin,Temple. Mrs.W.M.Carroll,Col.George Moffet,Beaumont. Mrs.J.S.Hawkins,Elizabeth Steele,Edna. Mrs.J.S.Smith,McCrory,Amarillo. Mrs.S.H.Burnsides,Maj.Francis Grice,Wichita Falls. Mrs.Maco Stewart,George Washington,Galveston. Mrs.W.C.Harmon,Henry Downs,Waco. Mrs.T.L.Westerfield,Jane Douglas,Dallas. Mrs.D.F.Stuart,Lady Washington,Houston. Mrs.Ella C.Wisdom,Lone Star,Texarkana. Mrs.R.B.Rogers,Mary Garland,Brownwood. Mrs.R.F.Andrews,Mary Isham Keith,Ft.Worth. Mrs.Chas.T.Bonner,Mary Tyler,Tyler. Mrs.George J.Bird,Pocahontas,San Angelo. Mrs.G.W.Keister,Rebecca Stoddert,El Paso. Mrs.L.A.Scott,Richard Royall,McKinney. Mrs.Harry Hyman,San Antonio de Bexar,San Antonio. Mrs.S.P.Cross,Sarah McCalla,Cameron. Mrs.J.D.Claybrook,Thankful Hubbard,Austin. Mrs.B.C.White,Weatherford,Weatherford. Mrs.A.R.Howard,William Findley,Palestine. Mrs.R.H.Walker,Thomas Shelton,Gonzales. Mrs.F.A.Tyler,Rebecca Crockett,Gainesville. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 191 This memorial is presented by the Texas organization of the Daughters of the American Revolution,to the members of the State Legislature,and among the many prominent and patriotic citizens interested in this movement are the following: Senator Morris Shepherd,Texarkana. Ex-Governor Joseph D.Sayers,Austin. Hon.Joseph F.Duff,Beaumont. Rev.J.B.Turrentine,Texarkana. Mr.George J.Bird,San Angelo. Hon.H.M.Garwood,Houston. Mr.Harry Hertzberg,San Antonio. Judge N.B.Norris,Palestine. Mr.B.R.Norvell,Beaumont. Mr.Charles W.Hobbs,San Angelo. Congressman Horace Vaughn,Texarkana. Mr.Rucker Royall,Palestine. Mr.Wm.P.H.McFaddin,Beaumont. Mr.P.N.Ions,San Angelo. Prof.O.L.Dunaway,Texarkana. Mr.Ben Greenwood,Palestine. Mr.W.A.Guthrie,San Angelo. Hon.W.Lee Estes,Texarkana. Judge James Harrison,Beaumont. Mr.C.B.Metcalf,San Angelo. Mr.John N.Gilbert,Beaumont. Judge Waters Davis,EI Paso. Captain T.J.Beall,EI Paso. Judge Peyton S.Edwards,EI Paso. Judge Joseph McGossin,EI Paso. Mr.Horace Walker Broadus,EI Paso. SUBSCRIBERS TO BOULDERS The following have subscribed to boulders to perpetuate this road: Mrs.Henry Cline,Wharton $28.00 Mrs.Harry Hyman,San Antonio 28.00 Mrs.Wm.Carroll,Beaumont 28.00 Col.Geo.Moffett Chapter 56.00 C.A.R.Children,San Antonio 28.00 Wm.Findlay Chapter 28.00 Mrs.Clara D.Sevier,New York 28.00 192 CAMINO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Hon.W.S.Davidson,Beaumont 28.00 Mrs.Alvin A.Lane,Dallas 28.00 Mrs.Edward Rotan,Waco 28.00 Mrs.C.Greer,Dallas 28.00 Mrs.Geo.W.Smyth,Beaumont 28.00 Lone Star Chapter 56.00 Benjamin Liddon Chapter 28.00 Weatherford Chapter 28.00 Mrs.E.A.Blount,Nacogdoches 28.00 Mrs.W.P.H.McFaddin,Beaumont 28.00 Mrs.B.R.Norvell,Beaumont 28.00 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Beaumont 28.00 Mrs.Lewis J.Wortham,Ft.Worth 28.00 Mrs.C.W.Conney,Ft.Worth 28.00 Mrs.H.H.Cobb,Mrs.L.D.Cobb,Ft.Worth 28.00 Betty Martin Chapter 28.00 Robertson Family 00_28.00 Mrs.Wm.Cobb,Ft.Worth 28.00 Mrs.Geo.Thompson,Ft.Worth 28.00 Mary Isham Keith Chapter 56.00 Judge John Lovejoy,Houston 28.00 Pocahontas Chapter 28.00 Alamo Chapter 28.00 Mrs.Adele B.Louscan,Houston 28.00 Mrs.John N.Gilbert,Beaumont ~28.00 Miss Emma Burleson,Austin 28.00 Agnes Woodson Chapter 28.00 Mrs.N.P.Sanderson,Texarkana 28.00 History Club,San Antonio 28.00 Alamo Mission Chapter D.R.T.T.28.00 Mary Garland Chapter 28.00 Mrs.Henry Cline,Wharton,Mrs.Hal W.Aldridge, Aldridge 28.00 Rebecca Stoddard Chapter 56.00 Mrs.Geo.Barnham,Nacogdoches,Miss Lott,El Paso 28.00 San Antonio DeBexar Chapter 56.00 Jane Douglas Chapter 28.00 Major Francis Grice Chapter ~28.00 Esther McCrory Chapter 56.00 Richard Royal Chapter m 28.00 L ' ~...h.gt ro h '"t -9.8 00aayvvasInonvaper-'. Robert Raines Chapter 28.00 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 193 Geo.Washington Chapter 28.00 Thomas Shelton Chapter m_m m 28.00 Mr.Ed.Downes,San Augustine ___m m_m h___28.00 Mrs.John H.Broocks,Beaumont __mm m__m m_56.00 Mrs.F.Lutcher,Orange m m mmm m 28.00 Mr.Wm.E.Crook,Beaumont m n_5.00 Mr.S.G.Burnett,Beaumont m m n m 5.00 San Antonio DeBexar Chap,ter m_m_m m 152.00 Mrs.Ira Evans,Austin _m m m m_m 28.00 Mrs.J.M.Woodson,Temple m m m___m 28.00 Mary Isham Keith Chapter m 28.00 Joseph Lignon Chapter nm m m mm 28.00 Sarah McCallah Chapter m m 28.00 Stephen F.Austin Chapter D.R.T m m 28.00 Hon.Morris Sheppard m___m m__m 5.00 Sesame Club,Hillsboro m m m 2.50 San Antonio Self Culture Club m m m 5.00 Mrs.Mary A.Greer,Beaumont 5.00 El Progresso Club,Uvalde 5.00 Woman's Club,Laredo m m 5.00 Maj or Littlefield,Austin mm m 28.00 Galveston Daily News,Galveston m 28.00 Mrs.Hal W.Greer,Laredo h__h 5.00 Tuesday Music and Literary Club,Laredo m_m 3.00 Ft.Worth Chapter m 28.00 Mary Tyler Chapter m m__m m 28.00 Mrs.A.H.Wroe,Austin 28.00 Hon.H.M.Garwood,Houston m m 28.00 CAMINO DEL REY (ROAD OF THE KING) Complimentary The spirit of adventure which manifested itself in Europe, beginning with the fifteenth century,was one of the clearest evidences of an approaching moral and political regeneration. The progress of civilization is an inevitable consequence of the increase of population and human progress and that civili- zation and savagery must come in contact;as the higher culture is stronger in the process of evolution,its customs and activi- tives must survive as the better. 194 CAMINO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Civilization is not retroactive,but always progressive;yet from another angle this is the thrilling and inspiring side of our work;in a sense,the truly American side,for the history of development of this great state of ours,is a history of the pioneer's struggle in every line. There was in the beginning,the adventurous Spirit-the Holy Father's enlightening the untutored mind,the hardy woodsman who wrested a living from the wilderness.He fought the Indians of our country,and cleared the land.He opened lines of communications,making it possible for others to come after him.He was followed by the trader and artisan,the flat- boatman and the stage coach;all pioneers in their way.As the country became settled,came the road builders,the steam- boat designers,the railway engineer.Thus forward goes the enlightenment,opportunity and efficiency of him who watches and works. The pageant of transportation,is a story to stir the imagina- tion of aU mankind.First came the sack laden toiler-the cov- ered wagon-the stage coach-the steamboat-the pony ex- press-the railroad-the automobile-then the whirring air- plane moving along at some hundreds of miles per hour.What will the future develop?No man can tell. It is said,that nothing is more typical of civilization than its roads.Every road has a story.and the burden of the story is a need,the better the road and longer the more important the story. The Indian Confederacies which tilled the soil of this conti- nent,and built the mysterious mounds for defense and worship, undoubtedly first traveled the high ways of America.It was for the game animals to mark out,what later became known as the highways of America;these routes of old trails are be- ing followed by our modern thoroughfares,and many impor- tant railroad lines. Later,the Indians used these trails made by wandering ani- mals,these trails led generaUy in the most direct course to all stragetic points,m~ny became of momentous important to the white man. In 1848,by the Tr~aty made at the pueblo of Hidalgo near the City of Mexico on TI.ursday,February 2,1848,Mexico ceded to the "United States of the North,"half a million square miles of land (32,000,000 acres)'.;yith the Rio Grande river to be the western boundary and the Eastern boundary as it is today,to be CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 195 the Western boundary line of Mexico,as far as Texas territory is concerned,and so remains today. One year before Spain was overthrown by the Mexican regime,or in 1820,France ceded Florida to the United States, at Fort Pickens,Florida,near the mouth of Escambia River,at Pensacola,Florida,under Andrew Jackson.For Pickens was the only fort held by the northern forces during the Civil War. The land of Florida was only faintly delineated on the Can- tino map of 1502,all according to the "Archives of India"in Seville,Spain. The haughty Spaniard,Juan once de Lean,landed in Flbr- ida,"Easter Day",April 10th,1513.He named the country the attractive name,"Pasual de Flores"(Feast of Flowers). He began his expeditions towards the west,through the new found lands,and began a trail,leading toward Pensacola,which stands in the country where venture searched for the "EI Dora- do"in the 16th Century.De Leon forged westward hunting for the "Fountain of Youth",passed where Mobile is located,over which four National Flags have flown. In later years a military road some 400 miles in length was built between San Augustine and Pensacola.The road was pushed on westwards into the French City of New Orleans, Louisiana,established in 1718,by Jean Bautiste Le Moine de Iberville,and the French established there as the governor of Louisiana,De La Mothe Cadilac. The name "Camino Del Rey"was bestowed on the same, by Luis Juchereau St.Denis,in 1714,during his reign as gov- ernor at Natchitoches,Louisiana.This was while he was going over it,down to "Presidio del Rio Grande",on west side of the Rio Grande River,and where mission San Juan Bautiste,had been founded by Father Diego Salzazar,in 1699.This Presidio was just below the mouth of the Salado River,and where Father Francisco Hidalgo was operating,hut on St.Denis's arrival there,the reverend father was away on other business. San Augustine,Florida,was founded in 1565,an old Indian village,by the Spaniard,Pedro Menendo de Aviles.It is the oldest town in the United States,and the old mission building, "St.Francis"has passed through the reign of three flags,Spain, France and the United States.This ancient building was the only house that escaped destruction when Sir Francis Drake raided the city in 1586.This mission erection was occupied by the Franciscan monks from 1565 to 1590.It descended to a 196 CAMINO REAh-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Deputy of the Spanish regime,who was of a prominent Spanish family,in 1590 and remained in this family unto 1862,all of which is shown by a table on the Museum of the Historical So- ciety,in San Augustine,Florida.Ancient "Fort Marion"in San Augustine,Florida,built in the sixteenth century,is a worthy example of the early construction and method of fort building.Four flags have floated over its walls,France,Spain, England,and the United States. Ferdinand de Soto,began his tour toward the Mississippi River,passing where Pensacola is now situated,beginning in 1538 but after many disappointments dying in 1542 and was buried in a rude wooden coffin and body cast into waters of the Mississippi river near the confluence of Red River. After the death of De Soto,his Treasurer,Francisco Vas- ques de Coronado,took charge of De Soto's expedition,and journeyed through northern Texas,seeking the fabled "Seven Cities of Cibolo",supposedly to lie in present New Mexico,at that date known to the Spanish regime,as "New Galacia",over which Coronado was later made the governor.In 1605 Santa Fe was fixed there as the capital of that territory,making Santa Fe,the second oldest town in the United States.In the year 1598 Don Juan de Onate,the Spaniard,took possession of that country for King Phillip II of Spain.The governor there in 1680 was Otermin,who operated there during the uprising of the "Tigua"Indians,finally moving these Indians down to Isleta, below present city of El Paso,Texas,in 1692,and where in 1692 mission "Carmen"was established for them. About the year 1540,Luis de Morosco,made his march with a soldier's escort through Eastern Texas,travelling along the "Gamino del Rey"through San Augustine,Texas,Nacogdoches, Texas,going as far west as the Brazos river then retracing his steps. At about two miles east of the present Kennedy crossing which is about two hundred yards below where the old trail had crossed the river,the old trail passed immediately through what is known as "Mound Prairie"on the old Bradshaw farm, where in 1716 mission "Neche"was founded.In this prairie stands three large earthen establishments,where in past years many interesting Indian relices have been found and incidently can be mentioned here,lie just to north of the "Camino del Rey" several human wrought ancient stones,which by old residents of this neighborhood claim is the grave of La Salle,besides CAMINO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 197 claimed to be near where La Salle "Cached"his "Corn and Beans"in 1686.Tracing all available data on the assassination of La Salle,the murder could have been at "Bowled"large spring,just west of Red Lawn station on the Cotton Belt rail- road in a beautiful cove,with natural growth of native trees. To west of this spring the valley of "Bowles Creek and Spring" is of rather extensive width,formerly covered with cane,weeds, and small growth. The old trail crossed the Angelina river,called by the Span- iards,"Arch Angel"and when on east side of this river,the trail passed about two miles south of where mission "Conception" was founded in 1716,on the east side of the river,where exist at present the two large springs said to have been in the "Asi- nai"Indian village.The trail then went through present town of Douglas,then into present Nacogdoches,where it crossed the "Banita"(mother bath)and "La Nana"(little bath)and where mission "Guadalupe"was founded in 1716 and the travelers pos- sibly drinking the waters from Father Margil's bold spring, which has been said to have never ceased to flow its clear wa- ters.At Nacogdoches can be viewed the remains of the old Spanish fort,built by Gil Y Barbo,the horse trader,who once maintained a ranch in Sabine county,called "Rancho EI Loban- illo"(The Wart or Mole).In this city was the first establish- ment of a military post in East Texas under the Mexican regime, under Col.Don Jose de los Piedras,with 500 soldiers,all under orders from the Commandant at San Antonio,Texas. The trail then went on eastwards,crossing the Attoyac river,then later passing the site of mission (first establishment) on west side of "Ayish Bayou"named after the Indian tribe, "Ais",then crossing "Ayish Bayou",and when on top of the hill about one mile east from the Bayou,passed the second es- tablishment of mission "Dolores"founded in July,1717 leaving here the trail passed over the Sabine River,into Louisiana, going near old fort Jessup,then into "Araiz"(now Roberline) Louisiana,where in 1717 mission "Linares"was established, then going on into Natchitoches,Louisiana,where in 1714 mis- sion "lldefronzo"was established under J uchereau St.Denis,. Natchitoches meaning "Chinquapin 'Eaters". This trail "Camino del Rey"was used by all the Franciscan missions founded in East Texas,whose beginnings were in 1690.The first mission,"San Francisco de los Tejas and the 198 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD second one was "EI Santisimo Nombre de Jesus Maria".Both abandoned in 1693 and were never re-established. The "Camino del Rey"is variously called,"EI Camino Real" (The Road of the King)and during the Republic of Texas,was known as the "Old San Antonio Road"and by some designated as the "Old Spanish Trail",abbreviated to "OST".However, the name of "O.S.T."can only be applied to same from San An- tonio up to EI Paso,and on into California. The "Camino del Rey"was at first known only as a trail, until in 1714 it was given it its name to designate the same from the many other contraband trails coursing through the then tangled wilderness. After Juan Ponce de Leon came the French into Florida. They ran their road or trail towards present Texas,and using the old trail on all their expeditions.The French,about the same date that Morosco was touring then "Tejas"country, Spain began tracing its trail or road from the City of Mexico, northward,destined for Florida.Their trail passed through Tula-San Juan del Rio,Queretero,Dolores Hidalgo,San Luis Potosi,Matehuala,Saltillo,Monterrey and into Monclova,later the capital of "Coahuila and Tejas."This Spanish trail crossed the Rio Grande river at old "Presidio del Rio Grande"over old "Pagnachi"crossing into Tejas about four miles above the falls in said river and about 35 miles below present Eagle Pass.The old crossing was near the southwest corner of present Webb county,and northwest corner of present Maverick county.In this old Presidio in 1699 mission Solono was established,but in 1718 was removed up to "San Antonio de Bejar."When re- moved to San Antonio de Bejas it was given a new name,"Va- 1era"which was about the foundation of present City of San Antonio.The Valera building went to decay,and a new Chapel was erected in 1744 from stones and entitled,"Alamo"which was abandoned about 1785.The "Alamo"is now the hallowed shrine of Texas. From the Rio Grande river the trail crossed the Nueces (Nut)River,the Frio (cold)river,the Honde (deep)river and forded the Median river which said river the Spaniards had applied its name in honor of an aged priest in Mexico,named Father Medina.The trail led near present Cotull and on into present San Antonio founded in 1718.Few weeks after the time that New Orleans was established.The trail led near the famous San Pedro seven springs north of present San Antonio CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD U9 which said "seven"springs were noted by Father Masanett in 1690.The trail left San Antonio,going by New Braunfels, where gushes forth those beautiful springs in present Landa's Park which form the head of the river there.It crossed the Colorado River at present Bastrop over the old "San Antonio" crossing,going over the Brazos river,at old Benchley.The Brazos river called Sieur de la Salle,"Maligne"(Unfortunate) by reason of an alligator having dragged one of his men off the raft,when crossing this stream in 1686,and called by the Spaniards,"Brazos de Dios"(Arm of God),then going near the future site of mission "Deodosa"founded in 1721 in Madi- son county near Young's Creek.Passed over by Don Pedro Rivera in 1727 on his inspection of the Tejas missions,Calahora -Saenz came over it in 1760 and in 1762.Juan Diaz Solis trav- elled over it in 1768,and moved over by Marques de Rubi in 1767.Anastacio de Mazieres toured it in 1772 and in 1778 on his special mission to make report to the Spanish regime. This old road has been used by the several nations now for over four hundred years,making it the oldest main road pos- sibly in the United States,even known in foreign lands back to an early date. This old road became of prominence during the days of the Republic of Texas,when in year 1839 the Congress of the Re- public of Texas passed a bill for its improvement,but was not fully carried out.It would certainly seem of good grace for our present worthy Road Commission to make this the main highway,from the Sabine to the Rio Grande rivers,not less than one hundred feet wide,and by all means adhere near as can be done,the old road bed,which at present date has been forsaken in many instances for miles from its original bed. It should be the theme for all to invigorate this prominent and historic road,as it abounds along its entire course many historical events which are dear to earnest searcher for early Texas lore. By constructing the old road into a modern highway,it would at once spring into notice of the tourist and commercia! world and be travelled by thousands moving through the south- ern states into western points.It courses through the sandy, gravelly soil most bf its way,especially through East Texas and the cost would be normal compared to soil unsuitable for high- ways,only at great expense. Surely so we interested persons will soon arise,and inau- 200 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD gurate such action that will arouse the "Rip Van Winkle"days of the past,and place this road among the Galaxy of the high- ways of the Union. Will A.Woldert,Sr. Tyler,Texas,1927. EL CAMINO REAL The effort to mark the old highways of Texas with perma- nent monuments is worthy of an encouragement.Texas is fast passing from the old to the new,and in a few years,with the cutting up of the great ranches and the making of new roads, the old trails will be completely obliterated.The future histo- rian will need these landmarks as his guide,and it is a duty to the future to preserve them.Texas is rich beyond most of the States in historic traditions.No more interesting and romantic page in our history exists than that of the old Spanish regime, and the development of the Texas Republic.Anything which will recall those brave days and memorialize the heroism of the Texas pioneers is of high value to our people and our times. A State is rich not only in agriculture and minerals,but in history and tradition.The historic background is what makes the trend in the thought,character and habits of any people. Not far from Edinburgh runs a road only thirteen miles long, and on that road,in various periods of Scottish history,thirteen notable battles have been fought.The Scottish character is a result of just such a land and such a history.The meaning of that road becomes a part of the blood and bone of succeeding generations.In precisely the same way,the trail from the Rio Grande to the Sabine,and on to Louisiana,is an historical asset in the life of Texas for all time.The direction and character of the trail decides that location of villages and towns;the towns grow to cities,and the State assumes its attitude to life and the future as a result. The Jewish law was very definite on the point that the peo- ple were to preserve the ancient landmarks.Any kind of mound or monument was held in respect.It is a lesson to this age, an age lacking in reverence,and we would do well to catch the meaning of such maintained by the State Highway Commission -as the Patton Bill introduced in the State Senate provides. Daughters of the American Revolution endorse this measure. When the Republic of Texas was established,that route be- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 201 came known as the Old San Antonio Road-and this name should be given the State highway.Here it met a road to Laredo. The Camino Real may have been traversed by Louis de St.Denis, who in 1714 led a trading expedition from Natchitoches to Mex- ico for entering Spanish territory.St.Denis'adventure ended happily:he was released after six month's imprisonment,re- turned to the post on the Rio Grande and married the comman- dan't daughter. Spain had paid comparatively little attention to the region now Texas,but aroused by the French occupation of Louisiana, it took steps to enforce its claims.When France transferred Louisiana to the United States in 1803,Spain again was alarmed. Troopers were sent to the Sabine and the Trinity;three com- panies were stationed on the latter stream at a place now known as Spanish Bluff. Don Antonio Cordero,Governor of Texas in 1805-residing at San Antonio-ordered the Camino Real repaired.Guards were placed at the crossings of the Colorado,Brazos and Trinity Rivers.In colonial days restrictions upon trade were enormous and smugglers generally used trails which the pioneers called contraband traces. A Comanche trail once ran almost parallel with the Old San Antonio Road,from Nacogdoches to the hills along the Upper San Marcos.It is found on early maps that show it as just north of Milam's grant,which was between the Guadalupe and Colo- rado Rivers. MAP AND HISTORY (By Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman Old Trails Committee.) Daughters of the American Revolution: The Old King's Highway (Camino Real),known as the 01<1 San Antonio Road,is the most historical overland highway in the World.It extended west from the Red River at the present city to Natchitoches to the quaint old Spanish town of San An- tonio,Texas,a distance of a thousand miles,and its traffic passed still another two thousand miles to the City of MexicQ. This trail lost for more than a century,is now being surveyed and relocated by the State of Texas,for which the appropriation of five thousand dollars ($5,000)was secured from the last Legislature through the etfortsof Col.Louis S.Wortham,a 202 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD member of the Texas Legislature and the Chairman of the Old Trails Committee,Daughters of the American Revolution. The Daughters.of the American Revolution,realizing the erection of monuments a sacred act,and wishing to be able to say positively,our road maps historically correct,employed a Spanish translator,Prof.W.E.Dunn,of the State University, to go to the Archives and verify identically everywhere Camino Real and Old San Antonio Road as one and the saIhe road.With the.maps,field notes,diaries and report of findings,prepared by him,the Governor of Texas appointed Major V.N.Zively, July 12th,to begin the work of re-establishing the road.The Old Trails Committee has secured one hundred monuments to be placed every five miles across the State,to mark the progress of our civilization.Some set dates regarding the beginning of its use as a roadway,with the trading expeditions of St.Denis of Louisiana in 1714.No doubt the history of this trail is even far more ancient,reaching back to prehistoric times. The surveyor is now at work with his corps of assistants, and finds the trees as a witness to the early grants,as well as the forts on the rivers,mission sites and worn wagon ruts. In crossing the State from the East to the Southwest,the route of the Trails passes through or divides some twenty-four counities.The surveyor already making a preliminary survey, as certaining its correct location,with the old time citizens who had traveled it during the old time plain days,agrees with Prof.Dunn's maps. As the road is surveyed the surveyor erects a post every five miles on right side of survey going west,on County boun- dary lines and cross roads and the west banks of rivers,marked "King's Highway." At the request of the Old Trails Chairman in Texas,the Regent of Louisiana appointed Miss Ella Dicks of New Orleans to formulate plans for marking the road from the Sabine river to Natchez,Mississippi.I understand the Old Trails Committee in Mississippi and Alabama are locating King's Highway, through their respective states going to San Augustine,Florida. The placing of the monuments will follow the completion of the survey.'. Situated in the extreme eastern part of the state was Nac- ogdoches,the gateway through which the energy and the Amer- ican ambition came into Texas.In the Southwest was San An-.. tonio,situated to guard entedng Mexico from the coast or the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 203 Northeast from Louisiana.In 1806 Nacogdoches had ceased to be a stopping place for travelers,it view with its distant neighbor,San Antonio,in the quality of its social life.Some Antericans had begun to come in,and travel across to San An- tonio,for the village of De Bexar had grown to be a town. Since settled by the families from the Canary Islands in 1729. Everybody traveled the Old San Antonio road during the Re- public Days.Grandfathers and great grandfathers alike met, either at San Antonio or Nacogdoches,when they had business at these points. There are coming to light from this translation of rare old volumes,accounts of the various quest that made the Texas country an object of interest long before France and Spain be- gan contesting for this fair land.There was the quest of Gran Ouivara;the Seven Hills of Aixades;the Great Kingdom of the Texas,all brought the Old World over here,and the strong- est and most honest of the adventurous spirits-the Anglo American,drove them all back step by step along the trail of the setting Sun and with them,the Indian,the Buffalo and the Coy- ote.Shall we let their records vanish,or immortalize them? There arises before me,a road chartered on Texas Colonial maps a line that bound settlement and settlement together, between the Rio Grande and the Sabine Rivers,known as the Camino Real of the Spanish days,the Old San Antonio Road of Anglo-American days,and known by the English as the King's Highway.Also that the life of that part of the Camino Real southwest of San Antonio to the Rio Grande is but a reflection of that life of Colonial Texas history,when everybody had business with Mexico;while east of San Antonio to the Sabine river its life covers all periods in Texas history.The world's pageants passed this way. It was here along the Old King's highway our moral and political organizations began blending the five historic elements -the Indians,the French,the Spaniards,the Mexican,and the American.Hither the explorers came by the way of Mex- ico,ordering the way of travel and leaving their impress upon the solid ground,upon paper.The naming of the rivers flow- ing from north to south was destined to play an important part in our boundary.While locating the safest ford and mountain passes,a geographer lately giving it as his opinion,"it was the logical route across Texas." There is nothing vague or shadowy about this record-it 204 CAMINO REAIr-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD is definite,romantic,glorious.Of some localities aspiring to historic renown,it is often said "that it is thought this was the scene and center of our historic past,"whereas the record of EI Camino Real,the Old San Antonio Road,is written with definite positiveness,both on the printed page and the uncon- scious imprints made by the actors. The windings of the King's Highway were determined mainly by the location of Indian villages,where the missions and presidios were placed,as an outward evidence of a political constitution,to hold the Texas country against the French and to prevent contraband trade with Mexico.This has been veri- fied in the most direct and positive way from the Archives when the land was a dark mass,and its occupancy was a warlike and transitory character of people,until the monks came to labor for royalty and the divine right,and extending the sanction of the fact,J acheran De St.Denis,of Louisiana,the explorer, was sent to Mexico by Governor Cadillac of Louisiana with a trading proposition to open an overland trade route with Mexico, so excited the Spaniards,he was detained in prison when he agreed to lead the Spaniards to the Indian country when it was fortified with missions and presidios,and they were greeted by the musical Indian name "Texas","Texas",signifying "Friends","Friends".The recurring struggles over the King's Highway left this beautiful and enriched by the blood of these savages,as they fled to the deeper fastness of the mountains, when the land became inhabited. Natchitoches,Louisiana,was a trading post,second only to Louis in importance,and was the gateway along the King's Highway to Texas and to Mexico.Among the explorers who were active in this region at the time were DeLeon,St.Dennis, La Harpe,Aguago,Kino,Ramon,Anza,Font,Garrcas,Esca- lante,Morfi,DeMeziares and Via1.Others there were,whose worth none can deny,who were active in making the history of Texas,but you hesitate to follow with the lesser names.A generation later,Commandant Mier-y-Teran in 1832 wrote his name large in Central and Eastern Texas by erecting fortresses along the King's Highway at Tenoxtitian on the Brazos,and Nacogdoches,for Mejas expeditions,as also Tornel and Alaman were factors in our history during this period. During this time when the Spaniards were occupying and fortifying the country,was there an effective opposition against their movements?There was-the Spanish,the French and CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 205 the Indian were paying their full toll in blood for the possession of this vantage way.The French harassed the Spaniards at every point they could,captured their supply trains from Mex- ico,attacked their outposts and murdered their monks and com- mandants whenever possible,until the fortresses were com- pleted,then marked the high tide of Spanish denomination in the Southwest,and marked it along The King's Highway,EI Camino Real,and made that name a familiar word in the Coun- sels of Kings and Statesmen,of Commanders and Captains throughout the civilized world.With the Spanish Cavalcade rushing across to intercept the French and drive them back,as also the traders,trappers,and gold seekers,we know of an- other class,that band of outcasts,thieves,robbers,murderers and ferocious savages,came in hordes and of their frequent skirmish in the open. One hundred years afterwards,the King's Highway when traveled was the scene of a very different conflict. Now the curtain is raised on the American,Philip Nolan, who wrote his name largely with that of Thomas Jefferson in 1797,when gathering horses in Texas,but for his untimely death his dream was not realized.Other Americans began putting things to their own use.Born of the Neutral Ground Agreement,while conquering the freebooters,Augustus Magee leads in an expedition to his senseless slaughter,when the Span- ish soldiers swept the country,venting their wrath not alone upon men,but also upon the helpless women and children.At Natchez,Mississippi,in the meantime,the citizens were dis- pleased with the action of the United States Government in agreeing to give up all claims to Texas if Spain would sell to her Florida,and organized an expedition to invade Texas with Dr.James Long as leader. Arriving at Nacogdoches with three hundred men,declared Texas a free Republic,and this record adds lustre to the his- tory of our state.In August 1806,with a force of hardy fight- ers of unquestioned courage,General Wilkerson of the United States Army who had come from New Orleans up to Natchi- toches,La.,marked his army to the east bank of the Sabine river on the King's Highway and camped.General Herrera, commanding the Spanish troops,with Cordero marked in with twelve hundred men at his back,and camped on the west bank of the river just opposite.All was in readiness for the battle to resist the siege,but in the hush of night in secret council, 206 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the affair was peacefully settled.Here in the neutral ground was born the pickpocket,the desperado in shooting up town, the raider leaving a trail of carnage behind,for all of which, unjustly,the cowboy of Texas received his bad name.It was customary with the raiders to share the booty,but when obsti- nate either side,commenced a bloody conflict.During the pil- laging expeditions in Texas,there were many a resolute fol- lower along the Old San Antonio Road,and many a conflict ensued,when many were slain,for to kill and wound ,vas the game at which they played. During the years of 1821 to 1836 we behold Mexico defin- ing its colonization grants by boundary and limitations of its rivers,with the old San Antonio Road figuring in the act.Ste- phen F.Austin is given permission to settle three hundred fam- ilies in Texas.The Viceroy of Mexico sending Don Erasmas Seguin from Mexico with Austin,to explore the country and select a place for his colony.He selected lands between the San Jacinto and Lacacca Rivers,embracing the territory south of the Old San Antonio Road the first permanent settlement of Americans in Texas.The surveyor now at work,reports the trees stand as a witness to this grant.Then appeared other colonists on the horizon from the eastward,and as the num- bers increased,men's eyes turned again to the advantageousness of Central Texas.The road still maintaining its prestige in the boundaries of grants,as Mexico parceled it out.The sav- age conflicts which repeatedly occurred with the colonists are remarkable illustrations of the times.Says one writer:"Chil- dren were born in these mover camps,"and another,"and the dead were buried by the roadside".Meanwhile the Mexican raiders and border troopers committed what widespread depre- dations they pleased against their American opponents,but cheered on by the undaunted courage of the ever-present,ever- inspiring Austin,the Texans were becoming veterans in train- ing for the future State. N ow the stage is prepared for Santa Anna to throw off his mask of devotion for his country,and the ruin of himself and land.With the States government abolished in 1825 Texas fell under the government rule.The colonists held meetings and appointed committees of safety.Martial laws prevailed with resolutions and convening of conventions set ablaze the smoul- dering fires of the Texas Revolution.A cannon that had been given to Texans to outstrip the Indian is demanded.By hur- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 207 rying post there came the volunteer troops from New Orleans, Mississippi,Kentucky,Virginia,Tennessee,and Georgia,when first they heard Santa Anna had declared war against his native soil,to drive out all Americans.From the East to the West the horses'tramp and trilling neigh was heard,as across the state they came.They saw the skirmish at Gonzales,the hardy Tex- ans there draw up the cannon in view of the enemy with lacard "Come and take it!"A gauntlet flung in the face of the King and his Counselors.Men poured in carrying their rifles,and shot pouches,and joined Gen.Burleson,to whom they looked for immediate action.The old town of San Antonio,the mil- itary plaza and the streets that opened out,were barricaded and guarded by cannon.Above the citadel waved a Mexican flag. On the east bank of the river was the fortress of the church of the Alamo.No warning of a near approach of the enemy.A cry from the sentinel startles the stillness.The alarm bells burst into a clanging peal,the Mexicans are pouring down the western slopes of the San Pedro river.Col.Williams Travis, in command of the fort,with Bowie second in command,Col. James Bonham of South Carolina,with David Crockett of Ten- nessee,we behold Col.Travis drawing the line with his sword. "Whosoever is willing to die like a hero,let him cross the line!" within the fort their strong nerves yield,they give up to meet death,their doom.Then ceased the storm,and all was still. Houston saw relief himself,and showed it to the Texans,the events too well known to repeat,and Santa Anna's woe-peace. The history of this highway has never been written,and it would make one of the most interesting chapters in American history.One has only to grasp that-the capitol of Texas was situated at Adae Mission,14 miles west of Natchitoches,the French fort in Louisiana,when Spain took possession of the country by fortress and soldier,and remaining there until 1172 when removed to San Antonio~Then after an interval of com- ing and .going during the interval of truce between France and Spain,that invincible vanguard of western civilization,the dauntless trooper,and pioneer who was destined to sweep all others out of its path and possess and,then one discovers its Own story,the outwork of a notable highway of the world,link- ing settlement and settlement together,and the secret lies with them to embellish and be more explicit. The most ancient of all the American commonwealths is Texas.Her history stretches from 1513 to the present day. 208 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Through all the years she has remained a land of invincible power.Thrice in her story devastating wars have swept across her territory,and of the two tragedies,the heroes were her founders,Stephen F.Austin and General Sam Houston.She has tasted life in the fullness,prosperity,and disaster,strength and weakness,political oppression and unflinching resistance and today emerges wealthy and powerful and free. This old State is rich in memorials of her past.We have ancient missions and colonial mansions preserved mainly by the pious care of her daughters,for they unveil the spiritual ener- gies which created the Texas that now is,and predestine the Texas that is to be. Confucius in his day said,"Foot tracks of man were nev- er made by man sitting down".It was Themosticles who de- clared that the trophies of Militades would not allow him to sleep.The Israelites,when they had passed over the River Jordan,built twelve pillars that their children might ask,"What mean these stones?"That posterity being told the story of Israel's greatness and the unity of the twelve scribes might hear it in remembrance for all ages,but what of us? The women of the State of Texas cooperating with the patriotic organizations offer their aid in the preservation,the study,the interpretation,and publication of these "Memorials" of Texas Social,Industrial political and intellectual life.Today, our State libraries,City and School libraries are prepared to classify,study,and interpret these materials for the cultura! history of Texas.Since the building of highways for automo- bile traveling,it has become a new form of humanity,and every state and locality is trying to give a "catch"name to a highway for the respective county and to carry forward the work.From the daily papers,delegations are going into Austin,Texas,vis- iting the State Highway Commission,asking for the designating of roads to be given certain "Trail Names",or "Presidio Road" name,without giving any interpretation as to whether histori- cally correct in the location and belongs there. Now,the women of Texas venerate the truth of history and love the noble story of Texas and the great Texans who have illuminated the life of the American Republic,and we would preserve the ancient highways historically correct,as they are significant in the interpreting of the history of Texas. Let us make new roads,but keep for scientific interpretation the names of King's Highway,Camino Real,Old San Antonio CAIDNO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 209 Road,Presidio Road as laid down on ancient maps of Texas as important material for historical research,for they are all one and the same road.It is the most ancient highway in America dating from 1691.The King's Highway,Camino Real,or Old San Antonio Road,should be made the model of trails for imita- tion on the American Continent and in Texas,as this ancient highway is the preceptor,the Guide,the propagandist of South- western history from Natchez,Mississippi to Mexico. awaken to the truth of records.It is easy to get out of the beaten path of history.The King's Highway,Camino Real,be- gan in space of Texas territory.It was all chais,and man was dark within.It was the vital principle,the center of life be- tween Mexico and the United States.Its nature was essential for the time of internal conditions in the beginning of Texas history.A highway across the center of the State,high and dry from the Gulf Coast,running from Presidio on the Rio Grande to San Antonio,New Braunfels,Cedar Creek,Bastrop, Paige,Caldwell,Bryan,Normangee,Crockett,Alto,Nacogdoches, San Augustine,Pendleton at Sabine River,on to Many and Natchitoches,Louisiana. The Spanish historian,Manzanet,the first in Texas who noted the importance of Camino Real ("The King's Highway") when traveling across Texas.Its aspect,topography of the country,its absolute existence and relation when traveling it is laid down in Morfi and De Mezeres diary.They are written in plain words;they are frank,sincere,open,simple hearted, earnest,real and give us "the golden key that opens the trails of eternity"as the founding and 'making of a country.En- route,intransit,in mid-progress,treading a path,it was a pilot to their goal.Come along! The King's Highway,Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road, are all the one and same road across Texas.In 1914,it was verified by a Spanish Archivist,Dr.W.E.Dunn,of the State University,from the explorers'and missionaries'diaries,calling for Camino Real;and the American surveys made by the Re- public of Texas,calling for the defining of its colonists'grants of "The Old San Antonio Road,"when it was verified every- where by Dr.Dunn as one and the same road.When data of both roads were given to the civil engineer,V.N.Zively,ap- pointed by the State of Texas,to make the survey for the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution and State of Texas. This old road has always been in the category of the State's 210 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD history.It was bred in the bone.It came into existence with the Indians on foot.The Hasainai Confederacy,whose habi- tude was East of the Trinity River and the Neches river,in Houston,Nacogdoches,and San Augustine Counties,with them it was a "pass"between the villiages at San Antonio and Rio Grande,across the State to Indian villages.The Spanish Monks put their "stamp"on the road absolutely as it stood,when the missions came into being in 1690-1691,which made the highway structural formal,its first appearance in their diaries in the beginning and founding of Texas history.It was given to Spain as the Camino Real in the reports of :Mofit De Mezieres and others to the Spanish Government,and these reports were used in the survey of 1915,mathematically,general conception,uni- versal-a distinction without a difference,it was found by Dr. W.E.Dunn and copied and given by him,and so located in 1915 by the State of Texas as one and the same road. Ponce DeLeon,in searching for the fountain of youth,called the road EI Camino Real De Reg,the longest and widest from San Augustine in Florida to the City of Mexico. In the distributive order of things,in founding the R~Jpu1)- lic of Texas,it stood first'in the Province,in the defining of the sections,and divisions of the Empresario's Grants.Later,out- lining the Departments of Safety Committee meetings,the near- ness,the relation and positions of the noted crossings of rivers along the trail,and ground "vork for locating and the erecting of forts,it labored from the very beginning of the historical meet- ings of the Spaniards of the Southwest from 1519 to the official defining of the boundaries of Texas;in locating missions,in traveling Camino Real,"The King's Highway";location of Span- ish Forts to intercept the French to keep them out and hold the country;on down to the State laws of the Republic of Texas, when "officially"defining the road as the boundary of Austin's first colony grant. The map of Texas given by the Texas D.A.R.to the State Library,showing the traveled highway,Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road,as verlfied by Dr.W.E.Dunn,recorded and hand- ed down as a scientific interpretation of this important material for research work in the Southwest gives precedence that it was the "Rubican,"the flood-gate or gate-way across the Spanish territory,now Texas. This ancient highway should now be made "The Model of Trails"for imitation by the State Highway Commission of Tex- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 211 as,as this ancient highway is the preceptor,the guide,the propo- gandist of Texas history.It was the precursor of all the roads in Texas-the vanguard,the outpost of all trails. From our ancient maps of Texas from date of LaSalle's coming in 1685 to the Entrada of DeLeon in 1690 to 1691,when planting "The Cross in The Wilderness"over in Eastern Texas, a line of demarcation was laid down across Texas,in Texas his- tory.Today,it is used in the School on maps of Texas,in teach- ing the exploration,founding of missions,colonization from Se- ville,Spain,transcribed into English,the road Camino Real across Texas is spoken of by the missions in Eastern Texas and San Antonio and Rio Grande,and the convocations described with the Hasainai Confederacy Indians.From Seville,Spain, discussed with the State's Generals,the Junta.In Texas Repub- lic days,it was "The Old San Antonio Road"that was discussed around the council fires,Legislature Assemblies,Conventions, County Councils,Local Roads.In Washington,House of Rep- resentatives,President Jackson,the road was discussed making a national highway across Texas to the Pacific.The King's High- way,Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road,and also known as the "Presidio Road"between the missions in Eastern Texas,and Natchitoches,Louisiana,and San Antonio,was the most con- spicuous places on the American continent.It had the best acoustics.Mexico,being South of it,was in immediate con- tact with the United States.It was like the show window,the curb-stone of the world.Its prologue is being written as the precursor of the first things in Texas history.Its drama is pic- tured-ancient with the rust of antiquity up to this time.Now, its epilogue is the sequel-the successor.We are all working for its perpetuation with the State Highway Department,to make of it a concrete historic monument from the Sabine river to San Antonio,and to the Rio Grande and on to Mexico. This road was placed in the State Highway Department by the 41st Legislature and now designated as Highway 21.It has been incorporated as the King's Highway,Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road Association.It calls for 100 foot over the route surveyed by the State of Texas in 1915 by Civil Engineer, V.N.Zively,and marked by the D.A.R.with 128 granite monu- ments placed every five miles apart,across the State,bearing the inscription-"King's Highway,Camino Real,Old San An- tonio Road Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion and State of Texas,1919." 212 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD The Spanish Governor Cordero ordered the road rebulit in 1805.A bill passed by the Legislature of 1839 to make Post Road,General Sam Houston debated in Congress when annexing Texas to the Union,"The Old San Antonio Road,""The Great Isthmus"over which a great national highway should be built to the Pacific Ocean."He defined it a "charge"to be perpetu- ated as a sequel to Texas Progress.The members of the King's Highway,Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road Association are following the course to have the highway built as a historic suc- cessor to all the acts,a statute,a canon law,a direction to all that has gone before.A great Texas drama is yet to be writ- ten when "The Great Souls"will awaken the world by their ten- der strokes of art,conforming to rule and customs with tradi- tions of the times.In the words of Disraeli,"A precedent em- balms a principle." It was Robert Browning who said he thanked God he had created man with two sides to his soul.One to face the world with,and the other to tell a woman when he loved her.Now, the psychologists say we have the third-the welcare of man at heart,and good roads today is a new form of humanity. History tells us Ajax's prayer was continually for light,and so we are all here to facilitate and to illuminate in our own way. DIARY OF MORFI 1778 December 14,1778,we set out from Rio Grande,through some swamps and mesquite to the famous Rio Grande del Norte, two leagues,E.N.E.,to the crossing called French Ford.(446). It was not possible for us to arrive at the next water-hole which is the only one nearby for the horses,so it was necessary to camp on the opposite bank of the river,a pistol-shot's distance away. December 25.I said mass before dawn.We set out at 7 :30,over some hills,arid and rocky which form the opposite bank of the river,and entered a great plain of excellent land of good pasturage without water;and without seeing in any direc- tion a single hill.At the termination of the plain «Llano) we went down to a ravine of mesquite and other trees.The land is red,sandy.At the end of the ravine we found a large dry creek which preserves some pools of water all the year.It is called the Aguaje (waterhole)of San Ambrosia.Having passed this we saw another plain over which we travelled a league and CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 213 a half to the spring of San Pedro.We did not stop,but con- tained over the same red sandy soil,and at two o'clock arrived at the Aguaje of San Lorenzo,having traveled ten leagues East Northeast.This waterhole is a little pool of muddy water,sur- rounded by oaks (encinos)and other trees.From the ravine of San Ambrosia we saw many cacti,and from San Pedro much verdolaga (purslain) On the 26th we set out from San Lorezno at 7 :30,foggy, lasted until 10,when the sun came out.After ascending the hill (loma)near San Lorenzo we found a shrub we call in Spain una de gato (cat-claw).We took a turn towards the east in order to ascend a hill (loma)not seeing anywhere anything but gradual hills (lomerias suaves),one arising above the other in the shape of a canoe.On the top of it there is much losse and fine stone,which is not found in the ravines and meadows. At eleven we arrived at the Aguaje of Santa Catarina.It is a little pool of water,somewhat cleaner than San Lorenzo.At two-thirty we arrived at the Pools of Barrera.The tents were placed on an elevation,having toward the East the Canoe (La Canoa).Ten leagues,five E.N.E.,one East,and four ENE. On the 27th we set out at 8 o'clock,cold,and after a short distance,the hills (lomeria)continuing,we arrived at a thick wood of mesquite,nopal,etc.,and near its end is the Aguaje of San Roque,where there is water in pools all the year.We did not stop,but went up the crest of the hill,which is the only rocky place (penasqueria)in the vicinity,although covered with undergrowth.From here the Nueces river can be seen, and is not lost sight of until it is crossed.Descending the hill, the wood ends,and the lomerias (hills)continue to the Aguaje of La Romana,which is another pool two leagues from the pre- ceding one,and not so abundant.We stopped here to warm our- selves.We set out through a little grove (bosquecito).The land changes to a cinnamon color.The last magueyes are seen. Four leagues further and on the left of our road,there is a hill a little higher than the others around it,which is called La Cochina.On this side a few days before the Apaches killed some men.A little before this,a large number of wild horses crossed the road.We traveled two leagues over bare hills.Des- cended into a ravine formed by the wood of La Cochina.The wood is very dense and divided into two parts by a little hill (lomita)which cuts it from North to South.We went another league and entered another ravine with grass,very high,and 214 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD which the river floods in its rises.We passed this (the river) (or the ravine)at a swampy pool,ill smelling,and on the op- posite bank at the entrance of a wood we camped. Eleven leagues,principal direction East Northeast,with many useless v:inciings (muchas inflexiones inutiles).This was the Nueces river they crossed. The 28th,\ve sent out at 9.Passed the little grove of mes- quites on the river bank and set out by some bare hills (lomerias) where the wind beat upon us without mercy.We went four leagues with great fatigue and stopped to warm ourselves.Half a league further we had on our left the Palo Alto (Tall Tree), which according to the general belief is the half way point of this desert,but certainly is not.We followed our course with a thousand useless \vindings which lengthen the road more than a third without any reason,and arrived at 12 :30 at a place call- ed Las Encinas,end of our day's journey,having traveled 6 leagues Northeast.Land is color de canela,sandy,etc.Much game on the Nueces and Encinas.The place we halted is ad- mirable because of two lagoons which preserve water all the year,although the wild horses keep it muddy most of the time. This was an aguaj e. On the 29th,we set out at 8 :45,travelling very fast,and at three and one-half leagues arrived at the beginning of the woods of the Rio Frio,over hills or rolling country very similar to the preceding.The wood is about a quarter of a league wide, and adorns both sides of the Rio Frio.At the end of the wood, we came out on some hills (lomerias)even more bare than pre- vious ones.Two leagues on we arrived at the water hole of Las Esperanzas,so called because here the escort from Texas waits for that from Coahuila.It is a pool of good size with water all the year,but muddy and ill tasting,surrounded with oaks (encinos).We arrived here at 1:30,dined and in half an hour continued over the lomerias.At three and one-half leagues we arrived at a place called San Migulito,where there is a tank (estanque)some 400 steps (pasos)long and twelve wide,rather deep and full of crystalline water,as the bottom is of stone.We did not stop,but went on another two leagues and halted at Las Lagunillas.Eleven 1.E.N.E.Camp was pitched at a swamp (cienga)at the edge of the wood;the ground was covered with grass,necessary to burn it for fear of snakes.I went to look at the lakes (lagunas)which are of bad water and full of mud,sur- MAJOR V.);.ZIVELEY,C.E. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 215 rounded by oaks,etc.One of them was dry;I crossed it care- fully and beneath the mud I saw remains of a crawfish,etc. On the 30th,\ve set out at 8 :15 over lomerias of nopal, mesquite,etc.Four leagues on we arrived at La Parrita,where in the midst of some oaks and mesquites there are some pools of bad water.We continued our journey without stopping,find- ing on both sides of the road clumps of live oaks,which look like so many villages (aldeas).Except for these groves,the hills are similar to the others we have passed,until about a league and a half beyond La Parrita,when with various trees the beautiful woods of Atascoso begins to announce itself,and begins after a half league more..VVe entered the wood,which was so dense that it scarcely afforded a path for the horses,and it was neces- sary to travel with great care in order not to be injured by the -branches and trunks across the road.We went through the woods for three leagues.It is formed of lomerias.At four o'clock Vle arrived at the Arroyo which is also called EI Atascoso, having traveled nine leagues principally Northeast.The camp was placed in a level hollow,of short extension and on the bank of a cubic vara of water,crystalline and very beautiful;but its bed (cauce)is full of leaves,etc.The wood is 40 varas long and 12 wide,and is composed of robles,encinos,alamos,etc.A few steps west of the camp and near the road we saw the skeletons of 203 bodies said to have been Apaches. On the 31st we set out at 8 :30,in the sleet,continuing through the thick wood as on yesterday.At a distance of five leagues is the ravine of La Magdalena and a little further on is that of Las Gallinas,both of which are dry creeks,and have wa- ter only in the rainy season.At two-thirds of the journey (Jornada),we changed our Northeasterly direction to one of due North.A little further on we came to some little cleared places,apparently intended for the site of a house.There is usually some water in a little lagoon which we now crossed dry. From this place the nature of the country changes.The sand, robles and encinos cease,and the woods of mesquite and cactus continue.We had not seen any nopal before this.A little further on from the cleared places and to the right of the road are some stones painted with crosses designating the limits of the first mission of Espada.It ends in a motto of 31 oaks (en- cinos)in the shape of a flower pot (Maceta).We ascended then a bare hill (loma).Down this,another mesquite grove be- gins and continues to the river.At 1 :30,we arrived at the Me- 216 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD din a river,boundary of the province of Texas and Coahuila.We passed it dry,although there are pools of water at intervals. The banks of this river are so steep that on occasions it is neces- sary to ascend them on foot,suspended by a cord from the top. We passed them without this difficulty,however,and stopped on the opposite bank intending to spend the night.The country- men with us killed a bear.We decided to go on to Espada,and arrived there at 3 :30 having traveled 11 leagues,5 N.E.and 6 North. FIRST REPORT Normangee,Texas December 6,1915 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, Beaumont,Texas Dear Mrs.Norvell: Your favor of 27th ult.was received yesterday,having been forwarded to me from Crockett.The general tone of commen- dation of my work which I read between the lines of your letter, is indeed gratifying.I assure you that I am re-marking the "King's Highway,"am availing myself of all of the traditions as to location that are possible to obtain,but I always endeavor to verify the correctness of the traditions by something that is tangible and real,something that is of record,and that fixes the location so far back in the misty past,that there is no gain- saying it.I have indeed been fortunate in the character of as- sistance that has been given me in all the counties through which J have passed.In Sabine County,Mr.J.T.McGown at Pendleton's Ferry,gave me invaluable aid,and at San Augustine, Mr.Wm.Sharp,Mr.H.W.Sublett and Mr.Davis were active and enthusiastic in helping me.In San Augustine County there are three roads from the town of Milam to San Augustine,and there are good people living on each of these roads,who if need be would make affidavit that they are on the one and only "Camino Rea!."Fortunately for me,there was in A.D.1940,a lawsuit between Donald McDonald,administrator of the Quirk estate and Joseph Rowe et aI,and one Ira P.Ellis,was appoint- ed by the District Court of San Augustine County,to re-survey and fix the southern boundary of the Quirk League,which was and is,the "King's Highway."That survey was made accord- ing to said order of Court,and Mr.-.-.Davis,a prominent CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 217 attorney of San Augustine spent half a day helping me find the record of that work in the archives of the District Court of said county,and which enabled me to relocate the road with its every meander for a distance of nearly six mile5. You must remember that seventy-five years ago,it was comparatively easy to trace the road,while today in many places for miles and miles where the road has been abandoned and cul- tivated there is not the least evidence of its original location to be found on the ground. At Nacogdoches many of the citizens evinced the liveliest interest in the survey of the road,but I am especially indebted to Dr.J.E.Mayfield for his kindly courtesy and assistance.-This venerable gentleman of the old Southern type has re- sided at Nacogdoches since 1848,except the four years that he spent in the Confederate Army,and his knowledge of the loca- tion of the road through Nacogdoches County is perfect. -=--He is as proud of Texas,her traditions,her history and in- stitutions as anyone I ever met,and it was indeed a treat to be with and hear him converse of the old settlers,and the notables that he had known in his youth and early manhood. With him I visited,measured and minutely examined the old Stone Fort,and copied from its cornerstone this inscrip- tion : "THE STONE FORT Built 1778 Re-erected 1907 By the Cum Concilio Club to the memory of those heroes whose courage rose superior to their privations,and whose valor made possible Texas Independence." In Cherokee County,where Jno.H.Reagon spent his first years in Texas,and where he was elected to his first office,(a Justice of the Peace)the citizens have proven their civic pride by maintaining the old road as a highway,almost in its original location,from the Angelina river on the East to the Neches on the West.At Alto,two miles East of old Fort Terry,Mr.C.A. Harrison,a personal friend of General Sam Houston,and T.J. Rusk,and one of the jury that aGquitted General Hogg (the fa- 218 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ther of Governor J.S.Hogg)of manslaughter,though cumbered with the weight and infirmities of many years was especially helpful to me,and spent some time in riding with me over the road,pointing out the historic locations,and also showing me the initial corners of surveys made in the early "Thirties,"thus enabling me to verify by actual survey and measurement the cor- rectness of the traditional location. In Houston County,from the Neches to the Trinity the "King's Highway"has almost been abandoned and is obsolete. Of the fifty-seven miles running through that county less than fifteen miles of the original road is now used as a highway. Had it not been for the splendid and gratuitous assistance of Mr.J.H.Ellis a former surveyor of that county,who is fami- liar with the location of the old surveys which call for the road, my labor there would have been almost interminable. As it was I spent nearly a month in the county,in the most arduous work I have done for years,but have the satisfaction of knowing that I have relocated and marked the ancient high- way.In this,Madison County,from the Trinity river to Nor- mangee a distance of 27 3/5 miles,only six miles of the old road is now used,but from Normangee to the Navasota river,about nine miles,the present,or used road is almost identical with the original.. At Rogers Prairie (the original town)two miles East of Normangee,Mr.Robert Rogers settled in 1832 one of the original Austin colonists,and his house was used as a Fort and place of refuge by his neighbors and travelers for years,and it was near this place that his son Stephen Rogers was killed and scalped within sight of his mother by the Indians in A.D.1835.Nearly all of the descendants of Robert Rogers and they are numerous, reside in this vicinity,a splendid people,proud of their ancestry, and all of them with whom I have talked are anxious to per- petuate the name of their progenitor upon one of the granite monuments which you noble Daughters of the Revolution intend to erect on the "King's Highway."I have given Mr.Joseph Wren,the Postmaster at Normangee,a gentleman thoroughly imbued with civic pride and patriotism,your address and advised him to communicate with you in reference to the monument or monuments,as he is connected with the Rogers family,and is taking a great deal of interest in the survey of the old road. I feel sure that at this place a sufficient amount can'be CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 219 raised in half a day to erect two monuments,the one bearing the name of Robert Rogers,the other his son Stephen. Truly I have been surprised all along the route from the Sabine to the Navosota,at the kindly and intelligent interest manifested in my work,and I have taken especial pains to an- tagonize no one and to stimulate that kindly interest.Nor have I ever failed to give you Madam,all the credit for the initiation of the work. To your personal magnetism and your timely and persistant efforts,the State will ever be indebted for the re-survey and marking of the "King's Highway,"the road over and by which most of those immortal heroes of the Alamo and San Jacinto entered the State,and their descendants should and I feel sure ever will revere your loving and patriotic service. In reply to your querry as to the probable date of its comple- tion,will say that I am about one-third through,and barring accidents or sickness I hope and expect to reach the Rio Grande in April. With apologies for the length of this my first report to you, and assuring you that the work will be prosecuted to comple- tion as expeditiously as possible,I am most respectfully Your obedient servant, V.N.ZIVELY,C.E. SECOND REPORT San Antonio,Texas March 4,1916 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Beaumont,Texas. Dear Mrs.Norvell: Sometime in November last I wrote you from Normangee, giving you an account of my progress to that time in surveying and locating the "King's Highway."Since then have had some varied and unique experiences.Have passed through the finest agricultural and grazing land in the world,some of the most beautiful and picturesque country that ever delighted the eye of man,some of the blackest and most tenacious mud,and some of the longest and deepest stretches of sand in Texas. lV[y progress from Normangee here,has been slower than I anticipated;the weather in January was continuously inclement, the ground muddy ~nd that painful and troublesome malady,la 220 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD grippe,fastened its clutches so firmly upon me,that for ten days I was unable to do any work at all. Since writing you,I have crossed three of the most prominent streams in the State,prominent for size and the width and fer- tility of their adjacent valleys or bottoms,viz.:the Navasoto, the Brazos and the Colorado. I have also crossed two of the most beautiful and picturesque streams to be found anywhere,the Rio,San Marcos and Gauda- loupe,and am now camped in this historic city near the far fam- ed San Pedro Springs. On the West side of the Navasuto river at the common cor- ner of four of the richest counties in the State we erected Post No.41,and then followed the "King's Highway"which is the line between Robertson and Brazos counties,erecting and num- bering posts,to the main line of the H.&T.C.R.R.crossing some 1902 feet east of the depot at Benchley.All of the "old settlers"and their descendants along the ancient highway,mani- fested the liveliest and most appreciative interest in our work, and to many of them I am deeply indebted for their kindly and intelligent help.Those who have more recently settled in the country,who have not yet acquired our language even,who know next to nothing of our traditions and institutions,were inclined to scoff at the civic pride that prompted the expendI- ture and effort to relocate the old historic highway merely for the sake of perpetuating it,as a monument to the valor and en- durance of our ancestors,and many of them asked:"When do we start to fix him with the rock and the gravel?"Of course I parried this query,but it is at least suggestive of the thought that we are living in a very utilitarian age,and of the fact that no section of the state is more in need of a good road than that traversed by the King's Highway,nor is there any other section where the people with some encouragement of a substantial nature from the State,would more eagerly cooperate in the building of one. In Bastrop,your native country,J am much indebted to Mr. Frank Orgain,Mr.J.W.Reding and others for their very intelli- gent help,especially in getting through the town. I regret not meeting your brother,Mr.J.L.Wilbarger,while there,but he is a man of many and varied interests and happen- ed to be out of his office each time I called.There is only one thing of record,fixing the location of the "King's Highway" through the town of Bastrop,and that is the N.W.corner of CAMINO REAL--OLD.SAN ANTONIO ROAD 221 the Stephen F.Austin survey which is not controverted.That corner locates the San Antonio crossing of the Colorado as far back as 1831,but it has not been used as such within the mem- ory of the oldest citizens. However,with that point well established,aided by Messrs. Orgain and Reding,I was able to trace the old road through the town to its intersection at five and one-half miles,with the present used road from Bastrop to Paige.By actual measure- ments the old road is over a mile shorter than the one now used, and is on infinitely better ground. From Bastrop to Cedar Creek the old road is fairly well de- fined and coincides very nearly with the road now in use. But from the last named place to the S.E.corner of Travis County for most of the way the old road has been abandoned and for several miles is in cultivation,but by running out some surveys that call for the old road,and from evidences still to be found at intervals on the ground,I was able to relocate it,as I believe,accurately.From the S.E.corner of Travis,follow- ing the line between Caldwell and Hays counties to the San Mar- cos river,was easy going,there being no doubt as to the original location.From the crossing of the San Marcos river,4 1/2 miles below the city to its intersection with the Government Post Road at Yorks Creek,a distance of 9 miles,the King's Highway is well defined and is still much used.After its intersection with the Post Road it very nearly follows same to within two miles of New Braunfels where it turns slightly to the right crossing the Guadalupe river 285 feet above the 1.&G.N.R.R.bridge. Mter crossing the river it follows Nacogdoches Street through the eastern part of New Braunfels crossing the Post Road at its intersection with Seguin Street where we erected Post No.78. From this point at a distance of three miles it intersects the Post Road again,which it follows for four miles and then turns gradually to the right,crossing the Cibolo at Bracken, thence to San Antonio,passing through the Northwest corner of San Pedro Springs Park. I arrived here Saturday the 26th ult.and since then have busied myself in determining the original location of the Cami- no Real through the city,which I assure you has been an ardu- ous undertaking.To Mr.Jacob Klaus,County Commissioner of this Precinct,I am indebted for much valuable information.It was he who hunted up and introduced me to Mr.D.L.Horn, 222 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD whose father in 1840 settled on the King's Highway at the cross- ing of Los Alamos,some five miles Northeast of San Pedo Springs and where Mr.Horn was born and has since resided. He has always led an active out of doors life and his memory of locations within a score of miles of San Antonio is considered infallable;with his aid I feel sure that I have correctly relocated the Old Road through the city,and as far as the old Kerr Road on the Medina river some 15 miles from San Pedo Springs.I beg to assure you Madam that I am giving this work the best thought and effort of which I am capable,and when I have fin- ished the survey and make my final report of same,will feel that I have done my best,honestly and faithfully. I am measuring every meander and deflection of the road, noting all prominent natural and artificial objects,over or near which it passed,so that I can make an accurate map of same, and with your approval and that of our Governor,I expect to furnish to the county surveyor of the several counties through which the King's Highway passes,my field notes of this survey, and to each county surveyor a map of the road in his county,so that it may be recorded,together with the field notes,thereby giving some degree of permanency to my work. Some weeks ago a friend of mine sent me from Crockett, Texas,a copy of a local newspaper,containing some caustic criticisms of my location of the "King's Highway"in Houston County,and I expect some adverse comment upon my work here, but unlike some of my critics,I have no ax to grind,no piece of realty to be affected in value by its true location,no other object or end in view,than to do my work correctly,honestly and fear- lessly,and as I have given this subject my continuous thought and study for more than half a year,believe that I am better informed upon its history,and have gathered more of the legendary love of its true location than anyone person who has, or will criticise me. I will perhaps not write you again until my return from the Rio Grande,when I will send you a full and complete report.In the mean time I remain,very respectfully Madam, Your obedient servant, V.N.ZIVELY. CAMINO REAL-ULD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 223 Houston,Texas October 23,1916. Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Beaumont,Texas. Dear Madam: When I saw you in Beaumont,you told me that you would soon write me as to when it would be convenient for you to visit the capital,so that we could together go before the Governor in reference to placing the monuments on the old San Antonio Road.- I have not seen or communicated with the Governor since seeing you,and therefore know nothing about your plans or intentions in regard to having the monuments erected. Have you seen my detail map of the King's Highway?Tf you have please say whether you were pleased with it or not. I still feel a great interest in perpetuating the old road and hope that the State will open it up as a great highway. With that end in view I have recently written to every pros- pective member of the coming Legislature with whom I am per- sonally acquainted,and am pleased to say that out of sixteen letters so written have received favorable replies to an even dozen. I suppose you saw in the Houston Chronicle of 15th inst. an article by Hon.Geo.B.Terrell of Cherokee County and if you did feel sure that it was gratifying to you. As a member of the next Legislature he "will favor the enactment of a law providing for a state system of public high- ways in co-operation with the various counties,to utilize the federal appropriation for good roads,and to authorize the work- ing of the short term convicts on the public roads in the various counties,and to make state highways out of roads of historical mention,such as the old Goliad Road,the old San Antonio Road and other roads of like importance. I feel confident that with the proper influences brought to bear,that our law makers can be made to see the beauty and the wisdom of the work to which you have so generously con- tributed both in labor and time,and am sure that if the next Legislature fails to adopt and open it up as a State Highway, that some subsequent Legislature will. But it seems to me that now is the propitious time,now the golden opportunity for the realization of our hopes,in as much 224 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD as we have at least twelve friends in the next body,and also a friend in the broadest most liberal minded Governor the State is ever likely to have.I know that very county through which the road passes,or borders,will,with the possible exception of Madison,take a lively interest in opening it up,and with your well known influence and powers of persuasion exerted in that direction,I feel confident that the Thirty~fifth Legislature will act favorably upon the proposition.Have been very busy of late surveying and mapping the Goose Creek oil field,but when you get ready to place the monuments will be pleased to serve you in any way that I can. Am now spending a short time in Houston at 2504 Capitol Avenue,and a line from you while here will be greatly appre- ciated.With very great respect, I am your obedient servant, V.N.ZIVELY,C.E. CAPT.ZIVELY SURVEYS OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD THROUGH NACOGDOCHES (Nacogdoches Editorial October 28,1915 Capt.V.N.Zively who is surveying the old King's High- way,or San Antonio road arrived in the city Monday and put up a marker in front of the location of the old Stone Fort.Capt. Zively tacked his marker on a telephone pole on Main Street but says that he doubts that it is on the exact location of the old road where it once passed through our modern city. Tradition seems to indicate that the road traveled a course nearer where Pilar street is now,which street got its name from an early church which was here before the Stone Fort was built. In tracing the road into Nacogdoches from the east Capt. Zively passed at a point about 100 feet north of where Mr.Gil- lette's silo stands,on down and across LaNana creek about 300 feet north of the present Main street bridge.He thinks that it would be very difficult to trace the road from the city on west until he gets out a distance of a few miles when he will be able to locate it almost exactly by old land surveys. The old land surveys have been one of the chief ways Capt. Zively has had of locating the road through Nacogdoches coun- ty and he has spent a considerable time gathering field notes CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 225 in Roya &Gilbert's office.He says that as he gets farther west the easier he expects that it will be to trace the old road.This is because he will have more field notes and less confusing tra- ditions to contend with. An oak post marker is being set every five miles along the route marked,"King's Highway."When the survey is com- pleted the Daughters of the Revolution will put up granite mark- ers instead of the oak posts.As the posts are set they are also numbered.The marker in Nacogdoches is Number 16.Post 15 is east of the city on the upper Melrose road at a point near John Halton's place.14 is five miles east of that,500 yards south of the upper Melrose road in W.L.Dean's field. West of the city the present Douglass road is almost the site of the old road,and where traces of the old road appear it seems to have been a little north of the present road. PREFACE I am well aware that a work of this kind should be entirely self-explanatory,but owing to adverse conditions and some very misleading data that was furnished me,I have been compelled to perpetrate a seeming inconsistency. There were only one hundred and twenty-three posts or markers placed by me between the Sabine river and the Rio Grande,and the posts should have been numbered consecutively from beginning to end,but as will be seen,the post at Paso de Francio is numbered 128,while in La Salle County there is a skip from Post No.102 to Post No.108,which occurred in this way:As I went South after putting up marker No. 102,I failed to find or notice the Presidio road turning to the right and continued to follow and survey the Laredo road to old Fort Ewell,on the Nueces river.The map I had,showed the King's Highway went in that direction,and after crossing the Nueces at Ft.Ewell,turned almost to the West and crossed the 1.&G.N.Ry.near Artesia Wells.When I reached Ft.Ewell and made a thorough examination of the crossing there,I be- came convinced that I had been misled and found that no road crossing the N ueces there had ever turned to the right,in the direction of Artesia Wells,from the fact that the country is so rough and broken that a wolf could hardly get over it.I then spent several days in exploring the river for a crossing above Ft.Ewell and at the Black Ranch,about midway between Ft. 226 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Ewell and Cotulla,found an old ford from which a road led in a Westerly direction-but the ford did not at all fit the descrip- tion of the King's Highway crossing as contained in the diary of Morfi,relating a trip over this road in December,1778. Disheartened and almost discouraged,I decided to go by the most direct traveled route to Paso de Francia,on the Rio Grande,pick up the road there,follow it as described in the Morfi Diary back to its intersection with the road I had sur- veyed.This,I did,but when I reached the Rio Grande I had to guess at the distance and put up the Marker No.128,which I afterwards found to be incorrect by almost twenty-five miles. I then carefully surveyed and measured the old road from Paso de Francia this way,putting up markers where necessary and numbering them backward,that is from Nos.128 to 127,to 126,etc.,until I intersected the road previously surveyed at Post No.108. In East Texas,that is from the initial point to the crossing of the Colorado river at Bastrop,the King's Highway,while in many places has been abandoned and entirely obliterated, was very definitely located by the field notes of land surveys made in the early years of the last century.These surveys were either bounded on one side by the old road,or,if they crossed it,the course and distance from the nearest corner to said cross- ing was in most instances stated,so that the relocation of the road in that part of the State was only a question of time and labor.From Bastrop to San Antonio,there was little to guide me except tradition,and the remaining evidence of the road to be found on the ground.From San Antonio to the Rio Grande, or vice versa,from the Rio Grande to San Antonio,about the only guide I had,was the aforementioned Diary of Morfi,a very learned and observant Spanish Priest who traveled the King's Highway in December,1778,from Presidio Rio Grande to the old Missions at San Antonio,and to that old Padre,though I am a Protestant of the most ultra blue stocking type,I want to doff my hat,as the most accurate artist in words of a country traver- sed,that I have ever met-in books.Every place he mentioned, every object of interest,I found just as described by him in that brief Diary.His only inaccuracy was,in the distance stated between given points,invariably the distance given by him was greater than that given by the steel tape.But I picture him as a scholarly,devout man of fragile physique,and wearied as he CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 227 was by the day's travel-"y muchas inflexiones inutiles,"how natural for him to over-estimate distance. I have given this work the very best effort of which I am capable,I measured every meander,every deflection of the old road as carefully as I ever measured a line for a proposed rail- road,and I have reproduced the road on the map just as I found it on the ground.In the field notes and map,I have endeavor- ed to show every object,either natural or artificial,near which the road passes,that would tend to permanently fix its loca- tion. In putting up the markers,in a few instances the dis- tance between them is somewhat in excess of five miles,but I was governed in that deviation from instructions by what I think good Judgment-for instance,where the measured five miles would have necessitated the placing of a post in the midst of a cultivated field,I either stopped short of the instructed dis- tance,or went a few hundred feet beyond,in order to place the marker where it would be least likely to be molested. In conclusion,I must express my thanks to the patriotic people along the entire route,for the many courtesies shown me" and the splendid and gratuitous help which very many of tEem rendered me.It is a pleasure to state that having come in con- tact with people in every walk of life,and of various racial origin,from the Louisiana line to the border of Mexico,I met the kindest treatment from all,and found them all intense in their love of Texas!Grand old Texas t There is something about her red clay hills,her swamps and forests,her broad reaching prairies,her rugged mountains,and even her cactus covered roughs,that inspire the denizens of each locality,with the belief that theirs is the most favored spot under heaven. (Signed)V.H.ZIVEL Y,C.E. LEON COUNTY At a point near Midway on Young's Creek is where Gen. Arredondo in 1813 cruelly had about eighty of Augustus Magee's soldiers shot.He tied bunches of ten men over a large deep pit, their bodies dropping into this pit and hastily covered up.This pit is still in evidence.Arredondo carried the women and chil- dren up on the "Camino del Rey"near "Lomo del Toro"(Bulls Hill)in present Leon county,and cut the throats of all the wo- men and children.At a short distance after passing "Bulls 228 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD HiH,"the "Camino del Rey"intersected the trail made by Alonzo de L€on in 1687 commonly called the "LaBahia"(The Bay)or Goliad Road.This intersection of the two trails is about two miles west of the crossing on the Trinity River.The old trail then crossed the Trinity River at the old "Don Tomas"cross- ing,a Bedias Indian,later known as "Robbins"crossing,a half breed Coushettee Indian,still later caned "Clapps Ferry."This crossing is about seven miles above "Hyde's Ferry"where the old Spanish Fort,"Trinidad"was established,near present town of Trinidad.The trail after crossing the Trinity river,calIed by the Spaniards,"Trinidad,"(Father,Son,and Holy Ghost) it passed the site of mission "Bucoreli,"founded in 1774,pass- ing through "Mustangs Prairie"then crossing the Navasota river,near where tradition says David Crockett fought his bear, leading past present Normangee,named in honor of Norman G. Kitren,and going through present Crockett,Houston counties, then through present Alto,in Cherokee County and when about twenty miles eastward from Alto,passed the site of the first Franciscan mission in Tejas. UNITED STATES POSTOFFICE Joe Wren,Postmaster Normangee,Texas 12/18/15 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, Beaumont,Texas. Dear Madam: I wish to congratulate you and the noble band of patriots, of which you are president,on the good work which you are do- ing in having the Old San Antonio Road resurveyed and mark- ed.As the old road runs by our little city,I feel a keener pride in the great work perhaps on that account,hence I would like to lend a little help if possible in the way of helping erect a nice granite monument,with the name of our first settler Rob.Rog- ers inscribed thereon.Therefore would appreciate your letting me know the approximate cost of such,and advice from you as to proceeding in the matter of doing this. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 229 I met the surveyor,Mr.Zively,and appreciate him very much,and feel that the work is intrusted in good hands. Hoping to hear from you soon,I am Yours very respectfully, (Signed)JOE WREN,P.M. THE SURVEYING OF KING'S HIGHWAY OR OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD,STATE OF TEXAS By :Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell The Chairman of the Texas Old Trails Committee,Daugh- ters of the American Revolution,believe the Daughters must be prudent,and not neglect appealing to the Legislature for the passage of the bill asking the State for an appropriation to sur- vey King's Highway,or old San Antonio Road,as they have worked too hard and accomplished too much to be irregular in their urgent need. Mrs.Helen Hardin Wadsworth has aptly stated."My main object in founding our Society of the Daughters of the Revolu- tion was to arouse American women to the importance of local history.Some one has said "We have no local history"as one cannot understand the history of the nation without understands the communities that for the state and the nation.Local his- tory is national in its significance.These stones will leave as relays to mark our progress from the salvaging "Anglo-Ameri- can colonization to the millionaire." Since we have learned from the Archives the old San An- tonio Road as put down on the county map surveys,is the same Camino Real of Spanish days,it is found the road through some of the counties is an open highway,while in other counties, in some parts,it is closed.This is the second hill presented to the 33rd Legislature to survey and mark the road,the Texas Old Trails Committees D.A.R.began a campaign to secure the boulders and to get the road surveyed when the question arose, was the Old San Antonio Road as lain down upon the county may surveys,identically.every where the same as the Camino Real across Texas,and the National Chairman informing this committee the D.A.R.markers must read "Marked by The Daughters of the American Revolution and State of Texas." The County of'Sabine responded,by ¥2'.McGowens1 the 230 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD surveyor surveying the road,and Commissioners Court promis- ing they would accept boulders from the railroad when delivered haul them out and place them.San Augustine held a mass meeting and promised that they woullocate the road and set up boulders.Nacogdoches,Alto,Crockett,Normangee,Caldwell, Bastrop and San Antonio all promised corporation in marking the road. Mr.John H.Broocks said,"He had the field notes of King's Highway copied as King's Highway in 1853 from the Land Of- fice through Cherokee County and San Augustine County and would ask to place two monuments.When Travis County was taken from Bastrop County the road was the dividing line. When the Commissioners were appointed to locate the site of the capital in 1839 they chose the hamlet "Waterloo"now Austin,stating in doing so,it would eventually close the pass by which the maurading Mexicans had travelled for ages past and it would increase immigration to this part of the State,as the town of Bastrop grew it ran there. In view of the fact that our monuments must bear the name of Texas,and the Daughters of the American Revolution have gone to a just expense in securing the services of an expert,to prepare a map and surveys,showing just when the road is an open highway and where the road is obliterated. The Daughters of the American Revolution cannot go on with their task (The erecting of one hundred granite boulders subscribed,costing $2,800.00)unless the State of Texas will survey its historic land-mark,the King's Royal Highway;the paramount road in the land question,when Mexico opened its lands to American Revolution. The erection of monuments is too sacred an act,and this road too identified with Texas Colonial History and the coloni- zation of the Republics,not to be under the jurisdiction of the State. The road has an official standing in Texas Republic laws. It was here at the coming of the Americans.It was travelled by the Spaniards after Spain had taken possession of the County, placing it under military and religious rule,by establishing mis- sions and Presidios close to the French boundary at N atchi- toches,Louisiana,on the Red river.Here was located the cap- ital of the Texas Province at Ada Mission,fourteen miles west of Natchitoches,now Robelin,Louisiana.When the road was travelled in the conquest of the country from 1716 to 1772, CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 231 when the capital was removed to San Antonio and there it re- mained until 1836. When Mexico opened its lands to American colonization this old road which was the Royal Road (Camino Real)across Tex- as was defined as the northern boundary of those Emprasasic grants lying south of the road;the southern boundary of those lying south of the road.This an enacted law,in defining the limits and boundaries of Texas colonists grants. To erect our monuments the State must make the survey. The surveyors tell the committees "From a utilitarian point of view the State should make the survey.That in going over the ground they always have to pull up stakes,and go back to the original road of the sun"eys of colonial grants."That is why the Texas Old Trails Committee claim the State must make the survey,and \vhy they are going to the Archives for their maps and surveys,etc.,to put this road on the State map,and to put the survey under the States'jurisdiction to receive its just dues. Its roots aloe ground too deep into the soil of Texas records not to make the survey equitable. This road is not found in books on highways of America,or The Trail Makers Series.Why?It is simply this,we have neglected our own history making road. It is the object of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion to encourage the study of the history of Texas.The people are being aroused as they have never been before to the needs of education.They purpose to educate them to the last boy and girl.Instructions in history can of course be had in the Uni- versity,but there are those less fortunate whose opportunities in life are to be found wanting.Texas has a history making road with the telling.It needs a wider audience.To reach the masses,we must create in them an intelligent interest in their surroundings,and in their history,by memorials,that their children's children might ask,"What mean these stones?"that posterity being told the story of Texas'greatness,might bear it in remembrance for all ages. It is said education makes us public spirited so that we can look out upon the world and on something else besides dol- lars and cents.This is the line of work the D.A.R.Old Trails Committee is undertaking.They believe man requires inspira- tion,and certain high standards of purpose,that looks beyond selfish interest and personal needs.This is when the educa- tion by the perpetuation of our royal road,has a bearing on our 232 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD purpose in life.Is to lead us,when delving in shop and field but under the stars to dream. Weare told by the surveying and marking of this road it will mean a greater history for Texas,that our time has been spent in a great purpose,to quicken the interest and sympathy for the life and early periods in Texas history.It is only through the active manifestation of public spirit can this road be surveyed and as the fundamental characteristics of the race is to progress,and the trail to borders from Nashville via Nat- chez,Natchitoches,Louisiana,would put the brakes on retard the movement for the completion. In time these old historic highways will be made National Highways,for it has been given out by the National body of D. A.R.numbering one hundred and twenty-five thousand in United States and more than sixteen hundred in Texas that as soon as other obligations were secured,the highways would be work of the D.A.R. This is what the States north of us have done.Surveyed and marked historic highways,prominently the great educa- tional States of American,New York,New Jersey,Illinois, Pennsylvania,Ohio,North Carolina,Virginia,Nebraska,Mis- souri,Kansas,Colorado,New Mexico,California,Kentucky, Tennessee,Mississippi and in Louisiana.The D.A.R.'s are join- ing hands with Mississippi and Texas to link King's Highway to the Southwest. . The tradition of the road is being verified from Archives by Professor W.E.Dunn of the University,whom the D.A.R.'s have employed to go through the old documents and maps of Camino Real,American surveys calling it the King's Highway and the Old San Antonio Road,and all are being identified as the same road. The D.A.R.'s realize the sense of the responsibility in sur- veying the old road and they appreciate the significances of the opportunity it offers to Texas and its history,but while they have drawn within the limits of their skill and power all the qualities necessary for work,pluck,courage,perserverance, resolution,there is an inherent difficulty that must be over- come,as ordered by National Chairman,our markers must read, "Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution and State of Texas." After three years of strenuous work,Texas surely will not handicap the Daughters of the American Revolution in denying CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 233 them the survey of the road.Texans,help us to make this the Memorial Highway to the men and women of the nation and teach the children that come after us,Texas takes pride in its history and that we have done our duty. WORK OF THE TEXAS STATE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD COMMITTEE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERI- CAN REVOLUTION Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell In response to a call for a report of the work of the Texas National Old Trails Road Committee,as especially propagated under the direction of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion,I will endeavor to give a description of the interesting fea- tures and plans to mark EI Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road.While very incomplete,on account of the delay in getting the road surveyed,it will show that the women of Texas are not unmindful of the glorious record of its road,in acquiring the great southwest;it will also show the real motive power of this world wide organization is Sentiment-the principal first,then the material for use and the expression of life.Also that the Old Trails Committee,through nature and men get their lessons, and they need to know not to believe,and that while they create, they are dependent upon their fellow man for bringing their purposes about.To perpetrate by the erection of monuments, is a sacred act,and truth only makes their work independent and universal. The history of the United States is eminently dear to its people,because the country is comparatively young.The in- cidents of "the times that tried men's souls,"are not seen through the dim vesta of many centuries but of such recent date,that we are told that 400 years ago white men of Europe visited this southwestern world in search of the Great Kingdom of.Texas,where everthing was thought to have been made of gold,even to the spears and arrows,when afterwards began the recurring struggle over the Texas lands,for the possession of this vantage point-The Gateway-EI Camino Real,that led through to the Southwest.. The French claimed it,the Spanish took possession of it, and held.it,by establishing missions and presidios along it,to keep out the French and to prevent contraband trade with Mexi- 234 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD co.In turn,the Mexicans took it from the Spanish.Finally, when the Americans were ready for it,after acquiring the lands along it,with the aid of Great Jehova,was born,the Texas Re- public.Then it was the Republic that came into the Union. The movement to perpetrate our history making road be- gan in 1911,at our State Conference,when an account of the marking of the Historic Highways of America was given and it was learned the propagandists of the San Fe Trail and Boone Licks Road claimed it was the first path that opened up and ac- quired the great southwest expansion.We found our highway EI Camino Real not known in the Historic Highways of America, only a few mentions of it found in printed text.So began our longing,eyes cast beyond.Always a next step and then a next, for we were earnest searchers after absolute historical accu- racy.Finding we were incapable of verifying EI Camino Real, or Old San Antonio Road,identically everywhere the same across Texas,we began to find a way and means,when we secured the services of Prof.Dunn of the the State University,who is an expert skilled in Spanish records,to prepare a map absolutely accurate,at a cost of $400.00.There is nothing vague or shadowy about this map of road,it is definite and tangible. Prof.Dunn visited the libraries of Washington,New York,as well as the State Archives,to verify and have road historicafly correct. With the result of this procedure the road is put on the State map showing the towns that have grown up along it.The county maps showing the survey in its accustomed district with cards giving notes of road,number of varas,etc.Explorers' diaries giving a description of Camino Real,and a report on his findings and comparing of records,sanctions the fact that the Spaniards called the road EI Camino Real. The English interpreting King's Highway,San Antonio Road,San Antonio and Nacogdoches road.The record of the road is written with definite positiveness,both on the printed page and in the unconscious imprints made by the actors,that he who runs may read,may not change or alter the record made by Stephen F.Austin and the Colonists following afterwards, which aptly characterizes the road as "The School Ground of the Texas Revolution. .The King's Highway,(Camino Real)was the paramount road in the land question,when Mexico opened its lands to Am- erican colonization.When it came to the Mexican Government CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 235 distributing its land to the Texas colonists,its laws regulated and governed that these grants should be on the South boundary side,or the North boundary side of the Old San Antonio Road, that was maintained in the field notes of those counties,where the road ran.Then when the site of the seat of Government was selected,the old road was adopted to promote the welfare of the State,as the Commissioners said,..."the location of the capital would eventually close the pass through which the outlaws and Mexicans had for ages traveled from East to West. We read when Spain took possession of the country in 1691.She made Mondar the capital of the Texas Province,later removed it to Adae Mission,close to the French boundary at Natchi- toches,Louisiana,on tl,1e Red River,now Robelin,Louisiana. When the road was traveled in the conquest of the country from 1716 to 1772,when the capital was removed to San Antonio and there it remained until 1838. It is of interest to know that when the road did run,it en- tered the State from the Rio Grande border at Presidio Paso de Francia,below Eagle Pass crossing at French Pass into Demrnitt County,going to Aresia Wells,running near Dull,touching these points:Hinds Charlotte,Arnphion Josoya,Coralito,San An- tonio,'\Vetmore,Bracken,New Braunfels,Hunter,going below San Marcos,Reedwell,Mendoza,Cedar Creek,Bastrop,Paige, Manheim,Lincoln,Deanville,Caldwell,Cooks Point,Steeles Store,Benchley,Normangee,Hennessy,Crockett,Alto,Douglass, Nacogdoches,Melrose,Chireno Devire,San Augustine,Geneva, Milam,Pendleton crossing of Sabine river,going to Many,Robe- lin and Natchitoches,Louisiana,with the actual survey more than likely additional towns will be added to the map. This committee has the boulder fund subscribed to the num- ber of one hundred,costing $2,800.00.These boulders are to be of Texas granite 5 feet 3 by 2 1/2 feet,one side smoothed and to be inscribed-name of road,marked by (the Daughters of the American Revolution,and State of Texas)with names of explorers or persons,identified with Texas history and the making of the State so designated by the donors. These monuments are to be placed 5 miles apart on State and county boundary lines,cross roads,marking noted crossings of rivers,forts where noted dead lie buried,noted battle scenes and towns along the way.Prof.Dunn said:"My investigation of the old grants along the road contained much information on Texas history,that no where else have I found before."'Vith 236 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the road surveyed and markers dedicated to the State,the home- spun stories of this old highway will be revived and retold and echoed down the centuries before. These markers will tell the story of the soldiers of fortune from aU nations,as it was along the highway of the world reach- ing from Natchitoches,Louisiana,to the City of Mexico.Span- ish Carolina,French nobility,sons of proud old families,young workers of high degree in search of fame,such as De Ayllon,De Navarez De Soto,La Salle,Sr.Denis,braved the known dangers of the wilderness with faces towards the West.Later the pio- neers replaced the road into a wogan road,which traveled op- portunity,civilization,religion and romance.The Old San An- tonio road was the rendezvous for the Texas patriots when aid- ing the suffering colonists during the Indian depredations.Many a pow-wow was held at these old Indian and Spanish crossings of rivers.With this road resurveyed and marked we can locate the happenings in Texas history.It will mean a greater history for Texas.The winding of this road was determined mainly by the Indian villages from which Texas derived its name Tejas, and which had its fable with the Spaniards in his search for treasures,the buffalo,the Indian,the frontier is passed,the frontiers men are passing.Shall we let him vanish or shall we immortalize him? I have been told this road should be resurveyed,not only from a point of historic deeds but from an utilitarian point of view,as in going over the ground,it always necessitated pulling up stakes and going back to the old original line.A point was brought out in court some months ago when contesting an old Mexican land title that had been granted a man for furnishing meat to the government at stated intervals,the defendants claiming a man could not make the trip designated from Nacog- doches to San Felipe at the stated time,as the country was a wilderness and no roads.The parties knowing I had maps from the land office showing the old San Antonio Road,from N acog- doches to IWbbins Ferry and the lower branch running to San Felipe,procured the maps as evidence,-the trip could have been made.A bill is pending in the Legislature,asking the State for an appropriation of $5,000 to survey the road just what the other states have done.If this is carried,the Daughters of the American Revolution will ask the State to form a Commission, by appoiIiting the President and Secretary of the Texas His"; torical Society and-the surveyor 'with the State Regent,Chair- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 237 man and member of this committee to carry out the work when we will endeavor to have road surveyed and monuments placed and dedicated to the State at close of 1916. This movement to perpetrate the highways of America be- gan in Missouri in 1904 when the plans to relocate and mark the Santa Fe Trail and Boon's Lick Road was agitated by the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution as a memorial to the pioneers of America. It was agitated from one individual to another which has carried the ideal into effect,into realization.This project has gone so far that every man,woman and child in the land is help- ing it along.The National Old Trails Road with Elizabeth Battes Gentry of Kansas City,Chairman,is directiIig this work and bending her energies to the invention of ways and means for working out plans and advertising them.The adjoining states of Missouri all caught the ideal from her by the Daugh- ters getting together and organizing,for carrying out the ideal. Now after ten years of talking about it,the D.A.R.National Old Trails Road from Washington to San Francisco has not only been relocated and marked,but it is open,and motorists are travelling over the flag route to the San Francisco Exposition. The Oregon Trail branching off from Franklin,Missouri,has also been relocated and marked and open for travel. To connect with the "Trunk Line in Ohio,"a road to the Southwest is now in process of being advertised from one in- dividual to another,a step which will lead to other steps.Our neighbors in Louisiana are talking.In Mississippi and Tenn- essee,they have already prayed and talked and dedicated some monuments to the States along the N atches trail.In due time we are hoping and preparing to erect our boulders and dedicate them to the State of Texas,and join in one accord to realize our ideal of the Historic Highways of America."See America First" is the slogan of this committee.Because the ideal is not only beautiful,it is desirable,and this committee is already thinking and talking in securing the promises of the land owners to give right of way for the D.A.R.Highway,the flag route to the Southwest. Dr.H.E.Bolton of the California University,jointly with Prof.W.E.Dunn of the State University,have made a proposi- tion to this committee to write a history of the trail for our publication. We hope to see recorded in this book the great host.of 238 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD traders who gave up their chance for a kingdom for a lordship, for an education,and went forth to fight for an ideal.Many never came back,many returned broken in health and beaten in the race.The ideal for which those traders so cheerfully and modestly made their sacrifice,was the ideal of country,of patriotism. The story of the King's Highway or Old San Antonio Road is yet to be the epic of the Southwest,which calls,for a poet, a philosopher and a historian.It is enough for me to do as well as I know how to mould public opinion,that we resurvey and mark this highway to Texas history,as a memorial to honor the pioneers who carried civilization into the Great Southwest. "Though the path finders die, The paths remain open." A.WILDENTHAL County Judge of Dimmitt County,Texas Carrizo Springs,Texas January 3,1920. Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, Beaumont,Texas. Dear Mrs.Norvell: Mr.Barker has just reported to me that the work on erect- ing the eight boulders has been completed according to contract. He took with him Mr.W.T.Gardner,our former Sheriff,in or- der to vouch for their proper erection,and Mr.Gardner also states that the job is in all respects complete and the boulders are placed in a good durable and permanent manner.There were a couple of places where the marker places were hidden in dense thickets and by following the survey a couple hundred yards would cross a prominent public road,in which,I believe two instances,I advised Mr.Barker to place same where the survey intersected such prominent road,just so the rocks were on the actual survey line of the Camino Real.So on these par- ticular places where conditions so existed the placing of the boulders were fudged up a bit in order to prominently place same :in a good conspicuous place where the survey line so in- tersected a regularly traveled public road,instead of being iso- lated in a thicket of underbrush. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTOKIO ROAD 239 Should you desire any affidavits as to the erection before sending the check to cover,please advise me and I will attend to your requests at once,as Mr.Barker has expended quite a pay roll in order to push this proj ect,and of course the passing upon and remitting for same without delay will be appreciated by him.Also let me know if you have not already written me" where the other two monuments should be installed so that I can advise him. With best wishes,I am Yours very truly, (Signed)A.WILDENTHAL, County Judge,Dimmitt County,Texas. CARRIZO SPRINGS,JAVELIN,DIMlVIIT COUNTY,TEXAS FRIDAY,DEC.12,1919. BEGIN MARKING EL CAMINO REAL HIGHWAY RELIC OF SPANISH REIGN W.W.Barker,county commissioner and former county surveyor,has received instruction to place monuments on each five mile post of EI Camino Real,or the old King's Highway of the Spanish administration,the chief road through Texas and Mexico.This road,in Texas,ran from the old Presidio Cross- ing to the Sabine Pass. The road enters Dimmit County at the southeast corner of the Jesus Cardenas grant,on the Nueces River,passes through Catarina Station,to the south of Dentonio,through the Springs of San Pedro,and to the Presidio Crossing in Maverick County. Mr.Barker will begin the work immediately,placing the monuments. The following condensed extract from the diary of Father Morfi,a Spanish priest who traveled EI Camino Real in 1778, will be interesting to Dimmit County people: December 25,1778,we set out from French Crossing (now Presidio Crossing)on the famous Rio Grande del Norte,passed the Aguaje (waterhole)of San Ambrosia,the springs of San Pedro,and camped at the Aguaje of San Lorenzo.This water- hole is a little pool of muddy water,surrounded by oaks.From the San Ambrosia we say many cacti,and from the San Pedro 240 CAMINO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD much verdologa.The next day we left San Lorenzo and found much shrub called in Spain Una de gato,(catclow)and at eleven o'clock passed the pool of Santa Catarina,camping at two thirty at the pools of Barrera.The next day we arrived at the water- hole of San Roque,and saw the Nueces River,which was always in sight thereafter until we crossed it.A little further on we reached the waterhole La Romana,and still further the Loma de Cochin. Here the Apaches had killed several men but a few days before.We then crossed the river (Nueces)and later halted at Guaj de Las Encinas.This is a fine waterhole,but the wild horses keep it muddy most of the time.It holds water all the year round.Further on at E Atascosa,we saw the skeletons of 203 bodies,said they have been killed in battle. Madam President General,Daughters of the American Revolution,and Friends: Six years ago,we came before you with a proposition to present a memorial to the Legislature,asking the State for Five Thousand Dollars to survey and mark King's Highway (Camino Real)or Old San Antonio Road across Texas.This bill was en- dorsed and presented to the Legislature and vetoed by that body. Two other bills were presented and the appropriations were made:$5,000.00 for the survey of the road,and $3,000.00 for the marking.This last amount to be added to the D.A.R.Fund of $2,144.00 previously collected from donors. That there could be no doubt that the road of the Spanish period was the Main Camino Real,or King's Highway as laid down on the early maps as Camino Real,or Royal Road and the Old San Antonio Road,used officially by Mexico as a line of demarcation in boundary of its Texas Colonists Grants,it was necessary that it be identified exactly as the Old San Antonio Road of the Republic days.The surveys of which could be lo- cated from the old surveys of the colonists grants in the Land Office.Prof.W.E.Dunn,an archivist of the University was employed at a cost of $400.00 given by chairman to locate the road accurately "everywhere"as one and the same road.After several months of prolonged study of the old documents at the Land Office and Washington,a map was prepared by Prof. Dunn with the surveys and data for the State Surveyor as ap- pointed by the State.Mr.V.H.Ziveley to survey the road and CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 241 locate positions for markers by placing posts at distances of five miles along the route,where the permanent granite markers were later to be placed. This road is now officially located according to the routes as described as Camino Real,by the Explorer Morfi in his re- port to the Mexican Government.And with the surveyor of the earliest Texas colonist grants,when Mexico used this high- way,"the Old San Antonio Road"as a line of demarcation in surveying her colonists grants,as a northern boundary line to the grants that lay south of the road,and a southerly boundary line to those grants that lay north of the road.The road was identified as one and the same road. The earliest record we have found of Camino Real is made by Soiis in crossing Texas in 1683.I will read you the report of Mr.V.H.Ziveley,C.E. The entire amount raised for the marking of the King's Highway Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road was $10,544.00. This does not include the amounts expended for Legislative printing,or stationery,and with ten trips to Austin added,by the chairman.Just one year ago we reported to you we were ready to let the contract for the monuments for marking the King's Highway,Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road across Texas.On December 27,1917,the contract was let at Austin to A.L.Gooch for the sum of $4,300.00 for 123 granite markers, said contract signed by Governor Hobby,Mr.A.L.Gooch and Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,State Chairman of Old Trails Road Com- mittee.We are indebted to Judge Hiram Glass for his immense interest in securing a half rate from the railroads for hauling the markers. According to contract,Mr.Gooch was paid for the markers, $2,460.00 when loaded on cars with bills of lading attached.When after the markers were erected and inspected,he was to be paid the remaining amount-$1,840.00. Mr.Gooch has lately reported to me 118 markers were placed from the Sabine river at Pendleton,Texas,across the State to Cattarina,and owing to condition of country West of Cattarina,to the Rio Grande it was utterly impossible to set the remaining five markers.He reported he had spent two days there and could not get through the country in an automobile, and offered to make a compromise.And this we have refused to accept,as you well know our mind is made up and the con- tract will not be broken,and he understands he must finish 242 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD this work before he can secure the remaining $1,840.00.We have reached the objective,the thing we have been up against all along,to get our hewn stones of perseverance,placed across the State to mark a trail road.A line that is used by historians in illustrating those periods of exploration,settlement,occu- pancy and Texas colonization.This placing of six boulders to the Rio Grande was erected,finished and paid for by Governor Hobby. Now ladies you know we have sincerely wanted this thing and we have met it with a great and urgent demand.There have wen many times we could not take you into our confidence, many obstacles confronted us and we had to solve our own prom- lems,we beiieve to mother ones own undertakings,and to look to one's self for encouragement will speak success,because the primal force in any accomplishment is the desire. We have been happy in this work,and we want to thank you for the great privilege you have given us in the furtherances of it. We shall ask all of the chapters to assist us in dedicating these markers to our State.We shall ask the Chapters to ar- range for the dedication in counties where there are no Chap- ters,as the only town along the trail that has a chapter is San Antonio.Gonzales is near.Also Bryan,Cameron,Huntsville, Palestine.It is our desire for the Texas Daughters to arrange for and dedicate these monuments in the several counties. There will be a bill presented to the coming Legislature, asking for protection for these monuments. Beaumont,Texas, October 15,1919. TO THE COUNTY JUDGE: I wish to get a report on the identifying of the 123 granite monuments placed by contractor on what is known as the King's Highway,Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road,extending across the State of Texas from the Sabine river to the Rio Grande river.The contractor has reported 123 granite monu- ments erected according to contract and according to the book of surveys made by the States appropriation,and according to the location made by the surveyor where the monuments were to be erected. Before the last payment for the monuments is made,I am CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 243 asking all of the County Judges in their respective counties to inspect the monuments as one knowing all of the routes in their counties,and one who could reach every monument by the short- est route,to report back to me,the number of monuments from county boundary line,going east and west along road where monuments run. Will you please attend to this and report back if number of markers are placed according to red dot placed on many.The Daughters of the American Revolution in conference assembled will arrange for the dedication of the monuments November 5th. Very sincerely, MRS.LIPSCOMB NORVELL, Texas State Regent,D.A.R. A.L.GOOCH GRANITE AND LIMESTONE Austin,Texas COUNTY JUDGES 1915 Sabine oW.R.Cousins,Hemphill San Augustine E.T.Anderson,San Augustine N acogdoches J.F.Perrette,Nacogdoches Cherokee C.F.Gibson,Rusk Houston u ___nE.Winfree,Crockett Madi son J .E.Webb,MadisonviIIe Brazos J.T.Maloney,Bryan Burleson W.M.Hilliard,Caldwell L€e m J 0hn H.Tate,Giddings Bastrop u J.B.Price,Bastrop CaldwelL m J.T.Ellis,Lockhart Hays J.R.Wilhelm,San Marcos ComaL uAdolf Stein,New Braunfels Bexar mn J.H.Clark,San Antonio A tascosa W.J.Bowen,J ourdantown La Salle C.C.Thomas,Cotulla Dimmi tt J.O.Rouse,Carrizo Springs ALONG A HIGHWAY FROM DEL RIO TO SALTILLO (San Antonio Express) Continuing a highway building and improvement program which has been given impetus by the popularity of its greatest 244 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD related achievement thus far-the Inter-American Highway link from Nuevo Laredo to the City of Mexico-the neighber Republic has announced plans to build a new road South from Del Rio (Texas)to Saltillo.Work is scheduled to begin early in 1938. Mexico is proud of its Inter-American Highway section, which has gained a reputation not only as an outstanding engi- neering triumph,but also as one of the world's most beautiful drives.It has attracted tourists and other visitors in numbers far exceeding all expectations.Already Mexican engineers- to whom mountains and other obstacles are an old story-are working on the extension of the highway to Central America. One attraction on the new road from Del Rio to Saltillo will be the town of Monclova (Coahuila).Although not generally known in the United States,Monclova once was Texas'(and Coa- huila's)capital city-many years before the Texan's War for Independence.Its name appears in connection with Texas his- tory as early as 1688 and was named for Count de Monclova, Spanish Viceroy of Mexico at that time,and is mentioned in accounts of the ill-fated La Salle Expedition.Later it was the starting-point for the first Spanish colonization attempt in Tex- as. The Spaniards,led by Don Alonzo de Leon,found the wreck of one of La Salle's ships and encountered friendly Indians,who cried "Texia."The Indians led De Leon to the interior,where he set up a garrison.It was the beginning of what later became the City of San Antonio. Aside from historical interest,the new highway will enable the traveler to visit a large section of modern Northern Mexico. From Del Rio it will pass through Villa Acuna,San Carlos,Zara- goza,Allende,Rosita,Sabinas,Hermanas,Monclova,Castonas, Hipolito and Saltillo.A good road from Saltillo to Monterrey is already available.It will connect the new highway with the Inter-American back to Nuevo Laredo and the United States, or southward to Mexico's capital. Highway improvement has contributed greatly to good-will and understanding between the United States and Mexico,as well as other American nations.It also has fostered commercial relations.Further road-building should mean still more prog- ress along that line. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 245 SAN JUAN BABTISTA MISSION ON THE RIa GRANDE AMaNG THE JUMANa AND AP ACHE INDIANS The first mission built in the New Spain territory was the mission at Isleta,EI Paso and San Juan Babtista on the Rio Grande,Del Norte for the guarding of the Indians and to keep out foreigners from trading with the Indians. San Juan Babtista mission was built in 1698 near Eagle Pass today.It was the mission and fort built on the highway crossing of the Rio Grande,Camino Real,leading to San An- tonio and across Texas to the Tejas Indians and Adae Mission capitol in Louisiana. It was the way-long station for travels and convoy trains of supplies and for equipment of horses required to carry the burdens and to withstand all Indian hostilities for a safe arrival for their destination. All supplies and provisions for the Western and Eastern missions were first supplies from Mexico City.Missions on the Camino Real Highway to Saltillo and Monclova,to San Juan Babtista Mission and missions across Texas were given each a captain and 12 soldiers as guards to the missions and to conduct the convoys of supplies over the highways to Eastern Texas and Adae Missions. Rivera in his inspection of the missions on highway states: "It was Aguayo himself in his expedition across Texas to insure safe and prompt delivery of supplies to the missions and forts for the protection of supplies and provisions as far as Rio Grande hence to Eastern Texas because of hostile Indians.The need was great for the protection of trains across Texas. In view of the information on the subject by Aguayo who stated in his report of his expedition,"The Indians almost an- nihilated the garrison of Coahuila (Monclova)and to the best interest of the King that the service be increased for the protec- tion of travellers in the interest of the government.At Adae Mission and fort in Louisiana,one hundred soldiers were placed there to control the Indians,guard the highways and keep out the French from entering Texas.The French garrison at Nat- chitoches,Louisiana,located about seven leagues away had a force of soldiers.It was believed they could invade bringing well trained and learned troops from Mobile and Canada and cut off all suppiies to surrender. .As the practiCe had been for anyone going to Texas by way 246 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD of San Juan Babtista,at any time of the year,it had worked great hardships on the guards and missions.To avoid the con- fusion and hardships unnecessary on the guards,imposed on the soldiers as it were engaged in the service.The promiscuous de- mand for escorts of trains at all times of the year were abolish- ed,that only regulated scheduled trips be made at different seasons.The first to be made January 1st,the second in April, the third in July,an dthe fourth in October.This recommen- dation was made and an escort of ten men including officer in command set out from Monclova to Satillo four times a year,in time to be at the latter place on the first of each month indica- tion. The escort was instructed to make the trip back to the Rio Grande mission so that the men who made the journey to and from Satillo to Monclova could remain at the Post and be re- placed by others with horses,new equipment to Rio Grande and across Texas. By timing their entrance to Texas both persons and trains going to Texas would not have to wait long in Satillo for the regularly scheduled escort which was to give them the neces- sary protection while enroute to the Province of Texas. From Satillo to Monclova,San Juan Babtista,San Antonio De Bexar to Adae Mission,the escort of trains the out-riders, were given three months to go and return through the entire frontier. TEXAS HISTORY PAVES HIGHWAY Trail Extends to Mission Near Robeline From Eagle Pass. Eagle Pass,Texas,October 29.-For more than two cen- turies the King's Highway,which is being rehabilitated and is now open to traffic for most of its length,has been a land mark of Texas.Traversing the State from Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande border to the old mission of Adaes near Robeline,Louis- iana,this ancient road covers a distance of approximately 1200 miles.It is one of the remaining links connecting the present with the stirring and romantic days of early Texas history.Told by Spain the actual work of establishing the route was done by Spaniards under Charles King of Spain.(1691). When American immigrants began the settlement of the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 247 state in the first years of the Nineteenth century the use of wheeled vehicles necessitated some changes in the road,as the old mule trail was in many places inaccessible.Thus,the old San Antonio Road came into being,traversing the same course but often differing widely in location.There are places at the ford of some stream or the rise of a hill where the deep furrows worn into the soil by the beat of countless hoofs may yet be recognized. It was in 1714 that Louis Juchereau de Saint Denis,a Frenchman of noble birth,interested Antonie Crozat,Governor of Louisiana,in the proposition of opening an overland trade route from the Mississippi river to the Spanish province of Mex- ico.He gave Saint Denis a commission to explore the road and negotiate a treaty with the Spanish authority. ....,-.,y _,..,"1\fr"..,~JI /'I T:",'T""'IIp..IrIvmg at ;::IanJuan tiaotlSta lVllSSlOnana.l'on or .r...agle rass on the Rio Grande St.Denis and party planned taking Camino Real to Monclova,Satillo,Monterrey to Mexico. RANGE RIDER OF THE COW COUNTRY The Hospitality Unboundless Someone has said that the West has been the mother of many children.Prominent among her offspring were the trap- per,fur trader,prospector,freighter,cowboy and homesteader. ...Each of these has had his biographers,hut far more than his brothers has the range rider of the cow country caught the fancy and attracted the interest of a later generation.Of him and his vocation much has been written,and yet few people who know at first hand something of ranching on the western plains are willing to admit that any book on the subject is entirely cor- rect.This is due largely to the fact that the range cattle in- dustry came into being suddenly,rose to mammoth proportions, and,except in certain isolated areas,largely disappeared within a single generation. '''hether he was riding and keeping up a fence or merely riding the imaginary line which marked the border of his em- ployer's range,the line rider's life was likely to be a lonely one. If two men were stationed at a camp it was not so bad,but in many cases a cow hand would be located all alone in a camp a great many miles from any other human habitation.He often saw no one for days and in exceptional cases for weeks at a 248 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD time.Under such conditions he of course had a large measure of independence.He was for the time strictly his own boss,but his duties were many and varied.He must ride his line and keep up the fence or strive to keep the cattle on their own side of the line.Water holes must be visited and any helpless ani- mal bogged down pulled from the mud by the rope attached to the saddle horn.... The hospitality of the cow country was boundless.Any stray rider who appeared at a line camp was not only invited but urged to stop and spend the night,and no questions asked.... It was enough that he was hungry and needed shelter.He was welcome and the line rider was glad for his company.If he stopped ata camp and found no one there,he was at entire lib- erty to go in,cook himself a meal,and ride on after he had washed the dishes.On this last point the etiquette of the range spoke in no uncertain terms.... In spite of the monotony of trail driving,the strenuous la- bor of the roundups,and the loneliness of a remote line camp, cowboy life was not without its compensations.Every range rider loved his work,was proud of his job,and maintained an intense loyalty toward his employer and the band.-From "Cow Country"by Edward Everett Dale. "HSTORICAL SKETCH OF THE OLD SP ANSH TRAIL" By Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell The old trails road,Camino Real,the King's Highway-San Antonio Road,was stamped out by nature's engineers,the buf- falo,the elk and the deer.Instinct led these animals to the ridge road,the safest fords and mountain passes.This trace of trails was followed by the Indian,then later the soldiers of fortune from all nations,as it was along the highway of the world reaching from Natchitoches,Louisiana,to the City of Mexico.The early Spanish maps of Texas,1730,show the trail as the Camino Real or San Antonio Road.Mrs.Shooks de- scribes in her book,"The King's Highway,or Invisible Route," that it was Ponce De Leon,who had made long journeys by land and water in search of "the fountain of youth,"in making sta- tions on "blazed trails,"called the longest and widest of them al1-EI Camino Real Del Rey.Spanish cavaliers,French no- bility,sons of proud old families,young woers of high decree in MRS.LIPSCOMB NORVELL'S HOME CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 249 search of fame,such as De Ayllon,De Narvaez,De Soto,La Salle, St.'Denis,braved the well known dangers of the wilderness with faces toward the west.Later by the pioneers who blazed the trail into a wagon road over which traveled opportunity,civili- zation,religion and romance. When St.Denis of Natchitoches,Louisiana,followed the trail with a commercial proposition in 1744 from the Governor Cadellac of Louisiana,to open up commercial relations with Mexico and an overland route,it so excited the Spanish he was detained a year in prison and afterwards conducted the Span- iards when the missions and Presidios were established across the State along this road,to keep out the French,to Christianize the Indians and to prevent contraband trade with Mexico. Stephen F.Austin passed over this great overland route from the Mississippi valley with his first colonists and it was afterwards the current stream of our race progressed.The story of American expansion is the story of the old trails,the story of the pioneers;Texas was not eradled by another state, but unaided and alone save by those American friends who pass- ed over the San Antonio road,she conquered the Southwest by her sword,and won her independence. With the Spanish cavalcade rushing across to intercept the French and drive them back,as also the traders,trappers and gold seekers,we know of another class,that band of outcasts, thieves,robbers,murderers and ferocious savages-came in hordes and of their frequent skirmishes in the open. Stephen Austin on his first visit to Texas noted in his diary three victims lately slain and the skulls and many bones scattered along the road.In the year 1826,Austin resolved to make a campaign against the Indians and various squads were stationed along the San Antonio Road from San Antonio to the Brazos river to detect any inroad of the vVacoes,whose depreda- tions had become frequent. The state commissioners in selecting the seat of Government in their report called attention to the selection of the town of Waterloo in Bastrop County,thirty-five miles above the city of Bastrop,and above the San Antonio road,since the restruction was to be in that section of the country between the Trinity and Colorado rivers,above the San Antonio road,said that "the site occupies and will effectually close the pass by which the Indians and outlawed Mexicans have for ages past traveled east and west and from the Rio Grande to Eastern Texas."The 250 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD propriety of placing the government on the frontier was large- ly discussed,but the reason urged "it was so far away from the coast and traveled highway to ward off any danger that might occur."It was while the surveyors in 1839 were surveying the site for the seat of government and Manuel Flores and his band of Mexicans and Cherokees were intercepted while attempting to pass the Colorado by this old ford.Flores was killed and baggage captured which contained documents that revealed the fact that the Cherokees had entered into a plot with certain Mexican officials to exterminate the whites in Texas.This led to the direct step of the expulsion of the Cherokees from Tex- as.From that time on the emigration to the upper Colorado and Brazos country was the most densely populated part of the republic and the depredations of the Indians and Mexicans not ~f\-tl'&>nll&>nt~~---'1-----. The trail was the great overland route from the Mississippi valley in Louisiana to the great Southwest.From Penolosa to Pike,the great desire was to reach the great silver mines in Mexi- co.The whole Mississippi territory depended upon this means for communication with Mexico,and those "pioneers"of the trail were undaunted. The object of a National Highway this historic trail is the same as that of marking any other battlefield of history.Here began that chapter of history which has gone on and developed into the history of the United States.For nearly four hundred years while men of Europe had visited this new found South- western world.Far to the south of the Texas country cities and colonies had been formed by Spaniards and grown,and the treasures of Mexico in the hands of Spain had so increased the power of that country,nothing seemed able to withstand the tide of its conquests.But here on the old Camino Real or San Antonio road,was planted the seed which began to spring into being and life power,which in time wrested the supremacy from Spain and the territory from Mexico,and covered the lands with American colonies.It was the first stone laid in the great structure of Texas colonization and expansion.The winners of the far Southwest fought a strenuous battle,and the trail be- came a real battlefield from one end to the other,with its un- numbel'ed dead telling the ghastly story,and its memory should be preserved religiously,as a higher power than man to direct the course of a nation's life:the death of those heroes to ad- CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD'251 vance our national boundary is not a failure for the martyr's blood is stronger than a thousand swords. Help us to make this old Texas trail that let the world through to the Southwest,starting at Natchez,Mississippi,the memorial highway to the pioneer men and women,that future generations may know of the great struggle to advance our na- tional boundary to the Rio G!"ande,and to keep a love and that zeal so necessary in the perpetuation of our government.Like- wise that it may serve as a highway to the hearts and spirits of the Texas people. SAN ANTONIO OF TODAY Today San Antonio has a population nearly six times as large as that of the entire Texas province of 1836,a population rated by the census of last year as 115,000,now much beyond that number.It combines all the features of a modern and pro- gressive city with an old world flavor,rendering it doubly im- pressive and unique. It is a distributing center for a large part of Spanish-Am- erica,and one-fifth of its people is still Mexican and Spanish, many of these tracing their forbears to the San Antonio of de- parted centuries,being united by ties of blood and business to every part of Central and South America-or Mother Spain herself. Texas,with an area more than a fourth larger than the German Empire,is fifth in population among American Com- monwealths,coming next after New York,Pennsylvania,Illi- nois and Ohio.It is the first State in cotton,cotton seed,cattle, mules,pecans,mohair,butter on farms,cotton gin machinery and winter vegetables.It is first in railway mileage,in the number of farms,cotton seed oil mills,cotton compresses and cotton gins.I t is first in the size of ranches and farms and of Bermuda onion gardens. It is second in number of newspapers,in growth and manu- facture of rice,in quick-silver and asphalt,in length of coast line.It is capable of the widest and most diverse agricultural and industrial expansion. Of the Mission San Jose de Aguayo,begun in 1720,named in honor of the Spanish Governor of Texas,Marquis San Miguel de Aguayo,perhaps the ablest of all the Spanish Governors as- 252 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD signed to.the no.rth o.f the Rio.Grande,let Sidney Lanier,the gifted Georgian,speak. He says:"San J o.se Missio.n is the mo.st beautiful o.f all, and its carving is surely a jo.y fo.rever. "The hand that chiseled the wo.nderful facade at the main entrance o.f the church,the do.o.rway,windo.w and pillar capitals o.f the smaller chapel,that no.w go.es by the name o.f the Bap- tistry,was o.ne o.f marvelo.us cunning.The facade is rich to.re- pletio.n with the mo.st exquisite carving. "Figures o.f virgins and saints with drapery that lo.o.ks like drapery,cherubs'heads,sacred hearts,o.rnate pedestals and re- cesses with their co.uch-like cano.pies and co.rnices wo.nderful. The do.o.rway,pillar and arch,is daring in its unique o.rnamen- tation-sho'\ving in its combination of form the impression of Mo.o.rish o.utlines.Otherwise the who.le facade is rich renais- sance-figures and hearts alo.ne with anything realistic about them. "All o.ther o.rnamentatio.n is co.nventio.la,but with no.thing stiff,every curve sho.wing a free hand.The windo.w abo.ve the archway is a simple wreath o.f such acanthus-like curves and co.nsho.ids o.f surpassing wo.rkmanship.The so.uth windo.w o.f the baptistry is co.nsidered by go.o.d judges the finest gen o.f architectural o.rnamentatio.n existing in America to.day.Its curves and pro.po.rtio.ns are a perpetual delight to.the eye,and o.ften as the writer has seen and examined it,it is o.f that kind o.f art which do.es no.t satiate,but ever reveals same fresh beauty in the line o.f curve." The chapels o.f San Juan Capistrano.and San Francisco.de la Espada are not so.well preserved but are o.f co.mpelling interest, and like the o.thers by same mystic charm translate the visito.r fro.m the new wo.rld to.the o.ld.The erectio.n o.f the missio.n buildings,and the maintenance no.t o.nly o.f these but o.f presi- dio.and village fo.r mo.re than a century in the face of the per- petual hostility o.f Apaches and Co.manches,the fiercest o.f the Indian tribes o.f America,a ho.stility so.inveterate that o.nly a few settlements o.utside the immediate neighborho.o.d o.f San Anto.nio.were able to.preserve an existence,at bestperilo.us and uncertain,co.mpo.se o.ne o.f the mast impressive chapters in rec- o.rds o.f human co.urage,endurance,sacrifice.It is appro.priate, th~refore,that in 1918 San Anto.nio.sho.uld invite the Spanish~ speaking peo.ple to visit the scene where representatives o.f their MISSION O:B'SAN JOSE,TEXAS CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 253 own race gave such superb illustration to these attributes and to join in an exposition commemorating such achievements. The secession of Louisiana to Spain in 1762 removed France as a contestant for territory,and pushed the boundary from the Sabine to the Mississippi,where they found a new neighbor in England,a neighbor to be replaced only two decades later by the new nation which the English colonists had set up as the fruit of revolution-the United States of North America. Spain saw the first evidence of a new peril when in 1800 eleven citizens of the United States were marched through her streets of San Antonio in chains,the survivors of an armed ex- pedition into Texas led by Philip Nolan,who had been killed and his followers destroyed or captured.In the same year Louisiana was re-delivered to France to be sold by Napoleon to the United States in 1803.So Spain again faced the United States and this time at the Sabine instead of the Mississippi. From the first friction arose as to the boundary,the United States later reviving the French claim that the rightful western border of Louisiana was the Rio Grande. From that time forward San Antonio responding to the trend of events,took a new and busier and more important life. The missions had been secularized and practically discontinued. New settlers were thronging in,Spaniards,Creoles,native Mex- icans,Frenchmen,Americans,Indians of both pure and mixed extraction. The city was beginning to develop that cosmopolitan char- acter which today so emphatically distinguishes it-practically every race being now represented within its limits.Hundreds of troops were permanently quartered there,a recognition of the military and strategic value of San Antonio,a value recog- nized today by the United States in maintaining there one of the largest army posts in the Republic. Already its wonderful climate,health-laden beyond descrip- tion,its mild and sunny winters,its uniform and delightful tem- perature,had begun to attract people from all parts of the world.It is little wonder,therefore,that it has become today, nearly 120 years later,one of the notable tourist centers of the Nation,its hotels having an equipment and a hospitality that make them one of its most attractive features. Shortly after the Louisiana purchase uneasiness over the boundary quarrel caused the number of Spanish troops in Texas to be rapidly increased.The rumor of an invasion by Aaron 254 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Burr added to the excitement.A Spanish force crossed the Sabine and invaded American soil but turned after a brief period to its own side of the river.There on the Sabine the Spanish and American armies confronted one another,the former under Governor Cordero of Texas,the latter under General Wilkinson, commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States.An agreement was reached regarding the boundary,a neutral ground defined,and both armies retired.Then began the Mexican revolution against Spain,originated by Hidalgo in 1811. The example of the United States was spreading over the American hemisphere.San Antonio experienced a bloody in- troduction of the revolution in seeing on a pole near the river between the Alamo and the Main Plaza the severed head of Colonel Delgado,who had been one of her most prominent citi- zens,and an adherent of Hidalgo.Bloody was to be the retri- bution and bloodier still the counter retributions. Bernardo Guiterrez,another follower of Hidalgo,escaping from Mexico after the execution of his chief,organized at Nat- chitoches,in Louisiana,near the frontier in confederation with Magee,an officer in the United States Army,who resigned to take up the work,a force of Americans,rebel Mexicans and In- dians for the invasion of Texas.Driving the Spaniards from Nacogdoches and other Texas points,the invaders,numbering probably 1200 men,defeated the Spanish army of probably 2500 at the battle of Rosillo,near San Antonio,with terrific slaugh- ter,and two days later took the city itself. The city was given over to plunder and the spoils apportion- ed among the invaders.Then Captain Delgado demanded ven- geance for the murder of his father.He was put in charge of Governor Salcedo,who had ordered the execution,and his staff, together with Governor Herrera of Nuevo Leon,and ex-Gover- nor Cordero,ostensibly to take them as prisoners to New Or- leans.A mile and a half below the city Delgado and his com- pany deliberately cut the throats of his prisoners.At this the best elements among the American officers and men,who had been moved by a sincere desire to aid in the revolution,with- drew to the United States,disclaiming further connection with the enterprise. For four months this band of adventurers held the city in a state of lawlessness and disorder.With singular coolness and skill they rallied from the surprise occasioned by the unexpected approach of Don Elisondo's army of 3,000 royalists from Mexi- CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 255 co which they defeated,administering a loss of over 1,000,while their own casualties were but 94.A few weeks later they were defeated by another royalist army. At the close of the French and Indian war in 1762,England had been triumphant and it was foreseen that she would take, as she did,the French colonies in America.And in order to pre- vent Louisiana from falling into the hands of England,France hurriedly deeded to it Spain and in this way Spain's title to all the country west of the Mississippi river became acknowledged by the European countries. Forty years later Napoleon had well begun his career and was first consul of France and master of Italy.The Spanish monarch wanted an Italian kingdom for the Duke of Parma,his son-in-law,and he bartered with Napoleon to exchange a king- dom in Northern Italy warranted to contain a million souls for the old French province of Louisiana.And thus it happened that in 1800 by the secret treaty of San Ildefenso Louisiana became again French property.Napoleon had schemes for a colonial empire in North America,but they soon gave way to his more interesting plan for a vast empire in Europe,and he be- came embroiled with England,who stood in his path. GREETINGS OF STATE REGENT MRS.LIPSCOMB NORVELL 1919 Daughters of the American Revolution,Members of the Nineteenth Annual State Conference: Today is one of the great days in my life,and I am happy to be here,and that I can bring you a consciousness of my re- sponsibility and an opportunity in serving you,and which I con- sider a great privilege to have a share in an agency that is con- tributing to our Nation's strength. As I look into your faces this morning,I can read there the bigger task that you are thinking about.I can see America's spirit out of which America rests,whose souls are American re- acting to the ideals and principles of Democracy,freedom and justice.The combining together of women for all,and the good of all,fulfilling in every truth the prophecy of a latter day prophet for "God and people." Today we follow the flag.Today every woman is in the 256 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD service,in or out of the home,to help make the world safe for everyone;to help make the world safe for the girls and boys with fathers and big brothers gone,when the children are need- ing a lot of extra loving;it is taking mothers and sisters and school teachers to keep them straight.And another thing,our boys and men who have enlisted are needing a lot of help to keep their ideals as high as the flag,and to keep them going.Letters that bring the atmosphere of home,the dearest thing in life. Our pledge to the bigger task is to be cheerful.As the soldier said "it is too serious an occasion to be solemn about it,until this thing is over and new things began." Memorial Continental Hall at Washington is a monument built to an idea,that embodies your idea of blood bought and blood held freedom.A monument to the soul of the men and women of our Nation,expressing the spirit of sacrifice.The environment and furnishings of Memorial Continental Hall is expressive of a high idealism.There has been a mutual under- standing between the Government and the National Society ever since there was a charter granted for a National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution,and Continental Hall is recognized at 'Vashington,as an effective Ally at the Government's disposal. We have built upon the right foundation,the spirit of sac- rifice as a strong hold for peace,but our patriotism has gone beyond National,until now we feel we owe a debt to mankind to safeguard the trust of civilization. If we are to be an effective influence hereafter in main- taining the idealism of the world,the measure of our influence will certainly not be in proportion to our weakness,but in pro- portion to our strength.Faith without action,words without deeds,can accomplish nothing. This is a time of supreme honor for the Daughters of the American Revolution to hand down an account of your labors to coming generations.Our history in the world war will here- after be required of us.If we have no written account,it will be a reflection upon our patriotism,and a dishonor to our an- cestry,two great undertakings the National Society is propos- ing to accomplish,and there can be no such word as fail.You have been kept aware of the fact by the many recent bulletins issued by the War Relief Committee,that you must concentrate on two definite objects.To raise a fund of $100.00 for the Na- tional Society to land our Government as a Liberty Loan,and CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 257 $52,000.00 to be raised for the restoration of a devoted village, Tilloly in France,to meet the spirit of France toward our coun- try in the war of 1776. Our service to the Red Cross is vitally important,but there is no reason why it should be unrecorded service by the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution,or why it should be the only service.There are other things that are equally as important. There are Liberty Loans,food conservation,and the saving of the orphan children in France.We are in a Titantic struggle against the forces of evil,of murder,of treachery and lust.Ours is the holiest war of all history.Every Daughter of the Ameri- can Revolution is a partner with the nation.It has been writ- ten in our lives "We must work with our hands."The demand of the hour is effectiveness.To find what the demand is,and do it without any counting of the cost,without any straining of the eyes to see the end.This is our burden and our great honor. We hear the old Isaiah cry,watchman what of the night? and with the subtle sense of heart and ear,we catch the answer, "The morning cometh,and also the night."Yes,the morning cometh,when the deliverers of dying men and women and chil- dren shall have settled down on a conquered Germany,and the night of retribution cometh for the instigators of this world horror of blood and fire and rapine.Our collective and in- dividual duty is to back up the Government until victory,cer- tain and undisputed,is achieved. 258 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD PROGRAMME STATE MEMORIAL DEDICATION To Our Texas Pioneer Men and Women Texas Old Trails Committee of the NATIONAL SOCIETY,DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION SEAL--Daughters of the American Revolution The City of San Antonio The Alamo Chapter and the San Antonio De Bexar Chapter Honoring THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Saturday,February 21st,1920 San Pedro Park San Antonio,Texas ANNOUNCEMENTS The ceremony of dedicating the King's Highway Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road,by the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution will take place at San Pedro Park,San Antonio, Texas,at 3 o'clock,Saturday,February 21st,1920. The parade will form at 2 :30 p.m.at the St.Anthony Hotel, led by the Army Post Band. Three General Commandments mounted with an escort of soldiers followed by the speakers,the State Regent,Mrs.Lip- scomb Norvell;the Vice President General of Texas,Mrs.James Lowry Smith;State officers,and other Daughters of the Am- erican Revolution;President and Members of the Texas His- torical Society;the Sister organizations of San Antonio;the Daughters of the Republic of Texas;the United Daughters of CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 259 the Confederacy;the Daughters of 1812;the Colonial Dames; the Federation of Woman's Clubs;the Boy Scouts;and the school children and teachers of San Antonio.Mrs.William Pet- tus Hobby will be an honored guest of the occasion. D.A.R.CHAPTERS PAY TRIBUTE TO REGENT OF TEXAS MARCH 5,1920 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont,State Leader, Guest at Luncheon Rejoicing in the completion of a patriotic task which has enlisted their united efforts for nine long years,the two local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution paid tribute to their leader and State Regent,Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont,at a luncheon in her honor at the St.Anthony Hotel yesterday at noon. Mrs.Norvell,enthroned behind a huge basket of red and white blossoms,clouded with blue tulle,greeted 150 Daughters of the American Revolution as she spoke of the final realization of their ideals,and those of the Texas pioneers who blazed the old "King's Highway,"through the trackless wilderness and plains of the Lone Star State. "The basic principle involved is the brotherhood of man," she said."We realize the geographical relationship to human affairs very clearly right here in San Antonio,and rejoice that an era of good feeling has superseded the days of strife that have passed.We love and appreciate the dauntless spirit of Travis and the ideals he fought for." Tributes to the untiring zeal of Mrs.Norvell in searching out every turn of the historic old trail,and causing it to be mark- ed with granite boulders,were paid in eloquent speeches by Mrs. Harry Hyman,regent of the Alamo Chapter,D.A.R.and Mrs. Claude Kerran,Regent of the San Antonio de Bexar Chapter, who acted as toastmistress;Mrs.Rush Norvell,State Regent, is also an honor guest and the sister-in-law of Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell.By Mrs.Wheeler Pettus,Mrs.Robert L.Robertson,and Mrs.A.A.Sims. 260 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD THE GREAT STRATEGIC MILITARY HIGHWAY EL CAMINO REAL,OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD A great enthusiastic writer of the San Antonio Express News has written this article,"The Road"to be published with the San Antonio dedication of the surveyed and marked 123 monuments,memorializing the pioneers of Texas. Mrs.A.C.Pancoast,whose original poem so well expressed the sentiments of the entire assembly.The poem,dedicated to Mrs.Norvell,follows: THE ROAD Slowly o'er the trackless prairie Herds of buffalo wound their way, Then solemn,stealthy Indian Followed as he stalked his prey. Then the early pious fathers On their sacred missions bent, To teach the children of the prairie The truths of life and their intent. Thus across our lovely Texas, From the Sabine to Rio Grande, A way was made for future travelers, And progress started in our land. Hundreds of years this trail existed, Many contests marked its course, For its great historic interest Not one turning should be lost. So in line with work the Daughters Have performed throughout the land Our own regent,Mrs.Norvell, Lent an earnest helping hand. Labored long and labored wisely, No easy task it proved,they say, Till this trail's been made a highway That will endure we hope,alway. CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 261 For this road is marked with boulders, Granite boulders,all along, So the future generations May be told in prose and song. Many stories of the trails Of the early settlers'fate, What tremendous faith and courage Were required to found a State! For this work we would pay tribute To the one who never tired; Till her task had been accomplished, Till she'd gained what she desired. Mrs.Norvell,we salute you, While all the States receive with pride The success of your endeavor May your spirit be our guide. PARADE OPENS DEDICATION OF KING'S HIGHWAY D.A.R.Presents Historic Trail to State in Impressive Ceremony 1920 Featuring the dedication with a military and civic parade which formed near the St.Anthony Hotel at 2 :30 o'clock this afternoon and marched west on Houston into Soledad and other streets leading to San Pedro Park,the presentation of a surveyed and marked trail-EI Camino Real (King's Highway)is being made to the State of Texas this afternoon by the Daughters of the American Revolution.The historic trail which was the natural highway for hundreds of Indians,Spanish explorers and fathers,Mexican sellers and soldiers and,finally,Americans,is a gift to Texas on the 84th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Forming on Navarro Street and its intersecting streets to the vicinity of Travis Park,the parade swung into Houston Street,headed by the Army Post Military Band,followed by a party composed of Maj.Gen.J os-eph T.Dickman,Maj.Gen. J ~m o s G Ha ~'h o ~r1 "R~;O"G o,"r'h a ~lt>C!G Tre ~+~'"d a '"esco M-Of- ""'_ '&''-4,J-'a.()."'"'"'~._a.J.._'"~4 .......... 262 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD soldiers.FoIl owing them were the speakers of the occasion, including Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,State Regent of the D.A.A.'s Mrs.Harry Hyman,staff officers and members of the D.A.R. and a number of local historical and civic organizations. Entering Houston Street from Navarro,the parade went west to Soledad,north on Soledad to San Pedro,and thence to the park.The granite marker which designate the course of the old trail is placed in the western side of San Pedro Park.Here under the boughs of giant trees the unveiling was held and the presentation of the road made to the State. After the invocation which will be pronounced by Dr.Hert- rand Stevens,rector of St.Mark's church,will be several mili- tary features,including music by the Army Post Band,bugle calls and a unison recitation of the soldier's allegiance to the flag.Greetings will be extended by Mayor Bell,representing the City,S.E.Cornelius of the Chamber of Commerce and regents of the local D.A.R.chapters.Other features of the program will be addresses by each of the three generals of San Antonio,the presentation of the road by Mrs.Lipscomb Nor- vell and the acceptance of the State,voiced by Judge G.Norman Mittrell of Austin. DEDICATION San Antonio,Texas,March,1920 San Pedro Springs THE GREAT STRATEGIC MILITARY HIGHWAY OF AMERICA SPONSORED BY DA UGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1911-1920 A MONUMENT BY THE TEXAS D.A.R. TO'THE TEXAS PIONEER MEN AND WOMEN TO REMIND US THESE FOREBEARERS TRAVELLED THE WILDERNESS RO'AD KING'S HIGHWAY CAMINO REAL OLD SAN A:NrONIO ROAD CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 263 MARKED BY THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICA...~REVOLUTON AND THE STATE OF TEXAS A.D.1918 A permanent chain of one hundred and twenty-three gran- ite stones are marking the way every 5 miles from the East to the West borders of the state,to perpetuate man's struggle for advancement,from which has sprung our civilization today. "Follow the marks that they have set beside The narrow,cloud-swept track,to be thy guide; Follow,and honour what the past has gained, And forward still,that more may be attained." -Van Dyke. REJOICING IN THE COMPLETION OF A PATRIOTIC TASK Rejoicing in the completion of a patriotic task,which has enlisted the untiring zeal of the chairman of the Daughters in Texas,the hvo local Chapters,the San Antonio De Bexar and the Alamo,united in paying tribute to their Chairman and State Regent at a luncheon at the St.Anthony Hotel on March 1st. In eloquent speeches the final realization of their ideals,and those of the Texas pioneer who blazed the King's Highway into the Old San Antonio Road across the wilderness and plains of the Lone Star State,were eulogized. The Daughters presented the historic trail to the State in an impressive ceremony on March 2nd,at San Pedro Park.Fea- turing the dedication with a military and civic parade which formed at the St.Anthony Hotel at 2 :30 o'clock,on Navarro Street and its intersecting streets in the vicinity of Travis Park, the parade swung into Houston Street,headed by the Army Post Military Band,followed by a party composed of Major General Joseph T.Dickman,Major General James G.Harbord,Brig. General James G.Treat and an escort of soldiers.Following them were the speakers of the occasion,including Mrs.Lip- scomb Norvell,State Regent of the D.A.R.The two Chapter Regents,Mrs.Karan and Mrs.Hyman and staff officers,mem- bers of the D.A.R.and a number of local historical and civic organizations. Entering Houston Street from Navarro,the parade went west to Soledad,north on Soledad to San Pedro,and ihence io 264 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the park.The granite marker,one of the one hundred and twenty-three which designates the course of the old Trail,was placed in the western side of San Pedro Park.Here under the boughs of giant spreading age old oaks and stately palms the parade halted and the unveiling was held and the presentation of the road made to the State. A large canvas painted map of Texas,size 18x18 feet was framed at the bank of the grand stand,erected for the occasion, draped in bunting,with the road drawn in red,and the markers painted black,showing the route of road and the markers where placed across the State. As the flourish of trumpets pealed forth across the park, hundreds of soldiers and civilians advanced in a semi-circle around the monument.After the invocation,which was pro- nounced by Dr.Bertrand Stevens,there were several military features by the Army Post Band,bugle calls and a unison recita- tion of the soldiers allegiance to the flag,in the glorying of the nation,by blowing their noblest salute to the applauding skies. MRS.LIPSCOMB NORVELL State Chairman Old Trails Road Committee,Daughters of the American Revolution,March 2nd,1920 Madam Chairman and Fellow Citizens: For the Daughters of the American Revolution of Texas,I present this surveyed and marked trail to the State of Texas. The Daughters of the American Revolution is a Patriotic So- ciety of National scope numbering more than 100,000 members in the United States and more than 3,000 in Texas.The mem- bers of this organization being descendants of those brave and loyal men who fought and bled that liberty might live.One of the chief objects of this Society is to rescue from oblivion the heroic deeds and achievements of our nation builders,by the erection of appropriate and enduring monuments. The trails traveled by the pioneers of the nation in advanc- ing the boundaries of its western course,are now being marked and as Texas has made no memorial of her great step'in the march of extending her boundaries and seaboard settlements the Chairman of the Old Trails Committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Texas,suggested that the time had come when the King's Highway must not be neglected form- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 265 ing as it did,centuries ago,scenes of the most picturesque life in the great Southwest. The great historic King's Highway,stretching more than 600 miles from the Sabine river across this great Empire to the Rio Grande has seen the pageant of centuries.The birth of the Nation and the rise and fall of six flags.Worn and traveled by the bleeding feet of our heroic nation builders,it is a sacred heritage of our people that was fast becoming obliterated.First a path connecting the Indian Villages,then later~traveled by the explorers for Spain,enabling her to get control of her lands and keep out the French,for which purpose they built presidios and missions,along the Camino Real.This settled the ownership of Texas.Then afterwards it gave their successors the Mexi- cans,a chance to acquire a satisfactory government.Laid bare by the American pioneer with his axe when he became possessed with the desire to acquire newer and larger lands,then the Cami- no Real,Royal Highway,became the -old San Antonio Road, when it was used as a legal status for defining the boundary of Stephen Austin's colonists grants,and many of the trees are found standing as a witness to the survey of Austins,when made according to the law,giving the highway "The Old San Antonio Road"an official standing in the Texas Republic laws. It was ready for the Texas defenders when the first chal- lenge of the Texas Revolution was sounded at San Antonio.They rode into the tournament of history over this highway and pour- ed into her lap their valor and virtue,their talent and treasure, that the nation might triumphantly extend her arm to the great Southwest. The history of Texas is in a large part the history of the King's Highway,which was the greatest developing influence \ve had,causing as it did the East to overflow through Texas into that great unknown Southwest beyond. The Daughters of the American Revolution present the sur- veyedand marked trail King's Highway,Camino Real,or old San Antonio Road to the State of Texas. We dedicate this Highway as a tribute of loving memory to the intrepid pioneers. 266 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD DEDICATION OF A SURVEYED AND MARKED TRAIL KING'S HIGHWAY EL CAMINO REAL OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD On March 2nd,1920,an important ceremony took place in the City of San Antonio,Texas.A striking array of notables, men and women,all in their very best,and attended by soldiers from Camp Travis and Fort Sam Houston,some mounted on horses,some in automobiles,comprising men,women and chil- dren,led by an Army Band of music,took their way from the St.Anthony Hotel to San Pedro Park of the City. Here the Daughters of the American Revolution and the representatives of the State Governor in the broad shady meadow land before a larger monument,one of the many granite monu- ments,erected every five miles on a continuation of a long trail across Texas,and that reaches far into the past,with senti- mental unction there was recounted the achievements of the forefathers of the State,who had traveled the rugged path of hardship and danger to the heights of service,that we were the inheritors of their greatness and were remembering them by placing mile stones every five miles to carry the venerated in- scription "King's Highway,Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road" to reflect the splendor of their glorious deeds.When the terri- tory was under Royal rule and when the Americans came,win- ning the Republic of Texas,and the colonization of its lands, with such ceremonies as these,did the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution and the State of Texas,mark the leading of a project being second in importance to none of its kind ever un- dertaken in this country. The Daughters of the American Revolution of Texas pre- sented to the State on March 2nd,1920,the surveyed,marked and inspected trail over five hundred miles in length.Framed as a monument to the ages of Texis history,with a permanent chain of one hundred and twenty-three granite stones,erected every five miles,from the east to the west borders of the State to perpetuate man's struggle for advancement from which has sprung our civilization today. Maqam Vice President General,Madam State Regent and Daughters of the American Revolution: That we have already given out and away like love,it is bringing itself back.As you know,the rediscovering of the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 267 King's Highway,Camino Road or Old San Antonio Road,was an inspiration of a story told of this highway at the Conference of 1911,at Galveston,when our chairman was called upon to tell something of the historic spots in Texas and suggested that we memoralize the march of civilization toward the sundovm, across Texas,over this highway.To many of this marking of the trail was a sacred duty to parents and grand-parents who passed over it in the early days.Then when we began to map our work and to plan our course,it was like setting sail on an ocean so wide,when our craft was so small that we had to make many ports before we could return with that rarest treasure- the sunshine of your own giving and a work well done.The success of this work has been staying by the boat with courage and faith.The marking of the D.A.R.old Trails Road in Tex- as is now a permanent thing.Its record is shown through the early Texas explorers maps and diaries across the state of its having passed through all of the vicissitudes of its destiny in the conquering of the southwest as the highway of the country. First from Nachitoches,Louisiana,going into Texas,it con- nected the Indian Village tribes and when the explorers travel- ed it,coming up from Mexico,crossing the Rio Grande into Texas,they left a description of the country in traveling the main highway,the "Camino Road."When traveled by Morfi, the explorer,in 1778 in his diary across Texas;this diary was used in locating the road entirely below San Antonio to the Rio Grande. When the Americans came in from N achitoches,Louisiana, and Natchez,Mississippi,when their objective point was San Antonio,as that was the oldest and most noted settlement in the southwest-they realized the "Camino Real"into,by calling it "The Old San Antonio Road,"making this old Royal Highway, "Camino Real"figure in all of the old Texas histories,as the "Old San Antonio Road."The road that is found to have an "Official position in the early Texas laws and that fascinated the whole world,from "LaSalle"down,who visited the Hassinai Confederacy of Indians in Eastern Texas,for because the road led to somewhere,later it made civilization possible by becom- ing a part of the Texas destination in their path of experience, over its way to their missions,and the San Antonio Missions. Many of the early Empresario Grants lying along this high- way,when first surveyed,used this road as a boundary in de- fining the boundary of their grants,and when the counties, 268 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD through which the road ran,were created,the surveys of the road are found at the office of the State.With these surveys and Morfi's Diary,the road was surveyed and found to be one and the same road.Many of the trees across Central Texas along the highway still bear witness to Stephen F.Austin's sur- vey of the road. In a world where all work involves cooperation of one sort or another,the matter of influencing others was of vast im- portance.Then began the evolving of a working method to in- terest the State to secure an appropriation.Failing in this method of working was changed to soliciting funds from the D. A.R.Chapter,members and citizens of our State.The result was the securing of $2,544.00. Having had a systematic searching of the highway for its certified record,four hundred dollars of this amount was paid to Dr.W.E.Dunn of the State University to go to the Archives and prepare a map with its records complete,to locate the road definitely,everywhere,as one road:"Camino Real and San An- tonio Road." After auditing the progress of the work and to identify our work with the State,it was necessary to present and secure an appropriation for $5,000 to survey the road.This was accomp- lished by the State appointing Major V.N.Ziveley,C.E.,to survey the road by the records compiled by Dr.Dunn.Begin- ning at the eastern boundary,the Sabine river to the western boundary the Rio Grande,he was instructed to survey and place a post every five miles on the west banks of rivers,county boundary lines and cross roads across the State where the monu- ments were later to be erected.He placed 123 posts where were erected 123 monuments. Major Ziveley then made a leather bound book of his field survey,showing every inch of ground geometrically surveyed, with maps of the counties drawn on heavy indestructible paper, showing the meanderings of the road,where monuments are located and all of the historic spots and noted homes along the road are to be found. This book is not only of historic value but of material value as it was the power useful in opening up the west.It was lately used by a surveyor on examining the surveys of the road in Nacogdoches County,to settle and identify a boundary line of a grant,that the road figured in when making a transfer of a deed.Having only $2,144 for the monuments after the surveys CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 269 of the road was completed,and that amount not sufficient,it was again necessary to ask the State for 3n additional appro- priation.In conference with Governor Ferguson he agreed to recommend to the legislature in a called session,the sum of Three Thousand Dollars to finish the work. Three periodically planned bills were presented to the Legis- lature to secure the $8,000 appropriated.I always feel at a loss when I speak of what I have done.We know the things we really want,we must pay the price-the burning of midnight oil while others sleep.To accomplish this marking,the three peri- odical bills were put through the Legislature only with the aid of my husband and the $175.00 contributed towards the printing by the State conferences in the nine years.$50.00 at Dallas, $'25.00 at Fort Worth,$75.00 at Orange,all the other expenses have been borne by your chairman.The publishing of the book- let of the King's Highway,Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road, distributed to the Legislatures,Texas Chapters and given out at Continental Congress.Also the published story of "How Tex- as Gained Her Name"and the poem "The Search for the Great Kingdom of the Texas,"all written to create an interest in the road marking. I consider it has been a privilege to have traveled this D. A.R.road,because there has been helpfulness and good over every mile I have worked.It is the thing in aggressive living to know the road you are traveling intelligently. On last November your chairman reported to you that the 123 granite markers placed across the State by contract with Mr.Gooch had not been inspected,and since there were no funds in the State or D.A.R.treasury for inspecting and work,that I would assume the expense of the inspection,not being able to secure a man who would make the inspection trip for less than seven hundred dollars.I then had copies of the maps of the counties made from Mr.Zively's Book of Surveys of the .road,as surveyed by him,showing the number of markers in each county and where located.Enclosing a printed letter to all of the respective County Judges with a copy of Mr.Gooch's contract enclosed,asking them to co-operate by going out into their respective counties and inspecting the work and reporting back to me.I found the markers from Sabine river at Pendle- ton to Bexar County line were all accounted for and erected properly.Not hearing from the County Judge of Bexar Coun- ty at San Antonio,I wrote Mrs.Hyman who secured the services 270 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD of the city engineer to go with her and make the inspection. They reported nine markers not erected in concrete in Bexar County.The Elder Construction Company was re-Iet the con- tract to set the markers in concrete according to Mr.Gooch's contract at a cost of $20.00 per marker,making $180.00 sum total in Bexar County.In Dimmitt County,Judge Wilden thaI reported eight markers lying at Carrizo Springs station.Judge Wilden thaI,being a personal friend,secured the services of Mr. W.Barker,a civil engineer,who agreed to take Zively's survey of road and go and locate the Highway and find post and haul out the eight markers across Dimmitt and Maverick counties to the Rio Grande at a cost of $50.00 per marker-total $400.00. None of the markers in La Salle or Atascosa County had concrete foundations,and one had been turned over.Mr.W. Barker,under contract and making affidavit,has set all the markers in the two counties in concrete at a cost of $260.00. The one hundred and twenty-three granite markers are in place where they should be.They were all paid for out of the boulder fund contract.To pay for the concrete foundations in Bexar, La Salle,Dimmitt and Maverick counties,the amount $840.00, was deducted from Mr.Gouch's contract. At the time it was decided that the donor's names should not go on the markers as previously decided,and the inscriptions \vere to be uniform,there were some who seemed disappointed and I regretted it very much and said "When the work was finished I would refund the amount to them."Since all of the money went to the boulder contract,I gave my personal check for $84.00 to Mrs.H.P.Drough for her three markers.It was my desire to give the State and this fraternal organization a chance to subscribe to their high ideals,and to practice what they preach. Since the first proposed boundary line dedicated with Louis- iana could not be carried out on account of heavy rains and swamp roads,I enlisted the cooperation of the two Chapter Regents of the San Antonio de Bexar and the Alamo at San An- tonio,as also the Chamber of Commerce at San Antonio to co- operate to have the dedication in San Pedro Park,the site which gave birth to the city of San Antonio,through its two hundred years of growing,pilgrimages and adventure.Then your chair- man issued three hundred engraved invitations with booklet of programme enclosed,to our President General,National officers and State Regents,Texas Chapter Regents,County Judges where CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 271 the road ran,and the Departments of State and the leading newspapers of the State.On account of the influenza the date of the dedication was changed from February 21st to March 2nd,making Texas Independence Day a combined chapter offer- ing to the courage,bravery and valor,self-sacrifice,suffering and joy of the American Pioneer-pathfinder of the nation- who in the early days passed over this trail through Texas into that great unknown southwest. THE HEROIC AGE OF TEXAS HISTORY-THE DANGERS SURROUNDING THE EARLY SETTLERS IN THE IN- TERIOR,AND A GLANCE AT THE REPUBLIC The heroic age of Texas is hard to define,impossible to limit.It reaches back to the period of the first settlement of the French under the adventurous La Salle,along through the period of Mission building,when the Franciscan Fathers plant- ed their churches and other civilizing influences in the midst of wandering Indian tribes.These builders have been aptly styled uncrowned heroes,for the tale of their self sacrifice has never been told and never can be. The question arises,was St.Denis a hero,or merely an ambitious trader,when he fearlessly travelled the long,long trail from Nachitoches to Eagle Pass? Were not the followers of Magee,Kemper,Long and others, led by high ideals,which could become real,only on a virgin soil, such as Texas afforded?Their several expeditions resulted in failure,but they may have been none the less heroes,though the victor's crown was denied them. The waving banners and spreading pennons of the warrior as he pursues his splendid march,"like the sun with all his travelling glories around him,"are surest of the world's ap- plause,and will doubtless live longest in the world's admiration. But the quiet self denial and humble labors of the pioneer settler are not without their reward,even in this life and their trials and struggles are invested with a fascination for reflective minds.The pioneer settler of Texas made possible that most thrilling period of our history which through a succession of startling events reached its zenith in the revolution against Mexico. 272 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD The presence of large numbers of hostile Indians caused im- migrants to travel in companies until a suitable dwelling place having been reached,they clustered in cabins around a central fort or block house.Yet,even such timely precautions could not prevent terrible slaughter,such as befell Parker's Fort.Who has not heard of the capture of Cynthia Ann Parker and of her long sojourn with her Indian captors?This was but one in- stance among many,where women and children were carried away,while the rest of their families lay weltering in blood. I knew two brothers,Col.John R.and George Baylor,who served in the United States Army and with the Texas Rangers against the Indians.On one occasion they tracked the savages to their camping place,taking them completely by surprise. At the entrance of the Chief's tepee was a pole planted in the ground,and on its top was fixed a scalp of long blonde hair,a trophy from one of their villainous raids against a German set- tlement.No mercy was shown by the Baylors to these Indians, and the tresses of blonde hair,together with a few other trophies were eventually given to a lady of Houston for her cabinet of curios. The traditions of the vanguard of civilization along the old San Antonio Road,found in tragedies testifying to the daring character of men and women,who willed to risk their lives daily for the hazard of high adventure in unbroken wilds.Those who located on the upper Colorado paid a heavy toll in life and prop- erty,and the selection of Austin for the Capitol of the Republic of Texas in 1839,was severely criticized at the time;while it helped to inspire a feeling of safety abroad,it by no means pre- vented Indian raids right into the capital city. It was a common experience there to discover in the morn- ings that horse lots had been robbed of the best horses over night and to find Indian arrows scattered along the Avenue.In a spirit of bravado,the Indians,while escaping undiscovered with their rich loot,would tauntingly send parthian darts in showers along their path as if daring the citizens to pursue ~~. Tales of personal adventure and of eye witnesses to thrill- ing scenes,gathered together many years ago and compiled,; were regarded by Texas Veterans as well authenticated records. Among these I selected one,very familiar to old Texans,but comparatively unknown to the present generation.It tells of the dream or a woman and its influence in saving the life of a CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 273 --.victim of Indian cruelty.Sarah,the wife of Wm.Hornsby,was the dreamer.They lived in the wild unsettled region of the Colorado in the early thirties,on the very outskirts of the ex- plored country.Their home was a most hospitable one and sheltered many an adventurous young man who came to see the country.One morning in August,1833,fiv2 of their guests rode out over the cedar crowned hills;in the evening,two re- turned and reported a terrible fight with Indians in which their three companions had fallen,mortally wounded.The tale was accepted as literally true.But that night Mrs.Hornsby dream- ed that she saw Josiah Wilbarger,stripped of his clothing, scalped and severely wounded,but still alive.She awoke and told her husband that Wilbarger,one of the three reported dead,was alive.She then fell asleep and dreamed still more vividly of the same scene;she awoke,saying,"I know that Wil- bargeI'is not dead."She aroused her husband and the other men,had their coffee and breakfast ready at the peep of day" and urged them to start without delay for Wilbarger's relief. They found him alive at a short distance from his two dead companions,sitting at the root of a tree just as he appeared in the dream.He had arrow wounds in both legs,a bullet hole in the neck and cheek,besides the severe wound on the top of his head left by the scalping knife.They wrapped him in a sheet brought for this purpose,placed him on a horse,one of the men sitting behind to hold him in the saddle and in this way convey- ed him to the Hornsby home some six miles distant. Thus had the woman's dream come true.But,the expe- rience of the wounded man as related soon afterward by him,is still more remarkable.He said that as he lay under the oak tree,prone on the ground,he distinctly saw,standing near him the spirit of his sister,Margaret Clifton,who,it was afterward learned,had died the day before in Florissant Street,Louis County,Missouri;she said to him,"Brother Josiah,you are too weak to go by yourself.Remain here and friends will come to take care of you before the setting of the sun."She then moved away in the direction of the Hornsby home.This wonderful vision,connected with the dream of Mrs.Hornsby,made a strong impression on the men there,and became the subject of discus- sion far and near,no one questioning their truth for no families were held in higher esteem than those who vouched for them. I ten the tale as it was told to me,by people who lived in Texas at that time,and as I have read it in recOl'ds,believed to 274 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD be authentic.Although Wilbarger's scalp wound never entirely healed,he lived eleven years after this terrible tragedy and left a widow and children,some of whose descendants became prom- inent,and are living today.\Vilbarger County commemorates his name.The tree under which he was found was fully identi- fied and for many years was pointed out to travellers on the road leading from Austin to Manor.The Hornsby family was one of prominence and no place in the vicinity of Austin was more beautifully situated than theirs. Immigration to Texas greatly increased after annexation, but travel over the vast prairies was slow and beset with many perils,months were spent on the road and San Antonio was often the goal.Disappointment often awaited immigrants on ar- rival there-as they failed to realize the city of their fond ex- pectation.Instead,they saw only low brow ed,windowless, chimneyless rows of adobe walls,the crumbling ruins of the Alamo,relics of Spanish grandeur in dismantled churches and swarthy Mexicans wrapped in serapes and mantillas,threading the narrow winding streets.But they soon learned to know and love the splendid warm hearted people from the States,who lived within some of those sad looking plain dwellings. Would you learn of life in San Antonio in those early times, then read the memoirs of Mrs.Maverick in "San Antonio de Bexar,"by 'William Corner. Time fails me to relate the thrilling events which crowd the calendar of the period of the revolution.Heroism was every- where,and expressed itself not only in rapid,telling action,but often in more forceful laconic language than Sparta ever phrased. Gonzales in response to a demand for her cannon,anRwered by a lone star flag under the four words "Come and take it."Milam led his volunteers with the clarion cry,"Who will follow Old Ben Milam into San Antonio?"And what more classic,more beau- tifully expressive of supreme sacrifice than "Thermopylae had its messenger of defeat the Alamo had none."Fannin's mas- sacre was too stupendously tragic for words to express.Hu- manity sickens at its mention,even now and then it called so loudly for vengeance that San Jacinto hastened to respond with its victorious battle cry,"Remember the Alamo,Remember Goliad I"The smoke of battle cleared away and clamors arose for vengeance.They became more and more insistent.But to the credit of our wise leaders,both military and civil,be it said,they refused to stain the fair fame of the young republic CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 275 with the blood of a prisoner of war.They realized the truth of that time honored phrase "All that most endears glory is when the myrtle wreathes the sword 1" Heroism likewise had its place in the convention hall at Washington on the Brazos;surrounded as the chosen delegates were by hourly increasing dangers,what cool judgment,what sublime courage was theirs 1 Only such virtues could have held them steadily at their task during those dark,momentous seventeen days of March.Their completed work showed a political structure which stood strong,and stood honorably among the nations during ten years of fiery trial.The causes which led Texas to relinquish her proud position are well known. But there is an elegant terse description of her manner of pass- ing and blending her lone star with the galaxy of a kindred gov- ernment worthy of repetition here.It was written by Mrs.Jane Gray,widow of Judge Peter W.Gray,and read by her at my home in Houston on the occasion of a celebration of March 2, 1893.Since we are here mingling the celebration of two im- portant events in Texas history,the marking of the Old San Antonio Road and the eighty-fourth anniversary of the Inde- pendence of Texas,the words of Mrs.Gray,seem an appropriate close for this address.It runs thus:"The day we celebrate dear ladies is a birthday that of a princely maiden,whom I will call a Republican queen,if I may be permitted to do so.Her birth was hailed with joy,not only by the United States but by the leading powers of Europe.England,France,Belgium and Holland sent their greetings and in the form of treaties,recog- nized her independence and power.I can never forget one pleasure in my girlhood when I was permitted by a friend to hold in my hands and examine the treaties sent by Belgium and Hol- land.They were folio books of vellum,bound in rich velvet, one in blue and gold,the other in scarlet and silver,each hav- ing attached the large seal in gold and silver cases with tassels and cords.To my inexperienced eyes they were the most gorgeous and precious works of art I had ever seen. "Like all young republics,this young maiden was born amid strife and contest,but added to this our maiden was cradled in privation and subjected to trials of every kind.No purple and fine linen for her.Yet amidst all this she could proudly lift up her head among the nations of the earth.She was supported, sustained and defended by highborn men of culture and refine- ment,who have left their impress upon her character for all 276 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD time.Her life was full of thrilling events familiar to some of the ladies present,which events have turned the fate and made the prosperity and advancement of this Western Continent.But this high souled maiden only lived to be ten years old. "That was a brilliant and perfect day in winter,still fresh in my memory when with a goodly company assembled on the spacious veranda of the log built Capitol at Austin,we saw the Lone Star banner floating once more over our heads. At the close of those momentous ceremonies this banner was gently,by loving hands,pulled down from the staff,and with regretful hearts and tearful eyes we heard the fiat pro- nounced by his Excellency,President Anson Jones."The Re- public of Texas is no more." But,we,her loyal daughters,will do our best to keep the bright star of her memory shining in the front and while we live its lustre shall not fade.I feel confident that an overruling power who controls all events will allow some of us to see a monument erected worthy to perpetuate the memory of those brave heroes who lived and died that this fair maiden might live.Did ever so short a life as hers accomplish a mission so great and wonderful? ADELE B.LOOSCAN President Texas State Historical As- sociation. CAMINO REAL (Old San Antonio Road) By J.D.FAUNTLEROY State Highway Engineer (Written 1920) mSTORICAL It is probable that the Camino Real has been used as a road or trail for many centuries.The fact that its location through- out the eastern portion of its route largely follows the water- sheds between the rivers,that on the western portion the points of crossing many of the large streams of the state appear to have been well selected,and that throughout its length it crosses these streams above tide water,would lead us to believe that this CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 277 old road was an Indian trail long before the Chevalier Saint Denis came over it in 1715.There is a local legend to the ef- fect that in 1687 La Salle was kiIIed near where this road crosses the Neches river. The names of the rivers,towns or viIIages along this road bear testimony to the different r~ces that have at different times occupied the country.For example,in Louisiana are many French names but after leaving the Louisiana line we find,applied to water coures,such Spanish names as HSabaniIIo,""Carrizo," "Atascosa,""Borago,""San Pedro,""Guadalupe,"etc.We also find streams with Indians names as "Ayish,"HAttoyac," "Neches,"etc.,and the town of HNacogdoches,"and of later origin,scattered all along the highway,are many towns,cities, ranches,as well as smaller streams which bear American names, not forgetting that the sturdy German settlers have also made settlements along this road,as is testified to by such names as "Neiderwald,""Uhland,""New Braunfels,"etc. Dating back to the earliest days of American occupancy, we find such homely names as "Pine Springs"(Old Stage Sta- tion),"Granny's Branch,""Cobb's Creek Town,""Rock Fort," "Stone City,""Dime Box,""East Plum Creek,"etc. It also brings back to us very vividly bygone days when we got past the old site of the "Elisha Roberts Tavern"in San Augustine County,built in 1827 and the "Old Stone Fort"at Nacogdoches which recalls the days when the Spanish Governor at this point held sway over a territory larger than many of our present states.Also,when we go by Alto,we recall that this was a battlefield where the American settlers in 1832 de- feated the Mexican army and took them all prisoners.It is rendered even more interesting when we realize that these Am- ericans were at that time fighting to uphold the Mexican Gov- ernment.Also in this section was fought the Fredonian War when Austin's troops upheld the Mexican authority and subdued Edward's revolutionists and their Cherokee allies. We cannot help but feel a sense of curiosity as to who were these strange people who built the old prehistoric mounds,which this road passes by in Cherokee County,and we must needs be interested in the deep waters of Treasure Lake in Cherokee County and the Legends which cluster around it. It is also interesting to realize the part which this oid high- way played in the early settlement of the country by the Amer- icans,for '\"lefind that many grants of iand bordered on this old 278 CAMINO REAIr--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD highway,and it seems that many of the settlers followed this highway westward and staked out claims along the old Camino Real and bordering on it.Thus,the exact location of the road in many localities is very carefully recorded,though at the pres- ent,in places,it has ceased to be a highway and is now in culti- vated fields. The old strongly built houses serve to recall to our minds that the life of these early settlers was one of hardship and danger and that their houses were built,not only to withstand the elements,but frequently to serve as forts in case of sudden attacks by hostile Indians.A fitting example of this type of home is the George Dunne Mansion in Robertson County,often referred to as Dunne's Fort.As a reminder of modern progress and of the changes which have come over the country,we might mention that the old road passes in South Texas by Catarina Ranch of 226,000 acres,owned by Mrs.Anna S.Taft. It seems to us very strange to read the legal documents of those times and to find that many of them are written in Span- ish and still stranger to find Spanish titles prefixed to good English names;as for example,"Alcalde,"Harris,"el empre- sario"Austin,etc.It is also worthy of note that many of the older land grants do not allow measurements in "rods,""poles" or "chains,"but make mention of "varas."It seems that the early American settlers,having in mind future development, desired to secure large tracts of land,but the Spanish officials said "No more to anyone than 177 acres,because that is as much as he can work by his own labor.""But"said the Americans, "We need more land for our cattle.""Oh!"said the Spaniards, "Then you can have a league of land additional,"so many of the old titles call for "A league and labor,"the square league being equal to 4424 acres. So well was the old road known that it was considered as a sufficient definition of the boundary of a county to say that its northern or southern limit was the old Camino Real.We thus find that it forms the boundary line between Leon and Madison counties and also between Robertson and Brazos counties. Father Morfi who visited the San Antonio Missions about 1778,reported near the Rio Grande "This is the place where the Apaches killed several men recently."Somewhat farther on he again mentioned "Here we counted 103 skeletons,supposed to be Apaches."The site of the old fort where the Parker family was massacred in Houston County is near this road.The battle CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 279 fields of Salado and San Antonio border this road and it passes by the "Alamo"whose history is dear to the heart of every Tex- an.It is probable that if the old road could but speak,it would tell of hundreds of similar incidents which have taken place along its length in many long years during which it has served as a highway for man and beast. Anyone studying the history of the road cannot fail to be impressed by the important part it played in the development of the country.Over it there have passed painted Indians and hopeless captives,bare footed friars,Spanish soldiers,sturdy American settlers,troops of the Republic of Mexico,of the Con- federate Army and of the U.S.Government.Along its route Indian battles have been fought,people have been massacred and much blood has been shed,but we are glad to believe that also this old road has contributed much to human happiness,and in the homes alongside of it there have been instilled not only the deep ties of friendship and of love,but also of the purest patriotism. We must not fail to mention the Chevalier St.Denis,that gallant young Frenchman who,with a mere handful of troopers and Indians,made the trip from Natchitoches,Louisiana,to the Rio Grande river for the purpose of opening up trade relations, and who after a cordial reception by the Spanish Governor was sent as a prisoner to Mexico City,but eventually was released, eloped with the daughter of the Spanish Governor,and returned to Louisiana where he governed with absolute sway for many years,taking a special delight in sending his traders into the forbidden territory of Texas.This roused the Spaniards to ac- tion,and the founding of the mission at San Augustine,and the establishment of the fort at Nacogdoches were made primarily for the purpose of stopping this French trade,but it didn't stop it,and from the letters which St.Denis and the various Span- ish Governors hurled at each other,we would infer that they were almost at daggers drawn,but later when we hear of a gal- lant party of young Frenchmen,headed by St.Denis'nephew, coming to Nacogdoches where this young Frenchman married the daugnter of the Spanish Governor,we are inclined to believe that this fierce epistlatory combat was only a bluff. GENERAL ROUTE At the present time the old Camino Real in Texas follows State Highway No.21 through Sabine,San Augustine,Nacog- 280 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD doches,Cherokee and Houston counties.From the border of Houston County to Caldwell in Burleson County it is not a desig- nated State Highway.From Caldwell to Giddings in Lee Coun- ty,it apparently follows State Highway No.21.From Giddings in Lee County to Bastrop in Bastrop County,it is not a desig- nated State highway.From Bastrop to about 15 miles west,it follows State Highway No.3-A,and from that point to San Mar- cos it is not a designated State Highway.From San Marcos to San Antonio it follows State Highway No.2,and from San An- tonio,south almost to McMullen County and thence west through Frio,LaSalle,Dimmitt and Maverick counties to the Rio Grande river it does not follow a designated highway. Sections of the old highway have been improved in San Augustine,Nacogdoches,Houston,Bastrop,Comal,Guadalupe and Bexar counties. It is worthy of note that this highway in its course crosses the following rivers,viz.:Sabine,Attoyac,Angelina,Neches, Trinity,Navasota,Brazos,Colorado,San Marcos,Guadalupe,San Antonio,Atascosa,Frio and the Rio Grande. IMPORTANCE OF THE ROAD This road was very vital to Spanish Sovereignty because it served to connect eight missions scattered between the Rio Grande and the Sabine rivers with the center of Spanish au- thority in Mexico,not to mention that it also served to connect a provincial Governor at Nacogdoches with the Governor of the State of Coahuila.It also passes in Burleson County by the cor- ner stone of Stephen F.Austin 5 miles survey. TRAFFIC OVER THE ROAD In the earlier days it is probable that this road was only used by Indians for the purpose of inter-tribal barter,for migra- tions to hunting fields or for purposes of war,and,as before the coming of the white man the Indian had no pack animals" it is likely that for a long period of time,probably covering cen- turies,the "Camino Real"was only used as a foot path. With the coming of the Spaniards,it is likely that it came into use as a pack trail,and it is an actual fact that although the mesquite tree is not indigenous much farther east than Bas- trop County in Texas,yet,clumps of mesquite trees are found all along the old San Antonio Road,even into Louisiana.These GEX.JAMES G.HCBBARD CAMP TRAVIS CF:X CHAS.G.TREAT FT.SAM HOlTSTOX CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ltOAD 281 bear testimony to the fact that the Spaniards utilized to a large extent the mesquite beans as feed for their pack mules,and when they left those sections of the State where mesquite flourished they piled onto their pack animals sacks filled with mesquite beans to serve as food on the way to Louisiana,and probably each cluster of mesquite trees marks the site of some old camping ground. With the coming of the American settlers,the Camino Real came into general use as an ox wagon road,and for 40 years or more this was the prevailing method of transPorting goods into Texas.Later came the mule weapons,and now there are sec- tions of this old road which are improved as modern up-to-date auto roads.Indeed if the old fathers who built the missions of San Jose,Conception and La Espada would aWake and stand in the door of their respective churches,they probably would be astonished beyond measure,instead of pack animals to which they were accustomed to see high powered automobiles go whizzing by. PROGRAM SUNDAY,MARCH 2nd,1920 Mrs.Harry Hyman,Honorary State Regent,Presiding Bugle CaIL nBuglers,Houston and Travis Army Post In voca tion Dr.Bertrand S.Stevens Onward Christian Soldiers ummm Army Post Band Salute to the Colors nBuglers,Houston and Travis Army Post Allegiance to the Flag m u Recited in Unison Our Countries'Flag m___m Double Quartette Greetings: City of San Antonio mm Mayor lIon.Sam C.Bell Chamber of Commerce m m Hon.J.B.Carrington The Alamo Chapter m Mrs.Harry Hyman Honorary State Regent The San Antonio De Bexar: Chapter m___mMrs.Claude Keeran,Regent, President General of Texas Hail Columbia m m m Army Post Band Addresses:. Our Country m u Gen.Jos.T.Dickman Director of Southern Division 282 CAMINO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Our Colonists m u Gen.Chas.G.Treat Ft.Sam Houston The East and the West_m Gen.James G.Harboard Camp Travis America,The Beautiful m Double Quartette Presentation to the State of Texas,the surveyed and marked trail-the King's Highway,Camino Real or Old San An- tonio Road. Unveiling of Monument m m__m_Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Texas Chairman,Old Trails Committee The Star Spangled Banner Army Post Band Placing a wreath as a loving tribute to our pioneer men and wo- men by the Alamo and the San Antonio De Bexar Chapters. The Pioneer of Our State_m Mrs.Adele M.Looscan President Texas Historical Society Am erica m Army Post Band Dedication and Acceptance of Trail for the State of Texas by the Hon.Norman G.Kittrell,Judge of Court of Civil Appeals, Austin. Benediction m m m Rev.A.Frank Smith REJOICING IN THE COMPLETION OF A PATRIOTIC TASK (San Antonio Express,1920) Rejoicing in the completion of a patriotic task,which has enlisted the untiring zeal of the Chairman of the Daughters in Texas,the two local Chapters,the San Antonio De Bexar and the Alamo,united in paying tribute to their Chairman and State Regent at a luncheon at the St.Anthony Hotel on March 1st.In eloquent speeches the final realization of their ideals,and those of the Texas pioneer who blazed the King's highway into the Old San Antonio Road across the wilderness and plains of the Lone Star State,were eulogized. The Daughters presented the historic trail to the State in an impressive ceremony on March 2nd,at San Pedro Park.Fea- turing the dedication with a military and civic parade which formed at the St.Anthony Hotel at 2 :30 o'clock on Navarro Street and its intersecting streets in the vicinity of Travis Park, the parade swung into Houston Street,headed by the Army Post Military Band,followed by a party composed of Major General Joseph T.Dickman,Major General James G.Harbord,Brig. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 283 General James G.Treat and an escort of soldiers.Following them were the speakers of the occasion,including Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,State Regent of the D.A.R.The two Chapter Regents, Mrs.Karan and Mrs.Hyman and staff officers,members of the D.A.R.and a number of local historical and civic organizations. Entering Houston Street from Navarro,the parade went west to Soledad,north on Soledad to San Pedro,and thence to the park.The granite marker,one of the one hundred and twenty-three which designates the course of the old trail,was placed in the western side of San Pedro Park.Here under the boughs of giant spreading age old oaks and stately palms the parade and the unveiling was held an_d the presentation of the road made to the State. A large canvas painted map of Texas,size 18x18 feet was framed at the back of the grand stand,erected for the occasion, draped in bunting with the road drawn in red,and the markers painted black,showing the route of road and the markers where placed across the state. As the flourish of trumpets pealed forth across the park, hundreds of soldiers and civilians advanced in a semi-circle around the monument.After the invocation,which was pro- nounced by Dr.Bertrand Stevens,there were several military features by the Army Post Band,bugle calls and a unison recita- tion of the soldiers allegiance to the flag,in the glorying of the nation,by blowing their noblest salute to the applauding skies. BEAUMONT WOMAN HONORED Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell has received a letter from the Am- erican Defense Society,which has its headquarters in New York City asking her to enter membership. The purpose of this society is to interest the people in the question of national preparedness.Its president is the Hon. David Jayne Hill,ex-ambassador to Berlin,and the vice presi- dent is the Hon.Perry Belmont.On the advisory board are Hon.Charles J.Bonaparte,Theodore Roosevelt,William S.Mc- Comb and others. The nucleus of the Woman's National Committee has been formed with the following among its members:Mesdames Wil- liam Cummings Storey,Robert Lansing,John Hayes Hammond, Simon Baruch,Charles S.Whitman,William Fall,Jr. 284 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD In each state is to be established a Women's State Board of the American Defense Society. D.A.R.American Defense Committee is a national one of the Society. MRS.CLAUDIA NORVELL HONORED BY U.S.GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION (Beaumont Enterprise) If there is anyone whom Beaumont should delight to honor it is Mrs.Claudia Norvell,who is really the originator of the idea of the old San Antonio Road being made a great State High- way,and who has stayed with the project through its hard fought days and who will continue with it until it is made one of .the important highways of Texas from State line to State line.The San Antonio Road is now in condition to be carried to completion,many of the gaps being now joined up,and only a few remaining not as yet open and improved.Mrs.Norvell will "stay on the job"until this historic old highway is com- pleted,is as well built as any highway in Texas,and is beauti-,fied as a historic highway deserves. A recent letter from Mrs.Norvell carried the little sentence "we will beautify our highway."Notice that word "we will." And also notice that she says "Our highway."Mrs.Norvell feels a personal interest in this road and if any person deserves to have that feeling surely she does.It was at her constant personal efforts that the stone markers were placed along the old road every five miles across the state.It was largely through her efforts that the legislature passed the bill making it a state highway,and placing it in a class to itself,being the one road in Texas established by legislative enactment. But her efforts in the interest of this great highway did not end when the Legislature passed the law.Nor have they ceased now that the road is practically built,with the exception of a few gaps along the line.She will not stop until this road is made one of the beauty spots of Texas,with parks laid out at intervals along the route,with the various historic spots along the line marked out and beautified,until it becomes the im- portant thing in any sightseer to visit the points of interest along the historic and beautifui Old San Antonio Road,"E! Camino Real,"the royal highway of a land over which has flown the flags of not fewer than six different nations. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 285 In a recent letter to Mrs.Norvell,the director general of the United States Good Roads Association,J.A.Rountree of Birmingham,Alabama,says:. "In the name of the United States Good Roads Associa- tion we desire to thank you most cordially for the splendid part you have played in making the convention of the United States Good Road .Association,October 11,12,13 in Beaumont,such a success. "Your presentation of the flag of Texas was wonderful.It was the talk of the convention.We are going to feature you at the 1934 convention. "The only regret that I have is that you were not photo- graphed with the Indian Boy Scouts and flags.If you should put on this feature again soon,please have a picture taken and send it to me." From the Beaumont Enterprise the following clippings will give further idea of the position Mrs.Norvell holds in the move- ment for good roads,and it is well for Normangee readers to remember that the first and foremost pet of Mrs.Norvell is the Old San Antonio Road,which she hopes to have completed in time for the great 1936 Centennial celebration. In the Beaumont Sunday Enterprise appears a large pic- ture of Mrs.Norvell,and the following item regarding her: Mrs.Claude W.Norvell of Beaumont,for many years in- terested in the roads of the nation and Texas and a prominent member and officer of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion,will bring a greeting in the name of Texas at the opening session of the United States Good Roads Association conven- tion here October II. Mrs.Norvell's talk will be based on the symbol of the word HTexas,"which in the Indian denotes "friendship." Mrs.Norvell will tell of Texas while banner holders dressed as Indians,carry aloft six gorgeous silk flags of the nations that Texas has lived under. Mrs.Norvell has been with the National Ocean to Ocean Highway Association for 15 years,district vice-president of the Southwestern territory.Through her efforts,the State of Tex- as resurveyed the King's Highway,Camino Real or Old San An- tonio Road,across Central Texas,and marked it with 128 granite monuments,spaced every five miles.The road today has been put through the Legislature and designated a state highway. Now its goal is to be the Texas Centennial Highway. 286 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Mrs.Claudia Norvell of the Eden Hotel has been officially notified of her appointment as a member of the National High- way Beautification Commission,which makes her ex-officio chairman of the Texas commission,United States Good Roads Association. A member of the Texas Commission is to be selected for each congresisonal district.Already appointments for five dis- tricts have been made as follows:Mrs.N.A.Sanderson,Tex- arkana,first;Mrs.W.P.H.McFadden,Beaumont,second;Mrs. W.'V.Turner,Webster,seventh;~irs.J.W.Fincher,Houston; Mrs.Frank Sorrell,San Antonio,fourteenth. Mrs.Norvell will recommend appointments for the other Texas districts and these will be approved by the executive council. Mrs.Norvell took an active part in the national convention of the Good Roads Association held here a few weeks ago.She is planning the first highway beautification project to be taken up in this section,which will be the Beaumont-Port Arthur road.Several local women's organizations have pledged their support in this work. Report made at the 21st Annual Convention of the United States Good Roads Association by Luis Cuevas,Mexico,D.F., Civil Engineer,Chief of the Department of Projects and Con- struction of Mexico.Title of address "Relations of Highways in Mexico and the United States." r shall confine my remarks to the progress made thus far in the construction of highways in Mexico.It can be said in Mexico the real and effective construction of highways was started in 1925 as a National Highway Commission was created by decree of March 30th,1925. During the first six years,the National Highway Commis- sion made roads by contracts and directly and some roads on ac- count of the nearness to the capital of the Republics have been finished.These highways were from Mexico City to Toluca,to Cuerna Vaca,to Pachuca,to Puebla and other stretches of roads of the Laredo-Mexico Highway of the Mexico-Acapulco and Mexico-Guadalaj ara were finished. From that day on the National Highway Commission was created Mexico has been very interested in the construction of highways but especially the road from Mexico to Laredo and has made every possible effort to finish it as quickly as possible. It is very well knovm that the highway to Mexico is not CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 287 transportable all the year.Therefore,for the purpose of assur- ing the traveling public with an all-year-round highway,it was necessary to construct 280 kilo.(195 miles)of gravel base course,3 meters (10 feet)wide during the month of May,June and July of the present year.This work was done between a little town named Tamazunchale and Rio Guayalejo which was impassable during the rainy season.Unfortunately,the rainy season this year has been unusually heavy as it has never been before experienced and naturally causing great damage. Now all damages are being repaired,and we hope that in one or two months all the highway will be transportable.The actual conditions as far as construction is concerned of the Laredo Highway. Embankments,cuts and culberts finished from Mexico City to San Vicente Km 230,from Km 230 to Matlapa Km 378 is built only half way of the roadway section with provisional cul- berts but now we are widening it to its full section.From Km 378 to Laredo Km 1228 embankments,cuts,culberts and most of the bridges are nearly finished.In this section from Tama- zunchale Km 370 to Valles KM 480 only four additional bridges are yet to be constructed.At present all traffic is handled of lighters. The base course is finished from Mexico City to Km 180 and from Km 180 to Rio Guayalejo Km 650 is built 3 meter wide base course.From this last point to Laredo the base course is finished. The Laredo Road is well under way having finished to pave- ment of 450 KM (280 miles),consider 315 Km on the Northern part of Laredo to Montemorelos and 135 Km from Mexico City to Km 135. As previously stated we are putting forth every possible effort towards the completion of the Laredo-Mexico City High- way. I said before Mexico is building a road system of highways throughout the entire Republic and it being of vital importance to construct highways as quickly as possible,as there is no doubt that in our days,the advancement of a country depends on the number of highways constructed,a practical plan was studied to construct many kilometers of highways in a short time. Therefore the President of the Republic wishing to raise a road-building spirit in the different States of Governments is- sued a decree which created the Federal Aid by means of which, 288 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the National Highways Direction was authorized to give equal amount of money as the different States would provide for the building of roads in their States,which roads are first approved by the National Highway Direction. It is specified,in said Decree,that regulations should be made by the Secretary of Communications and Public Works and so,especial roads were given to have the different local Gov- ernments subject to them,and in this way,they would be able to obtain Federal Aid. According to both,the Presidential Decree and the Regula- tions,three principal points were specified,so that the States could obtain this aid. (1st)Amounts to be given to the Federal Government to the different States. (2nd)Steps should be taken by the States in order to ob- tain the Federal aid. (3rd)Technical direction and accurate control of amounts given both by Federal Governments and the States. In regard to the first point,it is stated that roads should be divided in two groups:National and local highways. For National Highways,Federal Government provides as much money as the States do,until the road in construction is entirely surfaced with a base course as well as bridges.These bridges being of no more than 50 meters (150 feet)span.The pa ving and bridges of more than 50 meters span,corresponds to Federal Government exclusively. For local highways,both the Governments and the States provide the same amount of the whole construction of the road. As far as the second point is concerned,the main conditions to be fulfilled by the States,to get the Federal aid,are as fol- lows: The organization of a local road-building committee in charge of the works and control of funds assigned to the road,previous- ly approved.This committee should be formed at least by a representative of the local government,a representative of the local Chamber of Commerce,and another member in the name of auto transporting company,and finally,by an engineer as sole representative of the Federal Government and of the Sec- retary of Communications and Public Works,who is to be the technical director of the works. As soon as the committee,as stated above,is already formed a plan for a total construction of one road must be submitted, CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 289 and at the same time,it is necessary to certify before the Na- tional Highway Direction,by means of the Income Law,that the State is able to afford the money for total construction of the road,or at least,the necessary amount supposed to be spent during the fiscal year,the same amount to be given by Federal Government. The third point relative to the technical direction of the works,it is specified it will be in charge of the National High- way Direction representative exclusively,who rules his sound opinion taking into consideration the National Highway specifi- cations,which have been modified in regard to the transversal section,in as much as the main idea when forming the Federal aid was to build as many transportable kilometers as possible, leaving for the time being,the widening of the road,as the needs of traffic will require it. The transversal sections,approved for roads considered in the Federal aid,are as follows:Six meters (18 feet)wide,in plain regions,and 5 meters (15 feet)wide in mountainous re- gions.In both cases four meters of surfacing should be made. According to this idea,it is also specified that bridges,culverts and pipes be built in a provisional way,and in some cases,when- ever it may be possible,make ford passes in some rivers. In naming the representative of the S.O.P.W.as sole technical director of the roads,it has been possible to follow,in the most faithful way,the specifications ruling the building of roads,considered in the Federal aid. As far as money control and administrative organization is concerned,the local roadbuilding committee is supposed to ren- der a monthly detailed report of the expenses made with both the money given by the Federal Government and by the State. There are,of course,special drastic punishment for those local committees not complying accordingly. The Decree in question was enthusiastically received by the different governments,and 24 states of the 28 forming the Mexican Republic accepted to second the idea,and immediately they formed their local committees submitting for the approval of the National Highway Commission the construction of sev- eral roads,tending to form a system throughout the country. The Federal aid started work in an effective way the first of January,1933,with very satisfactory results,as up to the third of August this year there has been constructed about 900 kilometers of earth work,254 kms.of which were surfaced with 290 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD very low cost to the Federal Government in spite of the many difficulties that were encountered at the initiation of the new organization.Besides it was necessary to spend large amounts in order to buy the necessary construction equipment for those States which did not have any. On the other hand,in establishing the Federal aid the se- rious problem of unemployment has been solved more or less, in as much as in the construction of roads,throughout the Re- public more than 10,000 men were put to work. According to the data rendered now,it may be observed that the different States of the Republic have estimated a large amount of money for next year and therefore,it is expected the Federal aid will raise about 50 per cent more than the amount spent this year. Now that I have exposed to you the most important activi- ties of the National Highway Direction,I think you have under- stood very well,that when the Laredo-Mexico Highway is fin- ished and also the road system we are now constructing by means of the Federal aid the United States will be connected directly with any part of the Mexican Republic.The Mexico-Laredo Highway will be a link between Mexico and the United States and besides in the system of roads to be built by Federal aid we are also constructing another link;A National highway from Nogales to Merida passing by Mexico City. I hope that very soon we can tell you that the Mexico-La- redo Highway is at least an all-round-year road and when this happens the friendly relations now existing between Mexico and the United States will be further expanded through the in- creased interchange of tourists traveling. OLD KING'S HIGHWAY JOINS PRESENT TO ROMANTIC PAST Conceived by adventurous Frenchman as Bond of Trade Union between richest colonies of France and Spain in New World,it was actually established as a means to keep apart hy King of Spain,1691. The following historical sketch dealing with the events woven about the establishing of the old King's Highway,or EI Camino Real,one of the most famous highways of the South- west,was written by Rev.George Louis Crocket,rector of Christ church,San Augustine,Texas.The old Texas town of San CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 291 Augustine itself lies in a part of East Texas that has figured in an intimate way in the trend of events that mark the passing of history since the early days of pathfinders and trailbreakers. By George Louis Crocket. The King's Highway,El Camino Real,stretches across the State of Texas from Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande to the old mission Adaes near Robeline,Louisiana,a distance of some four hundred miles.It also stretches back into the past for 200 years in a right royal period of romance and adventure,and was trod by chevaliers and dons,monks and missionaries,representing the conflicting claims of two of the greatest kingdoms of the time.It was conceived as a commercial bond of union between the richest colonies of France and Spain in the new world,hut was actually established as a means to keep them definitely and forever apart.It was witnessed the solemn ceremonial of ec- clesiastical processions and the pomp of religious ritual intend- ed to win the hearts of the aboriginal savages,and has also re- sounded to the tramp of armed legions calculated to over-awe their hostility.Along its course have swept back and forth revolution and repression,the rudely armed levies of liberty and the trained soldiery of tyranny,wresting for the possession of one of the fairest provinces under the sun.Over it have passed both devoted self-denial in the service of the cross and licen- tious rapine in the pursuit of pleasure and lawless gain.And finally it became the artery of peaceful commerce and of the social intercourse of a civilized people. In 1714 Sieur Pouis Juchereau de Saint Denis,a Frenchman of noble birth,who had led an adventurous life on the upper Mississippi and the Great Lakes,was engaged in the service of Antonie Crozat,the newly appointed governor of Louisiana. Crozat had received the governorship as a commercial venture, having been granted a monopoly of the trade of Louisiana for fifteen years.He therefore listened willingly to the proposal of Saint Denis to open an overland trade route from the Miss- issippi river to the Spanish province of Mexico,and gave him a commission to explore the route and negotiate a treaty with the Spanish authorities.Saint Denis,after spending some time in preparation for his journey,finally sailed up the Red river to the new post of Natchitoches,and from there struck out boldly across the unchartered wilderness in a search of his goal,with a company of twenty-four men under his command.He appears 292 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD to have spent about six months with the Texas Indians on the Angelina river,where he found the memories of La Salle's pres- ence in that region some thirty years before,and also of Father Hidalgo,a Spanish monk who had spent several years among the Indians and to whom they were very much attached.At last in the autumn of 1714 they took their departure,accom- panied by a troop of Indians,in search of Father Hidalgo,who was reported to be at the mission of San Juan Bautista on the Rio Grande.After passing the Brazos they encountered a band of hostile Indians and defeated them,after which most of the party turned back,while Saint Denis,with a few companions pushed on and reached the Rio Grande early in 1715. The commandante at San Juan Bautista,Don Diego Ramon, must have been considerably amazed at this sudden apparition of a vivacious Frenchman dropping almost miraculously out of the wilderness.He was compelled by the Spanish law to put him under arrest,but he seems to have been not unfriendly to his project and permitted him to go to Mexico City to interview the viceroy.We can not go into the details of Saint Denis'adven- tures in Mexico.Suffice it to say that his main proposition was soon abandoned,because the Spanish government held a jealous monopoly of all trade in Mexico and was unwilling to admit a rival.However,he so impressed the authorities as to induce them to establish a combined mission and military post on the Louisiana border,where they might keep watch on these in- domitable French explorers.Captain Domingo Ramon,son of the commandante,was placed in charge of the expedition.Saint Denis,like a true adventurer of romance,had fallen in love with the beautiful granddaughter of Don Diego and had married her, and now went with the expedition as guide to pilot them to the land of the Texas.With them went twelve friars from the rival colleges of Queretaro and Zacatecas,the latter under Father Antonio Margil de Jesus and the former under Father Hidalgo, who was happy in the approaching realization of his long cher- ished dream of evangelizing the Indians.The rest of the com- pany consisted of two married men with their families,thirteen unmarried men,seven married women,probably wives of the soldiers,one girl and two smaller children,one negro and five Indians-a complete colony in embryo. J The departure from the Rio Grande was made on the 27th of April,1716,and after a tedious journey of two months the cavalcade arrived on June 30 at the spot on the Neches where CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 293 Father Hidalgo had labored in 1690,where they were met by a delegation of Indian chiefs.There appears to have been much flaunting of banners and firing of salutes,after which they smoked the pipe of peace and received gifts of maize,water- melons and tamales in return for cloth,hats and dishes.The result of this powwow was the establishment of six missions- four among the Texas,one in the allied tribe of the Aies at the present town of San Augustine,and one among the Adaes near Robeline,Louisiana. The Texas missions were San Francisco on the east side of the Neches near the present town of Alto,La Purissima Con- cepcion near the Linnwood crossing of the Angelina,and San Joseph,one of the tributaries of Shawnee Creek near the northern line of Nacogdoches County.These three missions were assigned to the Queretaran friars,and were abandoned in 1727,so that no trace of them remains today.The other mission of the Texas Indians was that of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe at Nacogdoches.These four were established during the autumn of 1716 before the winter season compelled a suspension of activi- ties.In the early spring of 1717 the mission of Nuestra Senora De los Dolores de los Ais was established on the Ayish Bayou near the present town of San Augustine,and a little later the mission of San Miguel de Linares was planted near Robeline, Louisiana,within about seven leagues of the French post of Natchitoches.In 1718 the mission of San Antonio de Valero was established on the San Antonio river to serve as a supply sta- tion between San Juan Bautista on the Rio Grande and the dis- tant settlement near the eastern border.Thus everything was settled to the eminent satisfaction of all parties.The Indians had been honored by the establishment of the missions;the Spanish had assumed possession of the territory;and the French had so maneuvered that their opponents had opened the overland route which Saint Denis had proposed,and had planted a settle- ment with which they might trade even though they must do it clandestinely. It would be an error,however,to conclude that the highway was laid out and established by these journeyings to and fro. From the river to San Antonio to the Rio Grande there seems to have been but one route,probably an Indian trail leading to the pass on the river.At the other end of the road between the Neches and Sabine and on as far as the Adaes were Indian trails from village to village,which the traveler natural1y followed. 294 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD But between the Neches and the San Antonio there was no set- tled trail for many years.A few years after the establishment of the missions the French during a brief war with Spain made a raid from Natchitoches which so terrified the colonists that they scuffled off incontently to the shelter of the mission at Bexar.When the Marquis de Aguayo two years later led an ex- pedition to re-establish the abandoned missions,he traveled far north of the highway,it was afterward defined.Other travel- ers seemed to have gone each a different route.It is probable the section between San Antonio and the Neches was settled by custom along the trail which was afterward known as EI Camino Real or the Royal road.As the years went on,however,it be- came a well-defined trail,and the boundaries of old Spanish grants in the beginning of the last century were marked by its trace.It was not a road in the propel'sense of the word,but was a mule trail,winding around hills,over valleys and across prairies,and crossing the streams at the most accessible fords and ferries.Along its course would wind the long trains of pack mules bearing supplies from Mexico for the lonely missions in the East;their loads containing provisions for the priests and soldiers,and presents of cloth and trinkets for the Indians. These journeys were long and tedious,and the travelers were of tel'in imminent peril from hostile Indians,who came yearly to the buffalo range through which it passed on hunting expe- ditions.There is a story that a party of priests was chased by one of these predatory bands and crossed a river barely ahead of their pursuers.In their extremity they prayed to be deliv- ered from their foes,and behold,before the Indians came to the stream a tremendous rise came roaring down the valley,ef- fectually cutting off pursuit.The pious churchmen in grati- tude named the river "Brazos a Dios,"the arm of God.The river is now the Colorado.By some transportation the names of the thundering Brazos and the muddy red Colorado were in- terchanged and so remain to this day. There are of course stories of lost treasures along the route. One night in East Texas a white woman living a few miles above the crossing on the Attoyac was roused by a wounded Mexican asking for shelter.He told of attack by robbers upon an escort convoying a bag of gold,in which the guard was overpowered and slain except himself,who had fled wounded,but not before the treasure was flung into the water.He told the woman that 'when he had recovered he would go back and reclail1'l the gold, CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 295 which,he said,was thrown into a deep pond and not into the river.He died,however,leaving the mystery of its location unrevealed,and furnishing an incentive to scores of treasure hunters to dig for it in the neighborhood of the reported en- counter. The missions in East Texas were kept up for about fifty years,and served the double purpose of evangelizing the Indians and keeping a sharp watch upon the encroachments of the French in Louisiana,thus,in the phrase of the time,"serving both majesties,"i.e.,his holiness the pope and his majesty the king. As has been said,three of these missions were abandoned in 1727,leaving those at Nacogdoches,Lois Ais (San Augustine) and Adaes near Robeline,Louisiana.The latter was the capital of the province where the governor resided with a guard of from twenty-five to fifty soldiers and the civil officials of his admin- istration.Thus a small population grew up there occupying farms and ranches in the neighborhood.The president superior of the missions \vas also located there and traveled thence to the other stations.There seems to have been two or three priests at each mission.They were successful in maintaining the friendship of the Indians which continued steadfast during the entire period.As a religious enterprise,however,they were a failure,the report of an inspection in 1766 stating that there is no evidence of a single able-bodied Indian convert,their activ- ities having been confined to baptizing a few children upon their death beds. When Spain acquired Louisiana in 1762 the political reason for keeping up the mission stations ceased to exist,and ten years later they \vere abandoned,the plants at Adaes were dis- manteled and the inhabitants forced to remove to San Antonio. The journey of these refugees back to their former homes in East Texas forms one of the most romantic episodes in the his- tory of this country.Led by Gil Antonio Y'Barbo,the most prominent of the Adaes settlers,they overcome the opposition of a reluctant government and were established for a while on the banks of the Trinity.Dislodged there by a triple misfor- tune of a flood,a disastrous fire and an Indian raid,they pick- ed up their belongings,and without asking for further permis- sion fled to the ruins of the Nacogdoches mission.There they established themselves,and later received a tardy recognition by the government.Thus the East Texas country was peopled again and the Kings'Highway entered upon a new phase of life. 296 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Y'Barbo granted tracts of land to his followers along its course, the boundaries of many of these calling for the old road,so that we can locate its course exactly along a great part of the way. In the beginning of the nineteenth century American im- migrants began to drift across the Sabine and settle along the road;and after the independence from Mexico and the planting of American colonies in the interior,wheeled vehicles began to travel across the country.This necessitated a considerable change in the road as the old mule trail was in many places in- accessible.Thus the old San Antonio road came into being, traversing the same course,but often differing widely in loca- tion.The course of the King's Highway has been located,how- ever,partly by the land surveys of which it forms the boundary and partly by reliable tradition;and there are places still to be seen at the ford of some stream or the rise of some hill where the deep furrow worn into the soil by the beat of countless hoofs may yet be recognized. ADDRESS TO STATE.HIGHWAY OF TEXAS 1929 It is the "Call of Texas"that has brought me before you today,with a word of supplication for the Old San Antonio Road, since it is "bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh." Texas is interested in the Old San Antonio Road-some fif- teen thousand Texans want it.IIi the ovation of the Colonial Dames,the Daughters of the American Revolution,and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas,for the beautification of the highway and the ereetion of monuments along to commemo- rating the road in the founding and beginning of our State. We are all today interested in the welfare of makind-the building of good roads,as good roads are now recognized as the greatest civilizer in our country.It has grown to the point,a new form of humanity.Like a great poem they will,in after years,bring fame to those who have huilt intelligently,and for all time. As I understand it,we have passed through in this coun- try,what England passed through 200 years ago,-that those living in the rural districts must build and maintain the roads for the use of all the people.This is now remedied by the Gen- eral Government,the State Government,and the local Govern- ment. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 297 We all know that Texas is a new world born out of an old world whose civilization developed and decayed.Civilizations come and go,-but,it is very probable that certain constructive powers that are of import,do not disappear but continue to exist in a modified way with the roses and are neyer totally de- stroyed.Like the word Camino Real Royal Highway.There is a stability,they are chronicled and imbedded in our State's his- tory and the words are not lost to us. In the beginning of Texas was the Indian.We find him on the stage,when the Conquestadors came,two sets of forces were started,when they began the movement of travelling backward and forward between the Indian Villagers.What did they see? The beginning of our political geography in the Southwest. A beaten path that had no obstruction or sectional lines, just following the cardinal points of a compass,East and West. A line of demarcation was beaten out and laid down,that was the Rubicon,the flood gate that let the world pass through to the South.First an Indian trail,then the Spaniards called and recognized Camino Real,or Royal,and,Americans the Old San Antonio Road,because the Americans objective was San An- tonio,and to them it was the San Antonio Road. We are asking a continuation and completion of the highway as the bill of the 41st Legislature stated. MRS.LIPSCOMB NORVELL State Chairman National Old Trails Road. OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Organize to Preserve Old Highway and Secure its Main- tenance by the Commission The Old San Antonio Road Association has been organized and a charter will be applied for,making it a regularly incor- porated business concern.A special entertainment was arrang- ed for last Tuesday,when a number of people interested in the preservation of this historic highway were invited to Norman- gee.State Senator W.E.Thomason of Nacogdoches and several others from that place were among the number.Representa- tive E.P.Palmer of Alto,Representative H.A.Turner of Madi- sonville,District Judge W.C.Davis of Bryan were present and had places on the program.Midway,Wheelock,and other places were represented. 298 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Chief among the visitors was Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont President of the Daughters of the Texas Republic. To her efforts are largely due all that has been done to make this old highway a State institution.It was through her ef- forts that the Legislature had this old road surveyed in 1915, and the markers of granite erected.It was largely through her efforts that the Legislature was able to pass a statutory law by which this road became a state highway.She arrived from Beaumont about 3 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. On the arrival of Mrs.Norvell,a meeting was called at the Methodist Church to take steps looking to organizing a perma- nent body.There were present representatives from Nacog- doches,Rusk,Alto,and several places east of here,while a num- ber came from the west.After some discussion its was decided to go into permanent organization,and a committee was appoint- ed to draw up plans,name the first officers,and prepare a draft of a charter to file with the Secretary of State for incorporating. Supper was served to all visiting members at the Dawkius Hotel,after which the meeting gathered at the school audi- torium.Speeches were made by Mr.Turner of Madisonville, Senator Thomason of Nacogdoches,Mr.Palmer of Alto,Mrs. Norvell,and Judge Davis of Bryan.The point was stressed in all these speeches that Texas owes a debt of gratitude of the old heroes who made our Texas civilization possible to preserve the memory of all the old historic places.It is right and proper to preserve the Alamo,to erect monuments to Crockett and Bowie and Fannin and Lamar and Travis,and all the other pio- neers of the early day. But the oldest relic of these old days that we have is the old San Antonio Road.Begun perhaps as a path followed by the buffalo in the ages past,then used as an Indian trail,along which the Red Men pitched their wigwams,used by the French two hundred years ago as their roadway from Louisiana to the Spanish colonies westward,followed by the Spanish in their journeys from the City of Mexico to Nacogdoches,it became the roadway over which Moses and Stephen Austin,Crockett and Bowie and all the early pioneers entered Texas soil.It is but right and proper that it should be preserved in its entire length as a monument to these old heroes. The point was stressed by all speakers that to change the route would be sacrilege,but this highway should follow as far as possible the exact route of the Old San Antonio Road.Some CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 299 of the speakers stressed the point that the highway commission will not take over and maintain the roadway along or through any county through or along which it passes until that county has presented to the commission 100 foot right-of-way just as the law requires.But when any county shall comply with the requirements of the law in this respect then they are in a posi- tion to demand that the highway commission take over and maintain such part of the road as required by the mandate of the law. The speakers all visualized the time when a concrete slab shall be laid along this old historic highway,connecting Louis- iana on the east with old Mexico on the west. In the drafting of the proposed charter with recommenda- tion for organization,it was unanimously agreed that Norman- gee be made the permanent headquarters of the organization. Membership shall be open to everyone interested in preserving and maintaining this old highway.A vice president is provided for from each county through or along which such road passes. Mrs.Norvell is made honorary vice president for life.The pur- pose is to organize and present a united front with all the weight possible when asking the Commission to take over and maintain this old road,and when seeking from subsequent Legislatures appropriations for properly building and maintaining this road. MEMBERSHIP DRIVE FOR THE SAN ANTONIO ROAD ASSOCIATION The San Antonio Road Association is no longer a dream, but is an incorporated association and has a charter under which it has its existence as organized on the 20th of August,last. Its principal office is at Normangee,Texas,which should cause every person who has an interest in the Normangee ter- ritory to be especially interested in causing its membership to be the greatest possible. As Vice President of the Association it is the duty of the writer to make a membership drive in this territory and it might be suggested that every county through which or bordering which the road passes has a Vice President,and the duty of each of these is to,among other things,make a membership drive and it is hoped that by the 15th of September this association may bQast of 10,000 members.. ~oo CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD I feel that it is of prime importance to carry out the pur- poses of this association which are as follows: A.To perpetuate the memory and spirit and heroism of those persons who established the Old San Antonio Road. B.To stimulate the reverence and love and patriotism for that section of the State through which the road passes. C.To help the "Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Daughters of the American Revolution"in establishing a highway along this road. D.To assist in establishing and constructing of it and maintaining it as a cardinal highway. E.To pledge the efforts of the members of the Associa- tion to the highway commission in securing the necessary right of way for the road in its establishment. Those purposes should be sublime to every patriotic citizen who believes in sentiment and love for his section and who be- lieves in perpetuating the history of the past. We want as large a membership as possible,and if you are not a member of this association,then please clip out of this is- sue of the paper the membership application hereto below in- serted and return the same to me. (Signed)W.E.THOMSON Vice-President County,Nacogdoches. August 27,1929. NACOGDOCHES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The Historical,Agricultural and Educational MECCA OF EAST TEXAS Nacogdoches,Texas October 16th,1929 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Beaumont,Texas, My Dear Mrs.Norvell: This is to acknowledge receipt of yours of recent date and also of several days ago,relative to the action of the Daughters of the American Revolution of your fair city and also the history of the Angelina river and Angelina County . Vole want to than..tr you and your members for their action in voting to become members of the San Antonio Road AssoCia- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 301 tion,as we know and feel that you are extremely interested in this historical highway. You will find enclosed program for the Old San Antonio Road Association meeting to be held in connection with the Nacogdoches County Fair,Thursday,October 24th,and you will note that I have taken the liberty of placing you on this pro- gram and I am now in behalf of the Association and of the man- agement of the Nacogdoches County Fair extending you and as many members of the Daughters of the D.A.R.,as possible,to be present on this occasion.I am extremely anxious that you visit the historical town of Nacogdoches and where every hill and every dale is made sacred by those hearty handed pioneers who made Texas great and who were the fathers and grand- fathers of those broad minded men of Southwest and North Texas who have made Texas glorious. I hope it will be possible for me to be present at Buna on October 30th. Hoping that it will be possible for you to be present on the above mentioned occasion,I remain Very respectfully, Sena tor Third District. NACOGDOCHES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The Historical,Agricultural and Educational MECCA OF EAST TEXAS Nacogdoches,Texas Program for Old San Antonio Road Association Day at Nacogdoches County Fair Thursday,October 24th,1929 Place of Meeting-High School Auditorium. Meeting Called to Order 10 :00 a.m.-By Senator W.E.Thomason Active Vice-President of San Antonio Road Association Senator Nat Patton,President of theMeetingturnedoverto Association. History of Old San Antonio Road,by Rev.George L.Crockett of Nacogdoches Address by Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont,Vice-Chairman of National Society of Daughters of American Revolution 302 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Luncheon Afternoon Session-2 :00 p.m. Address by Hon.R.S.Sterling,Chairman of State Highway Commission Address by Judge M.L.Bennett of Normangee,Texas Round Table Discussion. THE GREAT STRATEGIC MILITARY HIGHWAY EL CAMINO-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Texas Strategic Military Highway,looking to and seeking State aid for Federalizing a highway across Texas,May 26,1934, a called meeting at Caldwell,Texas,for the recreation of the Old San Antonio Road looking for the Federalization of the high- way across Texas to Mexico City. Unique in history is the Old San Antonio Road across Tex- as,written under six flags,once EI Camino Real,a strategic military highway laid out by Spain in 1691.A key highway for Spanish control to keep out the French,or any invaders, Spain built forts for the soldiers and missions for the mis- sionaries to hold and Christianize the Indians.The highway connecting the Indian tribes in the Eastern and Western areas of New Spain.The Hasainai Confederacy of Indians lived be- tween the Neches and Angelina and Trinity rivers in Eastern Texas.The Jumano Indians inhabited the Concho,Rio Grande, San Antonio and the Colorado river valleys. THE GATEWAY INTO TEXAS "To all facts there are laws.The effect has its cause,and I mount to the cause."-Lord Lytton. "First Cause,"when the life of man began to function, breathe,stand,find oneself,pass the time,and vegetate. A dynastic right,sanctified,legalized,a divining rod.A road of Empire was given "The Old San Antonio Road,"a marked line of maintenance,defining its mission grants,as a means of recognition,a guiding star,showing the way across Texas,leading on to Natchitoches,Louisiana,and Natchez,Miss- issippi,an agency canonized by the Spanish Dynasty,when the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 303 cordon chain of missions was established across Texas to Nat- chitoches,Louisiana. The Old Canon Laws recognized birth,nativity,cradle,start- ing point,a cause upon fact to start the world in motion. The trails laid the foundation for a Nation,or Government, the ground work in procuring measures for order,shape,outlin- ing a form.The trails were earth-born,risen from,and whole embossed by the rank and file of the world. The Old San Antonio Road,or Camino Real,from Mexico City across Texas to Natchitoches,Louisiana,was the sphere of influence of the Civil Right Laws of the Spanish Dynasty.Mex- ican Government and Texas Republic Laws where the world took up their abode and located themselves.Spain recognized the Old Camino Real (today San Antonio Road)as operating a necessity,a direction,a common user,inherent,characteristic, belonging to the existing order of things with the system of nature. It was given the patronage and power of Spain from the City of Mexico,the Camino Real to Monclova,N ogals,Mexico~ to Presidio,Babtista on the Rio Grande;across Texas to Nat- chitoches,Louisiana,then New Spain.It was an institution,a regulation for missions,military power of forts,and commercial enterprises.From Natchitoches the Natchez Trail ran to Nat- chez,Mississippi.At Natchez,Mississippi,the San Antonio Road ran to Natchitoches,Louisiana,and San Antonio. First Law of the Crown,Ecclestical Law,Law of Nations1 and title.Spain placed Camino Real (today Old San Antonio Road)a sacred,.hallowed,divine,natural gift,in her Falcidian Laws.Imminent Domain,patented,copyrighted,as right of common user,surveying,outlining,definite space,an inclosure terminal of frontier,three hundred feet in breadth and the entire length across Texas,bordering as a frame to its colonists grants, giving a local habitation,and a name in the establishing,settle- ment,installation of a nation and State.The diaries of the ex- plorers,the priests,children of God record,commanders of forts,ties of race,stock and generations,land-locked as a me- dium between Mexico City,Texas and Natchitoches,Louisiana, when the capital of Texas was placed at Adae Mission,Robeline, Louisiana,in 1695,and remained there until 1820 when the cap- ital was removed to San Antonio,Texas. 304 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD A.S.McSWAIN County Judge Bryan,Texas May 17,1934 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, Dear Mrs.Norvell: I am enclosing copy of letter to Mr.James Sullivan,Chair- man of the committee we appointed last Monday,which is self- explanatory. Trusting that this will work out favorably,I am (Signed)A.S.McSWAIN,County Judge, Brazos County,Texas.' P.S.-1 am also enclosing a list of the property owners that are on the right-of-way on the Old San Antonio Road of this County. May 17,1934. Mr.James Sullivan, Col1ege Station,Texas. Dear Mr.Sullivan: Last Monday at our commissioners'court meeting,a large committee from Leon,Madison,Robertson and Burleson coun- ties,came before us in interest of the Old San Antonio Road. You recall there is a short gap of right-of-way to be secured in this county and on account of lack of funds the county is unable to get it at the present time. The commissioners'court appointed a committee to assist in getting this right-of-way donated to the State so the road can be finished. You were named Chairman and we hope you and your com- mittee can stimulate some interest among the people along the location of this road in Brazos County. Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont was present at the meeting.She is Vice President of the Old San Antonio Road Association,and I am sure she will be able to furnish you litera- ture if you should need it.I am mailing Mrs.Norvell a list of the property owners and she is going to mail them some infor- mation on the historical phase of the road. A list of your committee is as follows: D.L.Wilson,Brazos County,Chamber of Commerce,Bryan, Texas 1-ION.GASTON PALMER CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 305 James Sullivan,College Station,Texas Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Beaumont,Texas Mrs.B.N.Nash,Normangee,Texas Mrs.J.R.Eskes,Normangee,Texas R.H.Seale,Benchley,Texas V.C.McDonald,Normangee,Texas J.R.Woodson,Caldwell,Texas C.C.Nelms,Caldwell,Texas A.C.Bain,Caldwell,Texas L.T.Tomm,Caldwell,Texas A.B.Syptak,Bryan,Texas J.A.Rychlik,Edge,Texas Joe Merka,Benchley,Texas L.V.Skubal,Wheelock,Texas Grady Hanover,Wheelock,Texas A.L.Higgs,Bryan,F.F.D.No.5,Texas. J.D.Martin,Bryan,Texas W.J.Coulter,Bryan,Texas Jno.M.Lawrence,Sr.,Bryan,Texas R.W.Howell,Bryan,Texas Thanking you for your interest in the matter,I am Yours very truly, A.S.McSWAIN,County Judge, Brazos County,Texas. After twenty-five years of persuasion,the Old San Antonio Road between Benchley and the Brazos bridge was open. Names of residents on new open road,from Benchley to Brazos river bridge were as follows: J.A.Rychlik,Edge,Texas Joe Merka,Benchley,Texas L.V.Skubal,Wheelock,Texas Grady Hanover,Wheelock,Texas A.L.Higgs,Bryan,R.F.D.No.5,Texas J.D.Martin,Bryan,Texas W.J.Coulter,Bryan,Texas John M.Lawrence,Bryan,Texas R.W.Howell,Bryan,Texas A.S.McSwain,Brazos County,Texas. 306 CAMINO REAlr-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES House of Representative Washington,D.C. January 4,1935 Mrs.Claudia Norvell, Beaumont,Texas. Dear Mrs.Norvell: I am sending you herewith copy of the proposed itinerary of the motorcade over the old San Antonio Road,and I certainly hope that you can join this motorcade,especially in Crockett. When you ge~to Washington,as I understand you are com- ing up sometime soon,please get in touch with me and let us use our influence with U.S.Highway Department to have this old road designated as a National Highway. With every good wish for a Happy New Year,I am Cordially yours, NAT PATTON,Congressman 7th District of Texas. NP :tm Inc. MOTORCADE OVER OLD SAN ANTONIO- SAN AUGUSTINE ROAD January 17,18,19 Itinerary and schedule: Leave:Thursday,January 17- Municipal Auditorium,San Antonio,8 a.m.,Thursday,Jan- uary 17. (32 miles)New Braunfels,9 a.m.to 9 :30 a.m. (18 miles)San Marcos 10 a.m.to 11 a.m. (.56 miles)Bastrop,12:30 to 2 p.m.(Lunch). (45 miles)Caldwell,3 :15 to 3 :45 p.m. (56 miles)Madisonville,5 :45 to 6 :15 p.m. (10 miles)Normangee 6 :45 p.m.to 8 a.m.(Night) Friday,January 18: Leave Normangee 8 a.m. (30 miles)Crockett 9 a.m.to 9:30 a.m. (34 miles)Alto 10 :30 to 11 :30 a.m. (27 miles)Nacogdoches 11 :45 to 1 :15 p.m.(Lunch) (35 miles)San Augustine 2 :15;pass through and back at 5:30 for night stop (Banquet here) CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 307 (20 miles)Hemphill 3 :00 p.m. (10 miles)Pendleton Ferry 3 :25 p.m. (30 miles)Back to San Augustine for night stop. Saturday,January 19: Leave San Augustine 8 a.m. (116 miles)Crockett 11 :30 to 2 p.m.(Lunch) (217 miles)Back to San Antonio without stops. 333 miles each way-666 miles in three days. Please note lunch and night stops.It is imperative that schedule be maintained. Any offers of entertainment programs,luncheons,dinners, breakfasts,etc.,should be made at once to the director of the motorcade so they may be included in order to conserve time of these prominent visitors who are interested in the complete pav- ing of this highway and also in the establishment of State Parks a.long the old road and preservation of monuments of historical interest. Please advise the undersigned as quickly as possible of any contemplated program in your city during our visit,otherwise you may likely be passed up due to lack of time. Sincerely, FRED M.HERNDON,Secretary, Texas Parks Association Room 149 St.Anthony Hotel San Antnio,Texas San Antonio,Texas,December.-Looking toward the early completion of the unpaved portions of the Old San Antonio Road between San Antonio and San Augustine a motorcade of inter- ested citizens of South Texas will make a trip over the old road on January 17,18 and 19,according to D.E.Colp,Chairman of the State Parks Board. The party will be headed by former Gov.Pat N.Neff,D.K; Martin of the State Highway Commission,Colp,Bexar County Judge Frost Woodhull;Mayor C.K.Quin,Mrs.F.W.Sorell, Chairman of the Citizens Committee on Highway Beautifica- tion by appointment of the Highway Commission;Mrs.Alex Adams of the Historical Division of the Federation Women's Clubs of Texas;Judge Perry S.Robertson,and Porter Whaley, President and General Manager respectively of the San An- tonio Chamber of Commerce;O.C.Dancy,County-elect Judge 308 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD of Brownsville;A.L.Becker,resident of San Antonians,Inc., and Fred M.Herndon,Secretary of the Texas Parks Association. The party will leave the Municipal auditorium at 8 a.m.on Thursday,January 17,and will make stops at New Braunfels, San Marcos,Bastrop,Giddings,Caldwell,Bryan,Madisonville, Midway,Normangee,Crockett,Alto,Nacogdoches,San Augus- tine and Pendleton near where the road enters the State of Louis~ iana. In addition to stimulating interest in the early paving of the gaps in this highway which would provide a new and shorter outlet from South Texas to the North and East the party will inspect park sites which have been offered the State without cost,and also will inspect the State owned parks near Bastrop and San Augustine where the Federal Government has now sta~ tioned Civilian Conservation Camps and is spending approxi~ mately $400,000 in improvement work without cost to the tax- payers of Texas. BENNETT &BENNETT Attorneys-at-Law Normangee,Texas March 1,1938 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Beaumont,Texas. Dear Mrs.Norvell: I am pleased to enclose to you herewith a designation of the naming of the park in which will be located the marker for the old San Antonio Road as signed by various persons as well as the Association. A copy of this instrument is attached to the deed and will be recorded with the same. If you have occasion to come to Normangee at any time soon you may confer with the ladies whose names are given as the committee with reference to any ceremonies you wish had at the time the monument to be erected is unveiled. Personally,the writer is very glad that the park is named Norvell. With kindest regards,I am Yours very truly, (Signed)M.L.BENNETT,SR., CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 309 Normangee,Texas February 22,1938 We,officers of the Old San Antonio Road Association and members of Normangee Historic Park Finance,locating and naming committee,do hereby agree to name said park "Nor- vell"in honor of Mrs.Claudia W.Norvell,of Beaumont,Texas. OFFICERS Nat Patton,President. S.T.Windrox,Vice President. M.T.Bennen,Secrteary-Treasurer. Gaston Pahar. COMMITTEE Mrs.C.Fred Ward,Mrs.C.B.Hollis,Mrs.J.R.Eskew,Mrs. V.C.McDonald,Mrs.C.E.Bullock,Mrs.A.J.Hollis,Mrs.J.D. Hines. CEREMONY TO BE HELD IN MARCH HONORING BEAU- MONT WOMAN'S RESEARCH ON EL CAMINO REAL Dedication earIy in March of the "Claudia Norvell Park" at Normangee,Texas,along the old San Antonio Road or EI Camino Real,as it is known in history,is the means chosen by the citizenry of Normangee of honoring Mrs.Claudia Norvell of Beaumont,who for over 24 years has worked zealously in the restoration of historical old highways not only in Texas but throughout the nation. Mrs.Norvell was notified of this honor by a wire received yesterday from Mrs.J.R.Eskew,chairman of the Normangee citizens'committee,and Rep.Gaston Palmer of Normangee. The ground for the park is being donated by the citizens of Nor- mangee and assistance in landscaping will b€given by the state highway department.In the center of the park will be a six foot monument of Texas granite in memory of the provincial Governor,Don Domingo Teran of Mexico,who in 1693 blazed the cattle trail which later became El Camino Real. Authenticity of El Camino Real as an ancient road of Span- ish era in Texas history was established'through Spanish ar- chives by W.E.Dunn:of the University of Texas in 1915 and the road was surveyed by the State of Texas.The road,then a trail,was blazed in 1693 when the then Provincial Governor 310 CAMINO REAlr-.OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Don Teran of Mexico had 450 cattle,240 sheep,and 140 horses driven over it from Monclova,the government headquarters at that time,through El Paso to what is now East Texas.The road served the early Texas colonists also as a boundary for their claims or grants. El Camino Real,the King's Highway,is now State charter- ed and through the efforts of Mrs.Norvell,Congressman Nat Patton,Congressman Deer and Wilson of Louisiana,and Sen. Morris Shepherd of Texas,will be part of the super highway joining Washington,D.C.,and the City of Mexico.It passes through Pendleton,Texas;Natchez,Mississippi;Nashville, Tennessee;North Carolina,the Smoky Mountains and the Sheno- doah Valley to Washington,D.C.,and will help form the longest highway in the world and the only one in western hemisphere to connect two international capitals. Mrs.Norvell has served for years as chairman of the South- western Roads Committee of the D.A.R.'s National Old Roads and Trails Committee.Mrs.John Trigg Moss of Kansas City, Missouri,is general chairman.It was this committee which ren- dered such outstanding service in perpetuation of the Old Santa Fe Trail. Mrs.Norvell has spent years in collecting data on early Tex- as history with its trails and roads as the big underlying theme and she is now working on a book which makes use of this valua- ble material.The main road presented by the book is,of course, EI Camino Real,which Mrs.Norvell says is the real Old Spanish Trail. July 5th,1938 Re:Hearing by Highway Commission as to building Old San Antonio Road Mr.Joe L.Mock,Secretary Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce Nacogdoches,Texas Mr.D.R.Thomas,Manager Highway and Public Works Department Chamber of Commerce San Antonio,Texas CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Hon.C.B.Maynard County Judge,Bastrop County, Bastrop,Texas Mr.W.E.Beal,President Smithville Chamb€r of Commerce Smithville,Texas Mr.J.A.Freeman,President Elgin Chamber of Commerce Elgin,Texas. 311 Gentlemen: As I have previously written you,the Highway Commission has granted interested parties a public hearing on the above' Highway on Thursday,July 31st,at 9 :00 o'clock a.m.at the Commission's office at Austin.I hope for a full attendance from all of you and any friends in other counties to whom you may write giving notice of this meeting. I enclose you herewith a leaflet written and published on May 28th,1941,by Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell (nee Wilbarger) of Beaumont.Mrs.Norvell is a former resident of Bastrop and has always taken a great interest in the proposed build- ing of this highway.She now calls our attention to its im- portance,ff constructed,as a possible military highway,which "vill be sadly needed in the event of foreign trouble,which does seem rather imminent. We appreciate very much Mrs.Norvell's interest and we trust that you gentlemen will write her your reaction to her pamphlet and that we will have the benefit of your coopera- tion at the meeting herein mentioned. Yours very truly, PAUL D.PAGE,President PDP leb encl. cc Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell. Beaumont,Texas ccHonorable Nat Patton The House of Representatives, Washington,D.C. 312 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD cc Mr.S.L.P.Pigott,Secretary Bastrop Chamb€r of Commerce Bastrop,Texas ACROSS-STATE ROAD PLANNED Highway Commission Agrees to Back Artery Linking Sabine to Rio Grande AUSTIN BUREAU AUSTIN,January 24.-The dream of modern trans-Texas highway from Pendleton on the Sabine to Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande,along the route of the old San Antonio Road or "EI Camino Real,"is progressing toward realization. .Its final perfection was assured by the State Highway Commission Thursday,following a conference between Com- missioners and memb€rs of the Old San Antonio Road Associa- tion,subject only to acquisition of a 100 foot right-of-way. DELEGATION PRESENT "You get the right-of-way for us,"the Commission was reported as saying,"and you can be sure we will do our part." Largely at the instance of Senator Nat Patton of Crockett, the Legislature last year passed a bill to reserve the route of the ancient road.An imposing delegation to inquire what progress was being made in marking and improving the road consulted the Commission.In the group,along with Senator Patton,were Senators W.E.Thomason,Nacogdoches,and Charles S.Gainer,Bryan;Representative E.P.Palmer,Alto; Phil Sanders,Nacogdoches;Henry Turner,Madisonville,and C. B.Maynard,Bastrop;M.L.Bennett,Normangee,Vice Presi- dent of the Association;Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Beaumont; former Senator Paul Page,Bastrop,and other members of the association. MARKERS SLATED They were informed by the Commission that a bridge is almost completed across the Trinity river,and that a contract soon will be let for a bridge across the Brazos at Benchley in "Rea1.". Mrs.Norvell told the Commission the Daughters of the CONGRESSMAN NAT PATTON CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 313 D.A.R.soon would place large granite markers at historic spots along the road including Indian mounds,in Cherokee County,old forts,churches and stagecoach stands. "The Old San Antonio Road Association has now between 14,000 and 15,000 members,"she declared,"composed mostly of residents along the old trail." Senator Patton,whose legislative hobby is promoting the Old San Antonio trail,asserted that this "Appian way of new world,"steeped in historic interest,when completed will at- tract countl€.3s tourists. THE SAN ANTONIO ROAD The party surveying out the right-of-way for the Old San Antonio Road have now reached something beyond where this road crosses the D.C.D.,about ten miles east of town.Leav- ing the present road near the Neeley place about five miles east of here,the old lines entered enclosures now grown up in timber forming the woods between Rogers Prairie and Leon Prairie,and made their progress slow.It is likely that from Cross Roads to the Trinity river their progress will continue to be slow,for if we understand it,much of the course of the San Antonio Road through that country has long been aban- doned,and is now overgrown with brush and timber.Our un- derstanding of the matter is that they will follow the original route of the Old San Antonio Road,varying from it only where it is necessary to make the route. Coming through the Navasota bottom the survey followed mainTy the dump already placed there it is the intention to widen this dump materially,and raise it about four feet.One or two more bridges will be built,to take care of the water. This will assure safe crossing no matter how high the river may be.-Leaving the river coming this way the center of the new road will at all time be with the present road,but the present road will be straight from Benchley here.Reaching the south- west side of town it makes a slight turn,almost impercepti- ble,and goes in a straight line to the crossings on the two rail- roads.It will barely miss the Schumacher gin,thence in the midd.le of the present road in front of D.C.Napper's,the old Jordan place. ,It will cross the creek just to the right of the -bridge on 314 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD lower Main Street,and then again make a very slight turn to the right,going between the homes of Mrs.Jarvis and Mrs. Woolley.With slight variations from the right or the left of the present road with the center line,it follows the present road to the Neeley place. Our information is that just so soon as this survey is completed to the Trinity,the State will begin the building of a modern highway along the line.In fact,but for a little de- lay in getting some fences moved,would perhaps right now be under way on the section from Benchley this way.Our opinion is that it will be well for everyone to get his fence moved back,and if the fences from Benchley to Normangee were all moved back so as to give the required one hundred feet,it is likely that the State would be now at work,or soon, grading and building a real road. From what we can learn there has been so far no diffi- culfy in securing signatures to deeds giving right-of-way for this one hundred foot road bed.By the terms of the deeds, each property owner is expected to move his own fences and other obstructions.This done,the State will do the rest.The State will have the right-or-way cleared,will fill all washouts, build all bridges and culverts and everything that is needed to making a road.But the State does not undertake to move the fences. It is possible,from what we learn,that the State will be- gin this building of the road just as soon as the fences are moved back,and will not wait until the surveying work is completed to the Trinity.It certainly will be great to have a real road from Normangee to the intersection on Highway No.6 at Benchley.It will be great to have that dump in the Navasota bottom raised four feet and doubled in width,and presumably heavily surfaced with gravel.It will be great to have those hills cut down,to have that dugout on the other side of the river filled,and a real road built through it.It will give us a road from here to Benchley with not a percepti- ble crook in it.It will be great to have a real road leading east to the Trinity,100 feet wide,and properly built,and this road practically straight too. And all we are required to do is to get our fences back. The .surveyors are making three lines~One set of pegs are 100 feet apart,and they mark the middle of the new road. Every 500 feet other pegs are set fifty feet on each side,mark- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 315 ing the line of the right of way,beyond which fences are to be moved. Our understanding further is that this stretch of road will not only be graded up and drainage structure built,but that it will be gravel surfaced perhaps next year.And then when the gravel have sufficiently settled,perhaps a few years, it will be tarviated or concreted.The crossings on the rail- roads near the Schumacher gin will perhaps for the present be grade crossings,but when the road is hard surfaced under- passes will be constructed. So that as the matter stands now,the sooner we get our fences out of the way,the sooner we will have the State High- way Commission building us a real road. NORMANGEE WILL STAGE BIG CENTENNIAL CELE- BRATION ON MAY 15,1939 Mrs.Claudia Norvell of Beaumont was here Friday,con- sulting with our committees regarding plans for the big cele- bration to be pulled off at the Park on the 17th and 18th.She met with members of the various committees at the Dawkins Hotel and went over what has already been done,and what will be needed to do in the immediate future. Mrs.Norvell was the original sponsor of the Old San An- tonio Road movement,and it is the desire of her heart to see that road opened up throughout its entire length,from the Louisiana line to Old Mexico,a properly maintained great highway through Texas,commemorating the early history of the State.Through her efforts twenty years ago the old road was surveyed by State authority,and the granite markers erected every five miles along its entire route.Through her efforts mile after mile has been opened,it having been a piece- meal job to get the road opened and paved.Gaps still exist at different places,the one nearest us being the six or seven miles from the intersection with No.6 near Benchley to the Brazos river. The Centennial Committee at Dallas has gh;en Normangee the dates of June 17 and 18,to commemorate the longest his- torical event in Texas,the road that was here before white men ever planted foot on Texas,and reaching from one side of Texas to the other,the Old San Antonio Road.At this celebration plans are under way to have the present governor of Texas 316 CAMINO REA~OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD and perhaps several ex-governors,the governor of Louisiana, perhaps a governor of a Mexican state,to have senators,con- gressmen,and other men of note,to be here and speak.As divulged in this committee meeting,a number of these have already accepted invitations to be with us on that occasion. Normangee,as the home of the San Antonio Road Asso- ciation,is the proper place for such a celebration.Steps were taken looking to have delegations here from Milam,San Au- gustine,Chireno,Nacogdoches,Alto,Crockett,Midway on the east;Wheelock,Benchley,Caldwell,Bastrop,San Marcos,New Braunfels,San Antonio,Cotulla and Laredo on the west;with as many as possible from the states east and the Mexican states west.Details of these arrangements will be given out as they are more maturely formed. Mrs.Norvell has attended several of the different local towns of Texas.She says that it will be easily possible to have here in June crowds running well up into the thousands.For instance,at Goliad there were thousands present.Several of the surrounding towns sent bands and decorated floats.At the noon hour the ladies of the various organizations,church and civic,served dinner in vacant buildings.They gave you a heap- ing plate of good eats which you carried with you to eat,for which you paid fifty cents. The President of the Texas Old San Antonio Road Association Congressman Nat Patton The City of Normangee and The Normangee Chamber of Commerce invite you to be present at the Dedication of the Centennial Monument,The King's Highway, EI Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road, commemorating its blazing by orders of the King of Spain in 1691 On Thursday,the twenty-fifth of May,nineteen hundred thirty..nine at eleven o'clock,in Normangee Park Normangee,Texas MRS.LIPSCOMB NORVELL Honorary Life President,Old San Antonio Road A.ss'n. JUDGE M.C.BENNETT. Secretary Old San Antonio Road Association B.a.HOLLEMAN Manager,Normangee Chamber.of Commerce CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 317 In a feature news story under date of March 15,1939,The Normangee Star announced in advance the program-the prep- aratien for a great occasion;quoting the article by way of go- ing on with the story which has gone into the pages of the published volume.The Star enjoyed a most appreciated visit last week from Mrs.Claudia Norvell.Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont.Mrs.Norvell spoke of looking forward to the program,to be,in the summer,when it is planned to have the unveiling of the monument,at the Park,on the San Antonio Road.She is planning to have present on that occasion,a num- ber of notables.The matter was up a short time ago at a meet- ing of several Consuls of the Republic of Mexico and it is ex- pected that Mexico will be largely represented.Texas State officials will be present,and presumably Congressmen from the various districts,through which passes the Old San An- tonio Road.And,likewise,representatives of various other states through which pass the continuation of this road,toward the City of Washington. It was discussed at this time,the possibility of having representation from high offices in Spain.Mrs.Norvell has a vision of a big occasion,at which notables from various coun- tries will be present in Normangee to celebrate the unveiling of the monument. To Mrs.Norvell is due the honor of making this important, historical highway a reality.She began her work in the matter with very little interest shown anywhere.But,through her efforts,a survey of the old road was made by Mr.Zively,whose work became historic.Then she secured the appropriation of sufficient funds,to have granite markers properly inscribed, erected every five miles along the highway,from Nacogdoches to San Antonio. Later,with Congressman Patton,then in the Texas State Senate,uniting his efforts with hers,the Bill was passed,mak. ing the Old San Antonio Road,a state highway,perhaps the only highway in the state,located by legislative enactment. This highway has had to be forced open in various parts of its length,over the pressure of county site,boards of trade and official county bodies.It is a peculiar thing that much of its distance,the Old San Antonio Road,does not go through a county site,but along the dividing line between counties.As a result county sites were not interested,and not a few efforts 318 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD were made to block the opening of the road,because the route was not through the county site. Mrs.Norvell related,that she had been working on this matter,for many years.That she had spent her own money, and that the cost had been large.She has financed researches -the search going into old records almost forgotten,to find and bring to light the real history of the Road.She has trav- eled extensively,has talked with prominent men,whose interest was enlisted in the work of helping to preserve the history of the ancient highway.She complimented this paper,in that many times she has felt inclined to give up,owing to enormous difficulties of the undertaking,and the lack of interest taken by those who should have been the most enthusiastic helpers. Then The Star would have some item or article that would cheer her up and arouse her to renewed energy.And so came new hope and she,visualizing a great occasion,in behalf of a mag- nificent project.In the visualizing she sawall those stretches of the old highway that were closed by refusal of county offi- cials and city leaders to cooperate with the State enactment, opened.And the whole of the historic road,open,to present to the officials of Mexico and Spain,and of the United States.A connected,opened highway along the historic old route leading across Texas,to the Republic of Mexico.When it was May in Texas,1939,came the fruition.Plans formulated,hopes cher- ished,became reality;no longer things looked for.Then turn- ing the page,comes Normangee and the great day.Thousands present to take part in the program. GALVESTON NEWS To mark the 248th Anniversary of EI Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road Association is to be held at Normangee,Texas, May 25,at 11 o'clock A.M. The Royal Highway,El Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road,sponsored by the D.A.R.Organization from 1912 to 1919, with Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman. To identify EI Camino Real and Old San Antonio Road as one and same everywhere,Dr.W.E.Dunn,then Spanish Ar- chivist of State University was employed to make findings and map;with his surveys of Morfi's Diary given,and surveys by Mexican Government,for Stephen F.Austin's colony and other Empresarios Grants,he gave the Old San Antonio Road the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 319 Northern boundary of the First Colonists grants that lay South of the Road,and the Southern boundary of the grants that lay North of the Road. Two bills were put through the Legislature by Mrs.Norvell for the survey to be made by Dr.Dunn's finding.V.N.Zively, C.E.,appointed by the State to make the survey,and the plac- ing of 128 monuments every 5 miles of Texas,stone marking the way through fields and abandoned crossings of rivers. Taken over by the State Highway by Act of the 41st Leg- islature,with Congressman,then Senator,Nat Patton sponsor- ing the Bill,chartered by the forming of the Old San Antonio Road Association,at Normangee,Texas,1928,making Senator Nat Patton,President,Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Honorary Life President,and Judge M.T.Bennett,Secretary-Treasurer with a membership of 20,000 members. The Great Historic King's Highway,EI Camino Real,Old San Antonio,conceived by Spain in 1691,as a necessity that civilization might be carried into terra incognito of new Spain. St.Denis of Natchitoches went across EI Camino Real in 1714 with trade land route proposition to open up trade with Mexico,and imprisoned. Financed by Spanish Governor Cordero,1805;its recon- struction advocated by President Sam Houston in 1836. Its restoration and construction as a Great National High- way through Virginia,North Carolina,Kentucky,Tennessee, Natchez,Mississippi,to Natchitoches,Louisiana,across Old San Antonio Road in Texas to Mexico City,by General Sam Hous- ton,Senator in Congress,1844,but Senator Thomas Benton of Missouri won out with the Old Santa Fe Trail taking the lead and Missouri already admitted to the Union. When Thomas Jefferson and other Statesmen began look- ing to the Southwest,Thomas Jefferson had Nolan writing up about the soil,flowers and horses ostensibly.Thomas Jeffer- son then built a military Federal Highway from Knoxville,Ten- nessee to Spanish Fort,Natchez on the Mississippi,where the Old San Antonio Trail crossed,stating it was connecting with the San Antonio Trail. The Natchez Fort was built by the Spaniards,Nacogdoches Fort,Santa Cruz on Guadalupe (to keep guard of road going to Goliad),Bexar,San Juan Baptista on Rio Grande.From all 320 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD I can find,the U.S.Government knew when she purchased Louis- iana,The Old San Antonio Road was the gateway across Texas. As you know,the U.S.Government recognized the crossing of the Sabine River,then Gaines Ferry,as the gateway into Texas, when she placed the'United States Army there to defy travel over the Old San Antonio Road,to keep a lookout,and to keep out foreigners from Nacogdoches,The Trading Post. EI Camino Real,or (Old San Antonio Road),has the right of eminent domain as a super Highway across the continent, rewarding what is worthwhile in man,that our history,its his- toric scenery,may be read in our Nation's eyes,the dusk of a Royal Empire. The world's longest historic Highway,connecting two of America's capitals that laid the foundation for a Nation or Gov- ernment.This Highway was the groundwork in procuring meas- ures for order,shape,outlining a forum,an earth-born trail risen from,and whole embosomed by the rank and file of world. The story of this ancient Highway when actually written will begin with the contest between France and Spain for the possession of the country.It was along this Highway the Na- tional and International political changes were engaged in. It was the Highway over which all of the Government agen- cies travelled,from De Soto in 1542.St.Denis De Mezieres, and many others to win over the Indians to gain the country. Anathese D~Mezieres in 1770 travelled and called the road "EI Camino Real,"Royal Highway. Perpetuating one continuous chain of events across the continent,with the Spanish cavalcade rushing across to inter- cept the French and to drive them back;also the traders,trap- pers (the emissaries of the Government),and gold seekers and that band of outcasts that carne in hordes,and frequent skir- mishes in the open. Over this Highway came the flower of the Nation in de- fense of the Alamo,from Virginia,North Carolina,Tennessee, Mississippi,Alabama,Missouri,and Louisiana.Moses Austin, The Colonizer,and Stephen Austin his son,left an account of travel over this Highway into Texas. In honoring our First Provincial Governor in Blazing of MONUMENT TO DE LOS RIOS CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 321 El Camino,value to the world in greatness in giving this land a name differs in respect to other Highways and ascends into a class all its own. THE GREAT STRATEGIC MILITARY HIGHWAY A monument has been erected by the Texas Centennial His- torical Committee over at Normangee,Texas,and to be dedi- cated in Texas 1939,on the dividing line between Leon and Madison Counties,to Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios,when in 1691 he was made first governor of Texas;Monclova,its cap- ital,giving the first recorded official act of Spain in naming this area,"Texas". Nations were asked to honor the first governor of Texas, Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios and his blazing of El Camino Real in what was then called "terra incognito","The Unknown Land of new Spain." World leaders are to be present at the dedication of the monument to Colonial statesmen,and the perpetuation of his opening in the new world,Texas,and across a land-route for the progress of civilization and a nation. EL CAMINO REAL THE OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD FIRST BLAZED IN 1691 BY CAPTAIN DON DOMINGO TERAN DE LOS RIOS FIRST PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF TEXAS IN EXPEDITION OFFICIALLY DIRECTED BY FATHER FRAY DAMIAN MASSANET,O.F.M. APOSTOLIC MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER IN TEXAS General Route was Northeast from the Rio Grande to the San Antonio River,thence across the Guadalupe, San Marcos,Colorado,Brazos and Trinity Rivers to the Missions in East Texas Other Expeditions Taking the Same Route: Espinosa-Olivares-Aquirre in 1709; St.Denis in 1714;Ramon in 1716; Alarcon in 1718;Marquis of Aguayo in 1720; Stephen F.Austin,Colonizer in 1821; 322 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Located in the Midst of Various Impresarial Land Grants in Eastern, Central and Western Texas the Old San Antonio Road was Officially made a Boundary in the Texas Republic Laws Defining Those Grants. NORMANGEE Home of the Old San Antonio Road Association Erected by the State of Texas 1936 TEXANS HONOR THE FIRST PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OF TEXAS AND HIS BLAZING OF EL CAMINO REAL BY ORDERS OF THE KING OF SPAIN On May the twenty-fifth,1939,Texas and the Old San An- tonio Road Association is impressively planning to commemorate the two hundred and forty-eighth anniversary of Spain officially naming Texas (1691)and appointing the First Provincial Gov- ernor of Texas,Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios,making Mon- clova,Mexico,the capital;and the ordering of blazing El Ca- mino Real-a land route straight and direct across Texas to the Tejas Indians,and later,to Natchitoches,Louisiana,and the building of eight Missions among the Tejas Indians in Eastern Texas. Normangee,Texas,will play host for dedication of a monu- ment subscribed by the Texas Centennial,May 25,1939,with leaders in education,from Spain,Mexico,and France,from Texas Universities,on the program.The history of Texas and the southwest,in its fuller sense,will be told,gathered through translating and writing,from the obscurity of a forgot- ten past,to be given over in dedication;received into loyal hearts and minds of the citizenship of the land-that is Texas. Texas,commemorating EI Camino Real on this two hun- dredth and forty-eighth anniversary at the historic town of Normangee,consummated a work of a quarter of a century. A work with a twofold purpose-that of perpetuating history of the Southwest,and defining in truth and in fact,the route of EI Camino Real.Even as the Appian Way was traveled,so was EI Camino Real,a high way of ancient commerce-and the life of today-the present at hand,has its records held fast in that trail of the past. COHlJELL lIl'LL.SCCl'clulT of State CRO\VD ATTENDING DEDICATION CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 323 PROGRAMME Thursday-May 25,1939 Normangee Park-11:00 A.M. Judge M.T.Bennett,General Chairman Congressman Nat Patton,President,Presiding Bugle Call m 0 Bugler Invocation m Rt.Rev;Fr.J.B.Glessner America m O Normangee Band Greetings: City of Normangee u__m Mayor Pope Chamber of Commerce _m Hon.D.C.Holleman Welcome Address h Judge M.T.Bennett Introduction of Guests Congressman Nat Patton Music _Hearne Band Addresses: "Texas,The Land of God's Predilections"-Rev.Paul J. Foik,C.S.C.,Member of the Advisory Board of Texas Historians for the Commission of Control. "The Blazing of EI Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road,by Order of the King of Spain"-Dr.Carlos E.Castenada, Ph.D. "To Public Service of Stephen F.Austin,"Father of Texas" -Dr.Eugene C.Barker,Ph.D.,Prof.History,University of Texas. "The French in Contest of Texas,St.Denis of Fort Natch- itoches,La.,seeking to open First Trade Land-Route with Mexico-Dr.Ross Spheares,Historian of Louisiana.. "White Chief of Texas Indiana"-Hon.Clem F.Fain,Jr. "The Natchez Trace Natchitoches", "Old San Antonio Road Parkway"-Judge N.R.Stripling, President. D.N.Cushing,Grand Commander,Knights Templar of Texas. Music Huntsville Band Presentation to the State of Texas,a Monument commemorat- ing the 248th Anniversary of EI Camino Real,The Old San Antonio Road,Blazed in 1691 by Don Domingo Teran De Los Rios,by orders of the King of Spain. Unveiling of Monument-Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Honorary Life President of Old San Antonio Road Association. 324 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD PROGRAMME-Continued Music __m__m m_Normangee Band Placing of Wreath as a Living Tribute to the Men and Women who left to Posterity this Precious Heritage of Nobility, Beauty,and Good-Mrs.Gaston Palmer. Music ~Hearne Band Dedication and Acceptance of EI Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road-Hon.W.C.Davis,District Judge. The Road Dedication Fulfills a Dream-Hon.A.R.Crawford, Editor,Normangee Star. Ben edicti on R ev.C.E.Bullock BAND PARADE NATIONS HONOR EL CAMINO REAL,THE OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD More than fifty leaders,W orId Representatives of Govern- ment,Universities,States Organizations,Engineering,Political and Benevolent Societies,sent official representatives to honor the 248th blazing of EI Camino Real,by orders of the King of Spain,at a dedication of a Memorial to the oldest highway on the continent,when Spain named officially,in 1691,this "Texas" then terra incognito,making Monclova,Mexico,the capital,ap- pointing Don Domingo Teran De Los Rios the First Provincial Governor and ordering the laying out of a land-route,EI Camino Real,as straight and direct as he could find across this region; at the same time,to build eight Missions on Eastern part of New Spain among the Indians-who tied the name "Texas"to ihis land. The President of the United States,Franklin Delano Roose- velt,and Cabinet Secretary Cordell Hull,were invited,in ask- ing for Representation to be appointed for Spain,France,Mex- ico,of those Ambassadors of the countries whose flags flew over this State and were involved in its destiny for four hun- dred years.The President's Secretary,Mr.Early,conferred. with the Diplomatic Representation in Washington,of Spain, France,and Mexico,concerning the participation of their coun- tries in this celebration: :\IRS.LIPSCOMB I\OR VELL;"\.R.CRA vVFORD;MRS.C.E.BULLOCK IN BACKGROUND. PRESIDEKT FRA~KLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 325 Ambassador of Spain, Senor Don Juan Francisco de Cardenas, Charge d-Affaires of Spain 2700 Fifteenth Street,N.W. Washington,D.C. His Excellency Count de Saint-Quentin, Ambassador of the French Republic 1601 V Street,N.W. Washington,D.C. His Excellency Senor Dr.Don Francisco Castillo Ambassador of Mexico 2829 Sixteenth Street,N .W. Washington,D.C. N aj era Spain sent as Representative of the Texas Spanish Consul of Houston,Mr.Jose Faus,representing the Spanish Ambassa- dor and bringing a most cordial solicitation from that country. Representative of Mexico,Consulate Omar Josero of San Antonio,sent telegram of good wishes;as also Senor Fidencio Soria,Consul at Beaumont. Mexican and United States Consuls:Jas.B.Stewart,Con- sul General of U.S.Mexico City,Mexico,William P.Blocker, U.S.Consul,Monterrey,Mexico,Samuel Sokovin,U.S.Consul, Saltillo,Mexico,Romayn Womuth,U.S.Consul,Laredo,Mex- ico,Gilbert R.Willson,U.S.Consul,Piedras Negras,Mexico, Francisco Bolin Tobia,Mexican Consul,Eagle Pass,Texas,Omar J osese,Mexican Consul,San Antonio,Texas,and Fidencio Soria, Mexican Consul,Beaumont,Texas. Telegrams from U.S.Senators,Morris Sheppard,and Tom Connally all sent regrets and good wishes,also many state offi- cials. The dedication of Monument completes the Centennial Me- morial.A parade by the Normangee Chamber of Commerce, and High School bands,preceded the opening of the programme. On the platform were many notables of the'State in Fhiarice, 'Emgineering,'road huilding,educational centers.The patriot saints and patriot founders were well represented'by th€Cath- olic Heritage'of our State,and patriot'founders of the Protest- 326 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ant beliefs.The principal speakers on the Programme were Rev.Paul J.Foik,C.S.C.,Dr.Carlos E.Castenada,Ph.D.,Dr.' Eugene C.Barker,Dr.Ross Spheares of Many,Louisiana,Judge R.N.Stripling,Hon.Frost,of First National Bank,San An- tonio,and Judge M.T.Bennett. Judge W.C.Davis of Bryan dedicated and accepted the monument by appointment of the Governor of the State,with a capable address on the Significance of the Monument to the nation in its upbuilding with Texas.Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont,unveiled the Monument. Other officials at the dedication were the Press Association members of the Old San Antonio Trace Parkway;as also from Natchez,Mississippi,Natchitoches,and Many,Louisiana,Coun- ty and Commissioners'Courts;representation from the Sabine River to San Antonio,Texas. BLAZING OF CAMINO REAL (KING'S HIGHWAY)IS COM- MEMORATED IN NORMANGEE,TEXAS Commemorated of the 248th anniversary of the blazing of the historic King's Highway-EI Camino Real-the first road in the United States,blazed in 1691 by order of a king of Spain, reached its clamix Thursday,May 25,when a twelve-foot monu- ment,erected by the State Centennial Commission,in Norvell Park at Normangee,Madison County,was unveiled by Mrs. Lipscomb Norvell of Beaumont who has taken active interest in the history of the road since she was a child of eight years, residing at that time in Bastrop. PROGRAM The program which began at 11 a.m.,included music by four bands,a colorful parade with Normangee students dressed in costumes of early days,addresses by historians and state of- ficials,and by representatives of Mexico. Free barbecue was served by the Normangee Chamber of Commerce. Speakers included Rev.Dr.Paul J.Foik,C.S.C.member of the advisory board of Texas Historians;Dr.Carlos E.Cas- taneda,who traced the history of the blazing of EI Camino Real, and Dr.Eugene C.Barker,professor of history at the University of Texas,who spoke on Stephen F.Austin. Judge R.N.Stripling discussed plans for making a park- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 327 way along the Old San Antonio Road across Texas and Louis- iana to Natchez,Mississippi. Judge W.C.Davis of Bryan made the speech of acceptance of the monument,on which is engraved a short history of Cami- no Real. Franz C.Groos,President of the Groos National Bank, Mr.Thomas,Mr.Martin and W.A.Menger of San Antonio were among those present. This famous highway was blazed in 1691 by Capt.Don Do- mingo Teran de los Rios,first provincial governor of Texas.The general route of the road was northeast from the Rio Grande to the San Antonio river,thence across the Guadalupe,San Marcos,Colorado,Brazos and Trinity rivers to the missions in East Texas. The King's Highway in its full length now extends from Mexico City to Washington,D.C. To Mrs.Norvell this occasion was another step in the real- ization of her project,the preservation of the historic route, EI Camino Real.When she started in 1912,the road was mark- ed on only a few maps.Today it is the only highway created by Legislative enactment,and is paved with the exception of a few miles,throughout its length. RECEPTION Col.Andrew Houston,Son of General Sam Houston,Hous- ton,Texas. Mrs.Joseph Weardon,Chairman of State Prison Board, Victoria,Texas. Mr.and Mrs.Gaston Palmer,Director Natchez Trace Nat- chitoches,Old San Antonio Road Parkway Association,N or- mangee,Texas. Mrs.Madge Houston Hearne,President,Daughters of Re- public of Texas,San Antonio,Texas. Miss McMullin,State Regent,Daughters of American Revo- lution,Fort VVorth,Texas. Mrs.J.N.Gilbert,Daughters Republic of Texas,Beaumont. Miss Elizabeth Houston,President,Colonial Dames of Am- erica in State of Texas,San Antonio. Judge R.N.Stripling,President,Natchez,Natchitoches,- old San Antonio Road Parkway Association,San Augustine, Texas. 328 CAMINO REAL OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Miss Clara Driscoll,Democratic Committee Woman,Corpus Christi,Texas. Miss Adina De Zavalla,Texas Historian,San Antonio,Texas. L.W.Kemp,Chairman,Advisory Board,Texas Centennial, Houston,Texas. D.N.Cushing,Grand Commander,Knights Templar of Texas,San Antonio,Texas. Hon.Paul Page,Old San Antonio Road Association,Bas- trop. Jos.L.Mock,Secretary,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Road Parkway Association,Nacogdoches,Texas. Judge Nunn Crockett,Old San Antonio Road Association. Hon.Julian Montgomery,Engineer,State Highway Depart- ment,Austin. Mr.Blair,Mr.Bly of Bryan,Texas,and Mr.Gubbels,Chair- men,State Highway Beautification,Austin. Mrs.Stella Stevis Walker,Civic Leader,San Antonio,Texas. Mr.and Mrs.J.L.Wilbarger,Sons of Republic of Texas, Bastrop,Texas. S.T.Windsor,Old San Antonio Road Association,Norman- gee. Mrs.Clara L.Knott,Vice President,Natchez,Natchitoches Old San Antonio Road Parkway Association,Many,Louisiana. Dr.S.M.Byrd,Historian,Corpus Christi,Texas. Mrs.Roger Roberdeau,Secretary-Treasurer,Austin Fine Art Club,Austin,Texas. Dr.C.W.Butler,Old San Antonio Road Association, Crockett,Texas. Mr.and Mrs.J.H.Phelan,Philanthropists,Beaumont, Texas. Mr.and Mrs.J.E.Broussard,Benefactors,Beaumont,Texas. Mrs.N.P.Sanderson,Vice Regent,Daughters of American Revolution,Texarkana,Texas. Mrs.Avery Tarner,Writer,Amarillo,Texas. Mrs.Minna Hyman,Honorary State Regent,D.A.R.,San Antonio.. Mr.a~d Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Fort Worth,Texas. Mrs.Rush Norvell,Honorary Chapter Regent,Beaumont, ~u.. .., 1, II ---.--- MISS MARY KENNEDY,HARVEY NORVELL CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 329 Mrs.W.P.H.McFaddin,Honorary State Regent,D.A.R., Beaumont.. . Mr.Harvey W.Gilbert,Sons of Republic of Texas,Beau- mont,Texas. J.F.Smith,Historian,San Antonio,Texas. E.W.Winkler,Historian,Austin,Texas. Clarence Wharton,Historian,Houston Texas. Colonel P.W.Downs,San Augustine,Texas. Randall Moore,Civic Leader,Many,Louisiana. Edward M.Fraser,Civic Leader,Many,Louisiana. J.S.Pickett,Civic Leader,Many,Louisiana. Congressman Leonard A.Allen,Mansfield,Texas. Paul Sanderson,Civic Leader,Trinity,Texas. Mrs.1.B.McFarland,State Chairman Highway Beautifi- cation Committee,Houston,Texas. Mrs.Lynne B.Fall,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Parkway Association,Natchitoches,Louisiana. Mrs.R.S.Noble,Director,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Parkway Association,Sabine Co. E.H.Calloway,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Parkway Association,Sabine County. Clyde C.Russell,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Parkway Association,Sabine County. Max H.Mallory,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Parkway Association,Sabine Co. Paul Rounsaville,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old Antonio Park- way Association,Sabine County. R.W.Buce,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Park- way Association,Sabine County. Earnest Gross,Civic Leader. Mr.and Mrs.Cole,Civic Leaders,Alto,Texas. Mrs.C.Breazelle,Natchez,Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Parkway Association,Natchitoches,Louisiana. C.E.Cromartie,Mayor Caldwell,Texas. Charles ':Y.Anderson,Judge and Commissioners Court, Bexar County,San Antonio,Texas. Sam Rogers,Judge and Commissioners Court,Bexar Coun- ty,Hearne. .Judge McGowen,Judge and Commissioners Court,Wilbar- ger County,Vernon,Texas.. .R.B.Alexander,Judge and Commissioners Court,Bastrop, County,Bastrop;Texas..... 330 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Mr.and Mrs.Roland Jones,Beaumont,Texas. Mrs.Eugene Blount,Civic Beautification of Highway,Nac- ogdoches,Texas. UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN GIVES HISTORY OF EL CAMINO REAL Editor's Note:The following history of the Old San Antonio Road,El Camino Real,was read by Dr.C.E.Castaneda,Latin American Librarian of the University of Texas,at the EI Camino Real celebration in Norvell Park in Normangee Thursday.It gives in brief but gripping form an account of the blazing of the historic road. By C.E.Castaneda It was in that remote year 1519.The blue waters of the Gulf rolled unceasingly and broke with a shower of spray as the waters churned into a frothy foam.Along the coast majestically sailed four ships on a southwestward course.From their masts streamed out upon the breeze the royal Pennant of Castile and Leon while from their decks peered out in astonishment at the exuberance of virgin nature Alonso Alvarez de Pineda and his men.Thus Europeans caught the first glimpse of the Texas coast from the Sabine to the Rio Grande and for the first time mapped roughly its bays and inlets,its rivers and bayous. Pineda and his men passed by but did not enter.Beneath the tangled ferns and vines that twined themselves to form a mat of green lay hundreds of natives watching furtively the strange apparition of gliding houses with gleaming sails that shone like burnished silver.Through the underbrush,across the swampy lands of the coast,the rolling hills and the broad prairies narrow paths made first by myraids of deer and ante- lopes and buffaloes widened later by the savage hordes in the pursuit of the chase marked out the rudimentary course of fu- ture generations.Years were to pass ere the bearers of our chrilization tread upon the virgin ground to plant far and wide the seeds from which was to spring our modern era.The tangled maze of paths that crossed and criss-crossed aimlessly was to be distangled like a skein and the main thread that passed from tropical forests and marshy swamps across the rolling hills and the vast plains was to be made into a wide road leading from the seat of the Aztec empire to the wilds of distant Texas. CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 331 But let us follow step by step as it were the dawn of civili- zation in Texas whose light did not become bright and permanent until the Camino Real,the King's Highway,was opened to enable the torch bearers to penetrate the wilderness to illuminate it with ever increasing brightness.Only a few years later,in 1528, a remarkable man was cast with his companions upon the coast near Galveston.After six years of incredible sufferings Cabeza de Vaca and three companions escaped from the tyrannical yoke imposed upon them by the savage tribes of the Texas coast. Two years they spent in making their way laboriously to Cubacan on the Pacific Coast.They were in fact the first trail blazers to hew a patch across the entire continent.Then came from Florida the starved and famished survivors of the unfortunate De Soto expedition whose aimless and anguished wanderings across the east and central Texas puzzle historians today.The trail that led from Texas to the outposts of civilization in dis- tant Mexico had not been found. Fate of Providence in its mysterious way was even now a work.What the white men cast upon the Texas coast or driven into the Texas wilds blindly groped for the natives knew. For years before and for many years after Pineda,Cabeza de Vaca,and Moscoso saw Texas,the Indians made annual pil- grimages across the plains and traded from tribe to tribe with far away New Mexico and the outposts Coahuila and Neuva Vizcaya.But the time'when Spaniards were to discover the way was at hand. One day in 1685 from the Gulf again came ships bearing strange men who entered the placid and limpid stream now known as Garcitas Creek and established Fort St.Louis on its banks.La Salle and his men had evaded Spanish vigilance and the fury of the sea but ere the angered Spaniards found them they were to fall victims to prolonged privations and the merci- less cruelty of the sanguinary Karanakawa.Accidentally Span- ish authorities learned of the French incursion.The violation of Spanish sovereignty violently aroused officials in Spain and America and all eyes,all sails,and all feet were turned towards Texas to find and expel the invader.Like a powerful and re- sistless magnet,Fort St.Louis drew the Spaniards from Cuba, from Florida,from Veracruz,from Coahuila,from New Mexico and from Neuva Vizcaya.Like the north star it guided their steps to the heart of Texas.At last,four years later,in the spring of 1689,Alonso De Leon and Father Damian Massanet 332 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD with a group of determined soldiers who were the first to march over what was eventually to become the Camino Real from Mexi- co to Natchitoches,came upon the ghostly remains of the unfor- tunate French colony.Four desolate wooden structures with doors ajar and windows broken,scattered pieces of torn books and documents,rustic furniture and household goods strewn about,broken bottles and arquesbuses,rusty steel bloodstained in the futile struggle of the victims.A body here and there,and just beyond the stockade the form of a woman with a child still in her arms and her rotting clothes still clinging to the body gave mute evidence of mother's frantic effort to save her child.Thus to find the silent remains of an invading foe a road had at last been found from the outposts of New Spain to the distant province of the Tejas. Before Alonso de Leon and his companions returned they went beyond the fort in ruins to the land of the Texas.They passed by this very spot,or very near to it,blazing the trail for the Camino Real,the king's highway,better known in later years as the Old San Antonio road.The following year he and Father Massanet returned to establish mission San Francisco de los Tejas,the first in East Texas. It was in the following year,1691,that Don Domingo Teran de las Rios,recently appointed governor of the new Province of the Tejas,who in reality gave formality to the establishment of the official Camino Real from San Antonio to the village of the Tejas on San Pedro Creek,which was eventually to be pro- longed to Las Adaes,only seven leagues west of Natchitoches in Louisiana. Remarkable has been the history of this pioneer trail which grew to be the main artery of life in Texas through which flow- ed the life blood of the province.What tales of joy and the hopeful missionaries in 1691 to establish the first outposts of civilization only to steal away in silence and disappointment three years later as darkness closed upon the natives once more. Over it went back and forth the stealthy French traders like busy ants during these seemingly silent years in Texas history that preceded the reoccupation by Spain.This Camino Real was fol- lowed by the enterprising St.Denis in 1714 as he boldly set out to establish.trade with the Spanish outPosts on the Rio Grande~ unmindful that romance and love awaited him there.Back:over this same road he'brought his Spanish bride',the charming niece of the veteran niego Ramon with flashing'eyes and'blushing CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 333 cheeKs.The firm steps of the pompous Alacon resounded on this road as he led the first settlers and brought reinforcements to strengthen Spain's hold.Over this road fled the panic-strick- en and discouraged soldiers and missionaries from East Texas only one year later,in 1719,when the fugitives were saved by the cackling of hens rather than by the cackling of geese.Again in 1721-22 the pround Marques de Aguayo led the Spaniards over the same road back to East Texas and extended the road to Las Adaes,destined to become capital and be the further- most outpost of Texas from this time until 1772.Thus life flowed and ebbed over the Camino Real in the early years. Time steadily widened the road and increased the number of its users.Friendly Indians and savage foe,soldier and settler, missionary and priests all traveled over the Camino Real each upon his own errand of good or evil,of love and charity,of civili- zation and progress.It stood silent,serving all,being the means for the spread of civilization.Like the river bed that carries the life giving fluid across parched fields and endless waste land causing it to bloom,so did the Camino Real,the Kings's High- way,the Old San Antonio Road cause the wilderness to bloom, fields to be cultivated,homes to be built,communities to evolve along its windings,and civilization to flourish with greater vigor in a virgin country. Along this road flowed for almost a century and a half the stream of Spanish civilization which has left an indelible mark upon life in Texas.Early in the nineteenth century there flowed along this same road the stream of Anglo-Saxon civilization re- versing the current as it were.But the latter has not complete- ly replaced the former,rather has there been a fusion,like that of two streams coming together and mingling together,exchang- ing with each other and giving mutually the wealth of rich tra- dition and experience. It is fitting that this pioneer road,which has exercised so definite and profound an influence in the life of the state should be properly marked and its services recorded that future genera- tions may pause and reflect upon it.In the words of the im- mortal Van Dyke,let us say to the passerby as he speeds along this modern highway unmindful of its age and service: "Follow the marks that they have set beside The narrow,cloud-swept track,to be thy guide; Follow and honor what the past has gained, And forward stilI,that more be attained." 334 CAMINO REAL--OLD SA~ANTONIO ROAD Those before us have built deep and well.Let us carryon that in the years to come we may look back with satisfaction as we trace the landmarks which our humble efforts have left along the road of mankind's progress and advancement. REPRESENTING SPANISH AMBASSADORS Ladies and Gentlemen: As a resident of your great State,and also as Representative of His Excellency the Spanish Ambassador in Washington,who regrets sincerely his inability of being here today because of pressing Washington duties,I am highly honored to be here to commemorate with you another glorious event in the histories of our two nations. I am glad to be here to do honor to the first explorers that ever set foot in this territory,and to celebrate the reopening of the Camino Real,the very name of which evokes the forceful and glorious deeds of penetration,civilization and progress of my country in this great Southwest. Spain,and her citizens have always considered the most glorious part of their history,the work of their fore-fathers" in the discovery and exploration of the N ew World.Spain and her people today are grateful and proud of the recognition that is being given to this work and enterprise by all the nations of the Americas.Acts such as today's makes us feel that the hardships and privations of the first Spanish explorers were not in vain. Therefore,Ladies and Gentlemen,allow me to renew to you on behalf of His Excellency the Ambassador of Spain,and also of the Spanish people my sincere admiration of your work in this revival of a task which is both of my ancestors and of you here present.Allow me to express the sincere belief that the relations between our two nations shall evermore be cemented in significant and deeply touching acts such as today's,and al- low me personally to express my deepest gratitude for having given me the opportunity of joining you here,among all of you to whom I wish happiness and prosperity. MR.JOSE FADS, Representing the Spanish Ambassador. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 335 TEXAS,THE LAND OF GOD'S PREDILECTION The vast State of Texas has been blessed by Divine Provi- dence with a history that is unparallelled in the annals of any other State of the Union.As we draw back the curtains that conceal the past,a grand panoramic view presents itself.We behold scene_after scene,rivaling in heroic splendor,romance and chivalry the glorious deeds of famous men and women else- where in America. Like an Arabian Night's tale does the story of the ship- wrecked Spaniards of the ill-fated Narvaez Expedition to Am- erica unfold itself.Encouraged and stimulated by the Achieve- ments of other conquistadores and wishing to obtain fame equal to that of Cortes,Pamfilo Narvaez projected a settlement to be made in the territory bordering the Gulf of Mexico previously explored by Pineda for Garar,the Governor of the Island of Jamaica. The Narvaez Expedition consisted of five vessels,contain- ing six hundred voyagers,who embarked from Spain on June 17,1527.Along with these prospective settlers to the region came five Franchiscan friars,one of whom,before leaving Spain, was presented by the king as bishop-elect of the new region about to be settled,later known as Texas.The person desig- nated for episcopal distinction was Padre Juan Suarez,com- missary of the expedition. But fateful specters of distress and disaster accompanied the adventurers in all their journeys on sea and land.The tragic wanderings of this ever-diminishing group have been re- corded by Alvar Nunez,Cabeza de Vaca,who after eight years of travel in Texas and then west to the Pacific coast,went to Mexico City,where he told the viceroy,Antonio Mendoza,the gruesome experiences and startling adventures. The remnants,four survivors of the once motley throng, travelled naked among hostile,barbarous and cannibalistic tribes,enduring the hardships of exposure and enslavement forced on them by the savages with whom they came in contact. The wanderers,by God's help,performed many wonderful cures among the natives of this unknown land. The news of these great discoveries in the northern wilder- ness spread like wildfire.The glowing descriptions regarding wonderful places and many strange peoples,who inhabited them, caused Mendoza to send Francisco Vasquez de Coronado to pene- 336 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD trate still further the dark continent.Adventurous explorers and zealous missionaries offered their services to the leader. Hardly had Coronado finished his explorations,when hu- man holocausts were offered to sanctify the soil where the mis- sionaries had remained to labor,to sacrifice,and to die.Padre Fray Juan de Padilla had the distinction of being the first martyr within the limits of the United States and of Texas.In the heart of the Texas Panhandle,the missionary resolved to devote his life for the conversion of the Indians to Christianity. His influence with the savages prepared their minds and hearts for the word of God,and these roving children of the prairies loved him as a father.Here,amid these lonely surroundings, he soon shed his blood and gave up his soul to his Maker. Outstanding in the early history of Texas,are the miracu- lous visitations of the Venerable Madre Maria de Jesus de Agreda,more commonly known as the "Woman in Blue."Be- tween the years 1620 and 1631,she appeared more than five hundred times among the Jumano,Tejas,and many other na- tions.Like St.John the Baptist,she was the precursor of the Franciscan missionaries in Texas,and ga ve instructions in Christian doctrine to many Indian tribes.She had the miracu- lous power of bilocation,and the evidence has been substantiated, not only by accounts related by the Indians themselves in wide- ly separated areas,but by investigations made by Padre Alonso Benavides at the Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Agreda in Spain.The documentary sources are explicit and conclusive,that Venerable Madre Maria de Agreda had the miraculous power of bilocation and that she actually visited many tribes in Texas and the Southwest. Among the pioneers,the record of Venerable Padre Fray Antonio Margil de Jesus glows brilliantly.What St.Francis Xavier did for the conversion of India to Christianity,it may be said the same apostolic zeal was exercised by Antonio Margil in America.He established three of the six missions in East Texas and a few years later founded the Mission of San Jose in San Antonio,considered the finest structure of the Fran- ciscan period to be found anywhere in the United States.The virtues of Venerable Padre Fray Antonio Margil de Jesus were declared heroic in 1836.The process for his beautification and canonization has recently been resumed and Texas may some day have its own patron Saint.. The history of the Mission era in Texas is filled with many CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 337 other instances of heroic self-sacrifice.The outstanding sol- diers of Christ,who were martyred by the Indians,were Padre Jose Ganzabel in Central Texas near Rockdale,Padres Alonso Geraldo de Terrerors and Flores in the Rio Grande Valley on Texas soil. Time does not permit even the mention of the many estab- lishments erected by the Padres during the mission epoch.As you view the marker before you,you will note the numerous eI!- tradas and expeditions which traversed this region,following with their caravans the route to East Texas.That route was the Camina Real,the Royal Highway,a road of great historic importance even in our day.Let us picture to ourselves the Cavalcades of courageous men and women pursuing their weari- some journeys into this land so filled with thrilling experiences. The State of Texas,now throbbing with activity was once a lonely wilderness.This modern life and its civilization in America has their beginnings in the rosy-fingered dawn of time, the age of discovery and exploration when the padres and the conquistadores plodded their weary way thousands of miles northward into what was then called tierra incognita,the un- known land.They were blazing the trail of the Camino Real. They journeyed through burning hot and dusty deserts,barren rocky wastes,great areas whose rough open surface impeded these travelers at every step.They zig-zagged through long stretches of thorny mesquite and prickly cactus.They climbed up rugged mountains and descended dangerous and precipitous slopes that lacerated and bruised their bodies.They endured famine and thirst.They dragged themselves along by sheer power of will and the grace of God enduring agonies of the flesh and of the spirit.They finally arrived at their destination, placing the Cross of Christ and the royal standard of Spain on the soil of Texas. o What a Calvary of sacrifice and pain in this primeval wilderness,cruel and lonely in its surroundings,niggardly in provision of fruits for the sustenance of human life,hazardous and perilous by reason of the savagery and cannibalism that prevailed in many sections of the country!By what heavenly wisdom were God's elect led to endure this dark night of the soul,this utter abandonment and exile,this spiritual and physical crucifixion? In the modern epoch of Texas history,there is the same sustained interest.The pioneers had the difficult task of estab- 338 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD lishing home in a wilderness in which unyielding nature seemed to thwart their efforts.Isolated as they were hy wide expanses of territory on the very horders of savagery these homeseekers had a courage no less remarkable than their immediate fore- runners of the mission era.From their very entrance into this enchanted region,a land of mysterious romance and startling adventure,there was awakened in their souls a new and a strange enthusiasm,a creation of energy and vivaciousness in both body and mind,that reflected the characteristics of an environment enlivened with thrilling incidents so intimately connected with wild frontier life. No Knight-errant of the medieval days surpassed in hardi- hood the horseman of the plains.No chivalry of the court was more formidable than the valor and daring of these dashing cavaliers of the Southwest,living almost continually in the sad- dle and sweeping the expansive ranch lands with their gallop- ing steeds.They cared not for blandishments nor favors from anyone,for they were lords of all they surveyed.Here was born that independence and freedom which dominated their whole lives.Here was furnished that sturdy manhood that created heroes in war and champions in peace.Here blossomed. the ideals and the aspirations which attracted other migrations to this land of stirring adventure. Texas has been throughout the ages and is today the land of God's predilection.Texas,the land of the proto-martyr,Padre Fray Juan de Padilla;Texas,sanctified by the services of the Venerable Padre Fray Antonio Margil;Texas,hallowed by the miraculous visitations of the Venerable Maria de Agreda,the Woman in Blue;Texas,made sacred by the blood of many martyrs in every region of this wide expanse;Texas,the scene of bravery and self-sacrifice in every age of its chivalrous his- tory down to the present time.The souls of Padilla,Ganzabal, Terreros,Santiesteban,Flores and others speak from heaven and urge all to to carryon for the honor and glory of God and his kingdom here on earth. Over four centuries have passed since the first missionaries began their spiritual conquest of the Southwest.Nearly a hun- dred years before the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock on the New England shore,the Franciscan Fathers had labored suffered and died for the cause of Christianity.Nay,they did even more,they gave their lives as a complete oblation and as a supreme test of their fidelity and devotions.Their crowns JuDGE W.C.DAVIS CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 339 of martyrdom,richly jeweled with gems of ruby blood,enlive- ened by the richest garlands of virtue,the King of Martyrs. memorials that adorn the Cross of Christ,the King of Maryres. Long may he reign in this land of predilection,is the prayer that should be fervently offered by all of us on this occasion, when we are unveiling and dedicating this historic marker,com- memorating the Camino Real. JUDGE W.C.DAVIS MAKES DEDICATION SPEECH NORMANGEE UNVEILS MONUMENT TO TRAIL BLAZERS OF 1691 3000 Attend Tribute to Two Founders of EL CAMINO REAL Normangee,May 25.-A Spanish soldier and a French Fran- ciscan missionary,whose progress across Texas 248 years ago was marked by continual squabbling over questions of route and authority,were memorialized Thursday in a monument un- veiled impressively in Normangee Park. The monument,a delayed item of Texas'1936 Centennial commemoration,was dedicated to the most enduring achieve- ment of the soldier and the missionary-the King's Highway. Their route toward the Sabine in 1691 became EI Camino Real, the old San Antonio road,the chief artery across Texas for nearly two centuries after. FOUNDERS OF ROAD Their names,Don Domingo Teras de los Rios,the soldier, first provincial governor of Texas,and Father Fray Damian Massanet,the missionary,first to undertake the Christianizing of East Texas Indians,were inscribed on the monument as founders of the road. Attended by more than 3000,the ceremonies were con- ducted jointly by the Texas Old San Antonio Road Association, the city of Normangee and the Normangee Chamber of Com- merce.M.T.Bennett of Normangee,Secretary of the Road Association,was general chairman and Congressman Nat Pat- ton of Crockett,President of the organization,presided. 340 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD FOUNDERS OF THE ROAD The monument was unveiled by Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, of Beaumont,honorary life president of the Old San Antonio Road Association,and was accepted by District Judge W.C. Davis of Normangee. Speakers included ranking authorities on Texas history. Rev.Paul J.Foik,C.S.C.,President of St.Edward's University at Austin,discussed the pioneering of his church in Texas.Dr. Carlos E.Castaneda,librarian of the Garcia collection at the University of Texas,traced the founding of the road.Dr.Eu- gene C.Barker,professor of American history at the University of Texas,outlined the public services of Stephen F.Austin,who first rode into Texas over EI Camino Real to begin American colonization.Dr.O.Ross Phares of Natchitoches,official his- torian of Louisiana,discussed the route and its influence east of the Sabine.R.N.Stripling,President of the Natchez Trace Nacogdoches-Old San Antonio Road Parkway project,outlined the plans of his group. PARADE IS HELD The program was opened by a parade from the business district of Normangee to the park.After the dedication,a barbe- cue was served at the country estate of T.S.Batson. The Teran-Massanet expedition of 1691 was the third of the major explorations in the earlier Spanish activities within the State.It carried relief to missions founded by Fray Mas- sanet and Alonso de Leon in East Texas in 1690,but its influence was hampered by continual disagreements between the mission- ary between the missionary and Governor Teran. Its route across the state was followed by most of the later expeditions,and became established as the accepted road across Texas. Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Beaumont,Texas. Dear Mrs.Norvell: I want to congratulate you on your handling of the celebra- THE MADISONVILLE METEOR H.B.Fox,Publisher Madisonville,Texas May 27,1939 MRS.GAS TO X P AL:.\-1ER -- ~,.. '", JUDGE M.T.BENNETT.MRS.LIPSCOMB NORVELL, JUDGE W.C.DAVIS CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 341 tion for EI Camino Real,Thursday.I agree with Judge Davis that you have done a significant thing in keeping alive the memory of the pioneers who made the Texas of today possible. I'm sure that you will continue the work for making a park- way along the highway,and I want you to know I am ready to help any way I can,particularly,in a publicity way.I am glad you liked the story I sent the Houston Chronicle,and I hope you liked the special edition I published. It has occurred to me that the address of Dr.Castaneda, "The Blazing of EI Camino Real,"giving the accurate and en- tertaining history of the historic road,would be valuable in fur- nishing interest in the parkway if it were published in booklet form.I have the complete address,and if the road association is interested,would of course be glad to have the booklet issued from my plant.Incidentally,I own a complete printing and publishing plant,equipped to produce any sort of work,and in the future should an occasion arise requiring programs,book- lets,etc.,I would sincerely appreciate an opportunity to do the work. In addition to the news stories in The Chronicle and the Dallas News,I was able to get the East Texas Chamber of Com- merce to send out two articles to every newspaper along EI Camino Real,and I believe a letter from you thanking that or- ganization would be effective.The letter should go to Elmore R.Torn,agricultural and forrestry director,East Texas Cham- ber of Commerce,Longview,Texas. Whenever]can be of further service to you,please call on me. Yours very truly, (Signed)H.B.FOX. Nacogdoches,Texas May 26,1930. Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Edson Hotel Beaumont,Texas My Dear Mrs.Norvell:... .All my life.I have liked to see credit go to those who deserve it,and for that reason;I want to give .you the full credit for the grand success of the celebration held in Normangee yesterday. Certainly.,it was one of the best planned andmostspectacu- 342 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD lar events of this kind I have ever attended,and although it was a scorching hot day,I enjoyed the occasion tremendously. I want you to know that it is a real inspiration to me to know that we still have in this state some civic leaders like you, who are wining to give unselfishly of their time,money and ef- fort in promoting things for the upbuilding of our State. We are fortunate in having you as a member of the Nat- chez-Natchitoches-San Antonio Trace Association,because we know that through your enthusiasm,we will be moved to do more ourselves,and that through your influence we may be able to get those of authority to give the Natchez Trace or San An- tonio Road the recognition and attention that it deserves. With sincere personal regards,I beg to remain Respectfully yours, JOE L.MOCK,Manager Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce. 25 YEARS OF RESEARCH ENDS WITH BOOK BY BEAUMONTER By Mary Autry Higgins Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,whose efforts to establish the cor- rect route of the old San Antonio road,EI Camino Real,or King's Highway,have brought her statewide recognition,in ad- dition to the value of her work itself in research for over 25 years. The story of the Old San Antonio Road,or EI Camino Real, King's Highway,is really older than Texas.It is both legend- ary and authentic;legendary because it dates back as far as there is record of Indians,the Hasinai tribe who first beat the paths;and authentic because a gracious and persistent lady of Beaumont,Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,made it almost her life work. The old highway is inextricably linked with the history of Texas itself,for it was laid out centuries ago at the behest of the Spanish King,by instructions given to his representative in Mexico,the viceroy,passed on to Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios,first provincial governor of Texas in 1691. There were three purposes stated in the royal "junta";first: Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios was appointed first governor of Texas,with the capital at Monclova;second,Don Domingo was to find a new land route across his province to the Indians CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 343 on the eastern part,boundary the Sabine river,direct and non- circuitous,more inland,and thus safer than the route as ex- plored by Father Massenet and De Leon,who followed fairly closely the shores of the gulf. Third,there were to be built eight missions among the Tejas Indians,and this road was to connect the capital city of Mexico with those missions,lying along its far-flung border almost 2000 miles to the Northeast from Mexico City. In those three instructions was embodied one of the im- mense tasks of creating civilization in a New World,and also therein lies for Texas,regardless of other claims according to Mrs.Norvell,the distinction of claiming the oldest chartered highway in North America. From early childhood Mrs.Norvell says highways and their history held a fascination for her and the wonder of it was that the most fascinating of all lay alongside her very door.For she was born in Bastrop,and the Old San Antonio road passed through her birthplace,as it was laid out from Eagle Pass on ihe Rio Grande to Pendleton Ferry on the Sabine. She began to trace its history for her own amusement,but later,when mature years brought to her consciousness what a service she could render by definitely establishing its course, then began the exacting research which must he the proof of statements. Mrs.Norvell in the meantime had become a Daughter of the American Revolution (she is at present an ardent member of many patriotic groups)and after successfully denying the claim of another D.A.R.to the Santa Fe Trail as the oldest in America,she enlisted the aid of her Texas D.A.R.organiza- tion in providing tangible evidence and marking of EI Camino Real,or King's Highway in 1911. But more direct aid from the lawmaking powers was need- ed,so State Senator Nat Patton of Crockett,now Congressman, was approached and through his efforts and intense interest,a bill was passed in the 41st Legislature,giving Mrs.Norvell and the D.A.R.everything wished for in rediscovering and desig- nating exact lines and boundaries. The finest patriotic service was rendered by the D.A.R.in placing,as directed by Mrs.Norvell,State Chairman of Historic Spots,granite markers throughout Texas,marking the King's Highway,every five miles,128 markers in all,uniform as to size and lettering.This accomplishment ranks as one of the 344 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD organization's most brilliant services,and for the reason now to be set forth. Only last week Mrs.Norvell returned from Normangee, (where,by the way,she is affectionately termed "First Citizen," with a park named for her,because of her unceasing accomplish- ment and generous assistance)after a conference with Congress- man Patton who is now chairman of good roads in Washington. His news was that this ancient highway in its full length,em- bracing roads through Louisiana,Mississippi,Tennessee,North Carolina,and Virginia,straight through to 'Vashington,D.C., will doubtless be decided upon as a national defense military road. The road is the very same old San Antonio road-Natchi- toches-N atchez Trace highway in Texas and it might even be made into a 300-foot parkway. The old Spanish king might after all have created a valua- ble highway for national defense of our own United States,a road far enough inland,150 miles from the gulf,to be safe from naval attack,yet strangely enough following in general.contour the line of the gulf shore. The old Don,he of the long name,Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios,left a trail,which from Texas'first days has been a natural landmark,along with rivers and forests,used consistent- ly for land boundaries. Yesterday soldiers and missionaries trod the road,pushed through its dust and mud such expeditions as Espinosa-Olivares- Aquire in 1709;St.Denis in 1714;Ramon in 1716;Alaroom and others.Yesterday,Stephen F.Austin,Texas'immortal colo- nizer,traveled the highway in 1821;David Crockett its turns; United States troop marched along its length.Today it is a magnificent paved street for automobile travel. Mrs.N orveIl,as stated before,is responsible possibly more than anyone person for the establishment and preservation of the King's Highway,and she has been recognized as such in many ways.She is an honorary president of the Old San An- tonio Road Association,director of the Southwestern division, and a member of the United States Good Roads Committee. ..She was selected last year to dedicate the monument erect~ ed at Normangee by the Texas Centennial Commission,as a tribute to the first road blazed across Texas on the 238th anni,. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 345 Appropriate lettering is carved on the monument with all significant dates in the history of the highway included. Mrs.Norvell is at present engaged in writing a book,history of the highway,which is being complied with exactness,yet also trudging wearily along,chopping through a wilderness,by royal command,so that the "gospel"could be spread to savages, yet she never loses sight of the necessity for accuracy,and her statements are never without proof. It is a work of devotion to a cause,a single-minded purpose directed toward giving her state the results of faithful and care- fullabor over more than a quarter of a century.In Mrs.Nor- vell's own words the obligation is defined for generations suc- ceeding those old Spanish explorers and Texas colonizers to dis- charge. "The great historic King's Highway,stretching more than a thousand miles from the Sabine river to the Rio Grande,has been the pageant of centuries-the birth of a nation and the rise and fall of six flags.Worn,and trod by the bleeding feet of our heroic nation-builders,it is a sacred heritage to our peo- ple." NORMANGEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Mrs.P.L.Westmoreland Secretary Normangee,Texas May 29,1939 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell %Edson Hotel Beaumont,Texas. Dear Mrs.Norvell: Please accept our sincere thanks for your leadership,finan- cial assistance and active interest in the celebration held on last Thursday. It was a great pleasure for us to have worked with you on this occasion,and I feel that it was a great success and this suc- cess was due to you. We have had many favorable comments on this program, and I trust that the entire program of the day met with your approval. ..Normangee gained a lot of publicity from this program as well as the Old San Antonio Road which means so much to Tex- as and also to Normangee. 346 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Without your splendid assistance it would have been impos- sible for us to have carried out this program,but as it was I do not believe it could have been better. The Normangee Chamber of Commerce extends you a life time Honorary Membership,and we should like for you to visit us on any occasion that meets with your convenience. Yours very truly, NORMANGEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE By D.C.Hollemon,Chairman. REPLICA OF FIRST MISSION IN TEXAS IS COMPLETED Crockett,May 28.-This replica of Texas,first mission, San Francisco de los Tejas,has just been completed by CCC la- bor,working under supervision of officials of the Texas forest service.It is 21 miles northeast of Crockett and is in the south- western part of the 117 acre San Francisco Mission Forest (park)which was purchased by citizens of Houston County, and a few others over Texas. Citizens of Crockett and Houston County are planning a big celebration July 4 to formally dedicate this park.Neighboring cities over a wide area will participate in this celebration,which will be featured by an old-fashioned barbecue and a patriotic program headlined by some of the most prominent citizens in the State.Almost 100 years before the American revolution, and 145 before Texas was declared a free and independent re- public history was being written in the piney woods of East Texas by the Spanish under Capt.Alonzo de Leon,Governor of Coahuila.It was Father Manzanet who accompanied the above expedition that established this first mission in May,1690,on what is now Houston County soil. It is significant that one of the first official acts of the Cen- tennial Commission when it met in Dallas recently to organize and determine policies,was to authorize the Catholics of Texas to reproduce this mission on the Central Centennial Exposition grounds in Dallas for the 1938 exposition. .The construction of this mission replica will serve a double purpose..'In addition to again focusing attention on the site of the real beginning of Christian civilization in Texas,it is the in- tention of the Texas forest service to use the building as a museum for.the collection of historical relics and date. It was LaSalle who first won the Hasainai Indians'love for SAN FRANCISCO DE LOS TEHAS MISSION,HOUSTON COUNTY " DE LOS RIOS l\10NrMENT-TEXAS :.\lARKERS-MRS.XORYELL CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 347 the French,trading with them and later the Spanish had the love of the French to combat.The French weapons were the trader and presents.The Spanish defense was missions and priests. The domination of the Northeastern tribes,"The Hasainai Confederacy,"the kingdom of the Texas,was the object of France and Spain.To Christianize and to hold this country, the first Christian experience of the races,was to plant this mission in Eastern Texas among the compact of the Hasainai confederacy. In the handbook of American Indians,Dr.H.Bolton states, "The word,'Texas,'was the greetings of the Hasainai Confed- eracy Indian,meaning friends,allies,united we stand,"stating the same word as "CommiIito"of the Romans,meaning friends, allies,united we stand.Rome has immortalized the wolf,ev- erywhere,that nourished its founders,Romulus and Remus. Cannot we perpetuate the Hasainai Indian confederacy,who gave us the name Texas,his greeting to the world that issued out of his inner life according to what he felt in his heart, "friendship"to the world,and tied this name to our land,and housed and nourished and fed the world. The first capital of Texas was at Adae,now Robeline,Louis- iana,and later moved to San Antonio and continued the capital until Texas became a republic,San Augustine and Nacogdoches were then the gateway into Texas. Texas has unguessed gifts.To find them is the quest in education.From this starting point,the naming of Texas by the first race,begins to chart a trail through creative educa- tion,building up something already fine,to something finer. Highway into Eastern Texas,through the Hasainai Con- federacy Country where the missions were built and sites of the Indian mounds to be seen. MISSION SAN FRANCISCO DE LOS TEJAS WAS FOUNDED NEAR THIS MARKET MAY 24,1690 AT THE NABEDACHE (TEJAS)INDIAN VILLAGE Erected A.D.1934,by De Zavala Chapter Texas Historical and Landmark Association The mission was built among the Nabedache Indians,mem- 348 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD bers of the Tejas Federation of Indian Tribes,who were camped near San Pedro Creek.It was for this Federation of Indian Tribes that Texas was named,the name "T'ejas"meaning "friend."The mission was founded by Father Massanet and Captain Alonzo DeLeon,and was placed in charge of Father Miguel Fontouberta,who died there during an epidemic.Ac- cording to tradition,this epidemic which prevailed among the Tejas Indians was partly the cause of their turning against the missionaries.The medicine man,who was alviser to the Indian Chief,convinced the Indians that the holy water used by the missionaries was causing the existing malady.This maledic- tion,together with the shortage of food,and the misconduct of the soldiers caused the Indians to become belligerent,and the Spaniards were forced to flee.Although the authenticity of this tradition has not been definitely established,it is a known fact that the missionaries fled from the mission on the 25th of October,1693,and the mission was burned. A new gravel road has recently been constructed from this mission site to a connection with the State Highway No.21,at a point 20.9 miles northeast from the Crockett Courthouse Square.A large metal sign,giving directions to and descrip- tion of this historic site,has ,been erected at this intersection. In 1935 the C.C.C.Camp,located near Weches,erected a log building at the mission site,reproducing,as nearly as possible, a log mission typical of the early East Texas missions. Mission Santissimo N ombre de Maria was founded on the banks of the Neches river,about four miles northeast of Mis- sion San Francisco de los Tejas.This mission was in charge of Father Jesus Maria.A monument,identical to the one erected for Mission San Francisco de los Tejas,was erected for the sec- -ond mission,the inscription on the inserted bronze plate being as follows: MISSION SA~~SSI MONOMBRE DE MARIA WAS FOUNDED IN THIS VICINTY SUMMER 1690,"ON THE BANKS -:OF-ARCANGEL SAN -MIGUEL" (NECHES)RIVER Erected.A.D.1934,by -DeZavala Chapter Texas Historical and Landmark Association .The monument marking this mission site is located on the LITTLE ANGEL CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 349 banks of the Neches River,about one-fourth of a mile up the river from the new Neches River Bridge on State Highway No. 21. Mission San Francisco de Los Neches was establisherl in 1716.The site of this mission has been partially identified as being located north of the Neches River on the west bank of Bowles Creek in Cherokee County.Three large Indian mounds are located on Highway No.21 south of the mission site and a short distance north of the new Neches River Bridge.These mounds can easily be seen and identified by the traveler. The old Stage Coach Inn,located on Highway No.21 about five miles east of Crockett,was built by Joe Rice in 1830,and was used as an over-night stop on the stage line.This old build- ing,in its original form,is still standing,and is now being used as a barn.It is related that General Sam Houston and other famous persons stopped at this inn. LITTLE ANGEL,INDIAN HEROINE,WINS SPOT IN HISTORY.RIVER OF ETEX NAMED IN HER HONOR;EARLY VILLAGE LOCATED. The beautiful story of Angelina,the "Little Angel"of In- dian lore for whom both county and river were named,has been given new luster by recent findings of history lovers.The idyl- lic account of the Indian girl whose charm affected'the desti- nies of three nations has been revealed as a moving,true-to-life picture of one of the unique figures in Texas history. The Little Angel always has had a definite role in the saga of the Piney Woods country but tangible evidence of her exist- ence has been vague.It was known that her native home was in Angelina Village,named in her honor,but until recent months the site of the Indian settlement had not been determined.It was believed too,that she was influential in the establishment of Mission Concepcion more than 200 years ago somewhere near the present city of Nacogdoches,but historians were un- able to agree on the site,nor could they find any traces of the old structure.Angelina is mentioned briefly in the diaries of early adventurers and in accounts of early expeditions but these references contained but 'Scant information.She is known to have been well educated and to have given aid to Belisle and St.Denis,French Explorers,and to have assisted the Spanish priests in their missionary work among the Indians.Still 350 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO itOAD there was no coherent,authenticated chronicle of her activities. Legends found their way into the fragmentary story of her life and it became difficult to separate the real from the imaginary. LOCATES VILLAGE SITE It remained for R.B.Blake,court reporter at Nacogdoches and an avid student of Texas history,to dispel much of the mystery surrounding Angelina.Through tireless research he not only has pieced the story together,bit by bit,but has lo- cated definitely the site of Angelinas Village and found what he believes to .be the ruins of the old log mission.Blake's find- jngs have been accepted as authentic by the State Highway De- partment and are listed in the official guide to his historic points of interest,issued by Division Engineer Tom H.Huffman, of the eleventh division,comprising nine counties of this area. According to Blake the village was fifteen miles east of the present city of Nacogdoches on the Angelina River near the in- tersection of Mill Creek.The settlement was the capital of the confederacy of Hasainai Indians,which included the Tejas tribes, for which Texas was named.The red men,peaceable and friend- ly,co-operated with the Spanish in their missionary work.It was there,presumably at the request of Angelina,that Mission Concepcion was established.This mission,abandoned a few years later,was re-established under the same name near San Antonio.It is one of the famous mission group,still in an ex- cellent state of preservation,that annually attracts thousands of sightseers.The original Mission Concepcion was built only a few years after the establishment of the first Spanish Mission in Texas,which was erected in 1690 near the present town of Weches,Houston County.This mission,known as San Fran- cisco de los Tejas,was restored in 1935 and surrounding grounds were made into a State Park. INDIAN GIRL CHARMS ALL The Highway Department guide says:"The Franciscan Fathers,in their visits to the Hasainai Indian village east of Mis- sion San Francisco de los Tejas,found a young Indian girl who was much attracted to their doctrine and expressed a wish to learn their language.She was invited to go to the mission to receive instructions.She did se,and soon became devoted CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 351 to her work and her new environment.Her studious,habits, gentle and affable ways so charmed all who knew her that they applied to her the name of Little Angel,and called her native village Angelina's Village.The stream that flowed by the vil- lage was called Angelina's River. In 1693 when the mission had to be abandoned,Angelina had not progressed in her work far enough to speak and write the Spanish language,and she either had to abandon the work she had set her heart upon,or leave her people and her home. She chose to accompany the priests and soldiers to Mission San Bautista on the Rio Grande,where she remained for more than ten years,perfecting herself in her studies and where she be- came an object of much attention from the missionaries, On July 7,1716,Espinosa wrote:"I went with the captain as far as two bubbling springs which do not seem large enough to supply the people of this village." In describing the natives of the village he said: "The particular traits which we have observed in this people are their loyalty to their lands and the skill with which they construct their houses.These have high beds for everyone,and compartments of wood were large baskets of nuts and beans are stored for the whole year.They are very charitable among themselves and assist one another in their necessities. "They recognize a superior head,who directs them when they have to work,and there is one who gives them orders and punishes them harshly when they do not go to work or if they are lazy." Pena's Diary of the Aguayo EArpedition in 1722,also men- tioned Angelina.He said:"The cacique of the Hasainai,whom all Texas tribes recognized as their superior,arrived with eight Indian chiefs and four Indian women.Among the latter was Angelina,who had been brought up on the Rio Grande and in Coahuila and who acted as interpreter,being acquainted with the Spanish as well as the Texas language." BIRTH DATE NOT KNOWN Blake's researchers as yet have revealed no information as to the date of Angelina's birth or of her family background.He believes,however,she was the daughter of a Hasainai chief and tnat she was still a young girl,probably in her early teens,when the Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was established near 352 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD the Neches River in 1690.Blake also has located the site of the presidio or fort,built by Captain Ramon two and a half miles northeast of the mission.There twenty-five Spanish soldiers were quartered. Mission Concepcion,along with three other missions,all log structures,was established in the Nacogdoches area in 17]6. Concepcion was in the Hasainai Village,capital pueblo of the East Texas Indians.The founders had hoped to forestall any possible invasion of the French forces.For a while the missions pros- pered.But in 1718 there was a serious crop failure and the French forces began their advance into Texas.The missionaries retreated to San Antonio.In 1722 the Spanish Government, hoping to prevent further incursions of the French on Texas soil,sent San Miguel de Aguayo into East Texas and the expe- dition made its way to the village of Angelina,where the Indian girl,according to the belief of most historians,induced Aguayo to re-establish Mission Concepcion. HER FAT~A lY1iST.h:RY The East Texas missions,however,were destined to early abandonment.In 1731 Concepcion was re-established in San Antonio and a permanent structure erected.This mission,one of the most beautiful of the San Antonio group,was destined to play an important role in the Texas struggle for independence more than a century later.It was there,on October 28,1835, that ninety-two men,under the command of James Bowie,gained a decisive victory over a force of Mexicans numbering between 300 and 400.Only one Texan was killed in the engagement, Richard Andrews.The Mexican was killed in the engagement, Old records have yielded no information of Angelina after 1721 or 1722.It is presumed she spent her last years with her tribesmen,but her eventful fate is not known. Old court records,dating back for nearly 100 years,enabled Blake to determine the exact size of Angelina's Village.This was done through references to the two bubbling springs,found in the transcript of early court testimony.He knew,from oth- er information he had gathered,that the springs would make definitely the site of the village and that there should be some remaining evidence of the mission near by. $l'.AT[MIIMWA.'"COIl1l"'55101ol 101 )'H,"~Ch."...... John Wood:.... 0 '..1Kr "'UO'IC1\"","'''.lIlg'''~~ ---------.------ , r.., I TEX"S snTE HIGHW"Y DEPARTMENT .. ..E ,.:'. .. ' ....'.-..,,'-'.'-..'.'.. "....-oJ'.~__.._... '" ..'...~... ~'.'I ....,:r ~"I',(~..,...",...,...,0"."". ..., ""~"(" ,,,'uur.w,.,,; ">1"1."C:'If~O:..'"Co~o ,.~",.. ':"01'''0 ..O.U__ce~...',ua _..."c'rl 1"..".~.., '''0t"~'(.I~'(,.,~D.:I... 0- . .:'~'!'U:L I.ESIJI .\XDi'"1:t,'''" "ur "'"!){"'10'.8 .I,/.11",\J, _'.\."11 4\ L_4______ 354 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD March 20,not very far from Alto,according to our local his- torian,E.W.Cole. The Alto territory has always been an important section, and in the days of the Hasainai Indian Confederation,this was the capital and home of the Grand Xenisi,King of the Neches, who rules over the allied tribes of the Tejas Indians,who gave their name to Texas."Tejas"means friend,and from the dawn of history to the present time,his has been known far and wide as a friendly,hospitable community.And Alto still maintains the traditions of the past in being friendly people.The first European settlement in the Alto territory was made July 3, 1716,when Captain Ramon,Father Espinosa,Father Hidalgo, Castallano,St.Denis,Angelina,and many other Spanish nota- bles established the mission of San Francisco de los Neches, blessed it at a nearby spring of water and dedicated it to the service of the Neches Indians,to the glory of God and the Span- ish King. Although Mission San Francisco de los Neches was aban- doned in 1763,and the mission of East Texas moved to San An- tonio,the Alto section was not forgotten by any means.It was quite national that many adventurous Americans,hearing of the beauties and riches of these wonderful lands would soon come teeming over the border seeking homes for themselves and families along the old Camino Real. THE TEXAS NATION On April 25,1796,Solis,on a long march through southern and eastern Texas,having crossed the Guadalupe,the Brazos and the Trinity,reached what he called the San Pedro river, probably San Pedro creek in either Houston or Cherokee coun- ty,and near the Neches and the sites of the two first missions in east Texas.Now he is in the country of the Tejas. Quoting the Diary: "The word Tejas comes from techi,which in our language (Spanish)means friend;Tejas Indians,therefore,means friendly Indians,notwithstanding the fact that they are very dishonest and become intoxicated with brandy and wine fur- nished by the French of Nachitos (Natchitoches)with whom they trade."The Sabine then was the dividing line between Spanish and French territories. "The men of this tribe are fair complexioned,handsome CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 355 and well proportioned;they go about without any clothing ex- cept a breech-cloth,are all covered with red and other colored paints and are adorned with beads and feathers of various col- ors.The women,with blonde,disheveled hair,are most beau- tiful,white-skinned,and pleasant.They wear shamois dresses that are embroidered and adorned with fringes,use beads of various colors,and hang long,smooth bones from the lobes of their ears.They live in round huts that look like cupolas and that are very warm,for they are thatched from the roof to the ground,and they have their beds resting upon poles,and sleep between tanned bison skins. WOMAN SAN AT A ADIVA "The Tejas Indians live on corn,of which there is a great abundance because the land is very fertile and produces two crops a year,and each stalk bears at least three ears.There is another food which they use,known as tuqui,and which is much like the casava of Havana.In their gardens they grow plums, medIal's,figs,chestnuts,strawberries,various kinds of peaches and other fruits.Just as the people of Spain make a sort of preserve from figs,these Indians make it from medIal's,and keep it in order to offer to their friends or sell it to the Spanish and French.They raise chickens and turkeys and have a breed of dogs called jubines,that are a cross between a wolf dog,and a coyote,that have thin pointed noses....These dogs are quick of scent,easily provoked and just as dishonest as their mas- ters. "There lives in this town an Indian woman,known as San- ate Adiva,that is,the great or principal lady.She enjoys con- siderable authority,is waited on by a large body of attendants, and has a large house with many rooms.She receives gifts from other tribes and has in her service many men and women, and also tamas and conas,that is,priests and captains.She has five husbands,and is,in a word,just like a queen among them.I met also in this town an apostate,named Alcon,and whose Christian name was Antonio,who with his three children had run off from the San Antonio de Bejar mission.Very few of these Indians have bows-and arrows,but all have guns and are very skillful in the use of them.The French at Nachitos supply them with powder,bullets,beads,breech-cloths,brandy, and other things.'Vhen an Indian of this tribe dies;he is bur- 356 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ied in a sitting posture,with his gun,powder,bullets,meat and other edibles,a gourd filled with water,and all his feathers and beads." REACHES THE NECHES Here Solis tells of coming to the banks of the Neches,"a deep river shaded by a great number of trees.""Farther on", he continues,"we reached the Angelina."In this river,which is deep,though not very wide,we found drinkable water and many fish.We crossed and after traveling for some distance came to the Litera creek.During the day we have journeyed over hills and plains and through woods that were green,al- though along the way we were bothered by ticks,mosquitoes, gnats and chigres.In these parts there are large towns inhab- ited by Tejas,Asinais and Navidachos,pagan tribes that,al- though friendly,are dishonest and easily aroused. The diary tells of a call from "Captain Sanches,a pagan Indian of great influence."It recites of the march through Sabine County,across Carrizo and Palo Gacho creeks,which still bear the same names,and on to Adais mission,near Nacog- doches.It is difficult at times to realize that the writer is back in the middle part of the 18th century,visiting missions which were even then years old.When he speaks of the blonde wo- men,the fact is probably responsible to intermarriage between the soldiers of previous expeditions,and the Indians.The first white men,you recall,came in to East Texas as early as 1690. That was about 65 years before the Solis entrada. Reaching the Dolores mission,on the city of San Augustine, in the country of the Ais Indians,a tribe of the Tejas,the diary goes on to say. AIS BLACKLISTED "The Indians of the Ais tribe are the worst in the province. They are addicted to drunkenness,dishonesty,mitoes,and other dances,and to every kind of vice,especially lust.They are in- dolent,bold and shameless,and in several instances,both by word and deed,have shown a lack of respect for the padres and have gone so far as to lay their hands on them." One June 20 the marchers reached Nacogdoches,the mis- sion of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Albuquerque de los Nacogdoches. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 357 "The tribe that live near this mission,"the diary continues, "are the Nacogdoches,Navidachos,Cadodaches,Asinais and N azones.The members of all these tribes are gentle,peaceable, and good natured,and but seldom can there be found one that is wicked and perverse.They raise large crops of corn and have magnificent horses.All of them are armed with guns,and in the hunting season they lay in a supply of bison,deer,and bear lard.They show great cunning and shrewdness in hunting these animals.When approaching a clearing they stay for a while in- side the woods to observe if there be any animals within sight. If they discover none,they cut off a large branch from some shady tree,and with this hide or cover themselves in such a way that at a distance it is impossible to distinguish whether or not they are men.To spy human beings that chance to leave or enter the woods,they climb into some big,tall tree along the roadside,and from its branches they examine everything about them without being seen. The Indians of all the tribes inhabiting this province of Texas admire and respect valor and bravery,and for this rea- son the one showing greatest courage is chosen as captain." THE FRIENDLY TEXANS There were blonde white-skinned Indian women living on the Neches river in East Texas in the middle part of the Eight- eenth century.They and their Indian men,handsome and well- proportioned,dwelt in round huts which resembled cupolas.They grew corn with three ears to the stalk and in their gardens were plums,medlars,figs,strawberries,and wild peaches.They raised turkeys and chickens,and had a sort of half-wild dog,called the "Jubine,"which is described as "dishonest as his masters." Over this strange tribe ruled a woman called Sanate Adiva, who had five husbands and was waited upon by a large body of attendants,"living like a queen." THE FIRST WHITE MEN These and other lost stories of East Texas Indians,along with descriptions of the savage Karankawas,have come"to light in a group of remarkable diaries of valiant Franciscan fathers- the padres-who "left their missionary colleges below the Rio Grande in Mexico not .long after the Cortez and Coronado con- 358 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD quests,to penetrate the dense,unknown,and mysterious coun- try of the Tejas as far east as the then unnamed rivers of the Brazos,the Trinity,the Neches and the Sabine.They went as far north as the Red river,to the strange country of the Caddos. Their diaries tell of unbelievable sufferings-these first white men to enter East Texas. They built their first missions,two of them separated by a few miles,on the Neches river about 120 miles north of Beau- mont and probably came within 50 or 75 miles of the site of this city on their painfully slow marches.The missions they first established,which,after a short time had to be abandoned,were built well before the now famous missions of San Antonio,in- cluding the beloved San Antonio de Valero,now the historical Alamo. These were not built for 26 years after the missions of San Francisco de los Texas,and Santisimo Hombre de Marie,whose crude foundations for log structures were laid in 1690 on or near the Neches. For the first time,through these valuable diaries,and es- pecially in that of Padre,Fray Jose de Solis,"during his visita- tions of the Province of Texas"in 1767 the Tejas Indians be- came ilesh-and-blood people..The diaries,and especially that of Solis,answers the question:What sort of a man was the East Texas Indian? THE WOMAN IN BLUE In seeking the answer it comes to light that his has been one of the least known of the tribes or nations,which inhabited the American continent prior to the coming of the white man. The alluring story,which has come down through the years to be known as the Woman in Blue,had much to do with the missionaries'entradas from the Rio Grande to East Texas,and even prior to that,to the wilds of New Mexico. The Woman in Blue was Mary Caronel of Agreda,Spain. In dreams Mary Caronel was transported to a strange land of Indians-where she made conversions among them.[Padre Damian,Mazanet,a member of the Franciscan college at Quer- taro,Mexico,had begun his services on the Coahuila frontier, as early as 1687.He became interested in the story of Mary of Agreda and embraced the opportunity of going with Alonzo De Leon to Matagorda bay and thence into East Texas. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 359 On the Neches river,probably in Cherokee County,in 1690, he and fellow priests,with a column of soldiers and civilians and droves of horses and cattle,stopped at an Indian villiage to erect a mission.There it was that the Indians knelt when the priests showed them blue cloth;when they told the priests that that was the color of the dress which -the Woman in Blue had worn when she came to them.Similar stories were told by the French from east of the Sabine river,of meeting Indians who told them of the strange Woman in Blue. NATION OF THE TEJAS But far older than these are the stories from New Mexico, about 1623.Father Juan de Salas encountered Indians who told him of the mysterious figure of a white woman dressed in blue.Legend or not,however,the story induced Mazanet to come into East Texas,and his march opened the territory for the first time. Texas comes from the word Techi,which means friend. 'While the Tejas is not clearly defined as to boundaries,it in- cluded the counties of Anderson,Houston,Trinity,Polk-west of the Neches-and the counties of Cherokee,Angelina,Nacog- doches,Shelby,San Augustine,Angelina and,only possibly,Sa- bine,Jasper and Newton.The nation probably did not extend to what is now Hardin,Jefferson and Orange counties.There were within the nation many tribes with strange names.On the coast were the Karankawas,whose bones were being dug up as this was being written,and who were savage,cannibalistic, and hated and feared by the inland tribes. The word Texas itself has many variations in spelling,which include Tevhas,Teija,Teyens,Teyas,Texia,Teisa,Teias,and Tehas,while the nation was known also by the name of Asinay. TEXAS INDIANS EXTINCT During the seventeenth and the first years of the eighteenth centuries they are known to have numbered thousands.Today, little more than 200 years later,lucky indeed is the anthropo- logist who can upturn their rotting skeletons-"buried (the diaries record)in an upright position."Save for a few excep- tions,men do not know where their scores of villages or ranches stood.They have entirely forgotten their language and only 360 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD a mere remnant,a wisp of their original tongue,is left-if that be the case at all-in the now existing tribes of redmen in the southwest.So far as the extreme southeastern corner of Tex- as is concerned,the early story of the Tejas Indians is almost a blank-a mystery.Those Indians which the first settlers found,and who gradually left,were probably tribes from the east,driven farther and farther west.This was the case with the Alabama Indians,250 of whom live on their 'r3servation in Trinity County now. The present generations of East Texas,when they turn to the very early history of their state,have been content to pick up the story in the late eighteenth century,at about that period when the Spanish missions were abandoned for all time,and when white men,French and Americans from east of the Sa- bine,and Mexicans from below the Rio Grande and the settle- ments and missions on and north of that important river,began to come in and slowly settle the country. Few have been able to go far into the beginnings of the story of Texas for the reason that there has been all too little material with which to work.No finer nor more intimate de- scriptions of the Tejas or Asinia Indians will probably ever come to light than those of the missionaries.The diaries were for- gotten and when they were brought to light they came as voices from the dead.These descriptions,in the priests'official diaries, have been given to the public through the Texas Catholic His- torical Society at St.Edward's University at Austin. The leading light in the work of translation and presenta- tion was the Rev.Paul Foik,C.S.C.,Ph.D.,President of the Society.The material presented in several of the works,is startlingly rich in description of East Texas,of its woods and streams,which were all given Spanish names,and often renamed by leaders,both military and spiritual,of the various entradas or marches. ANGELINA COUNTY Angelina County has a romantic origin.The Franciscan Fathers,in their visits to the Hasainai Indian village east .of Mission San Francisco de los Tejas,found a young Indian girl who was much attracted to their doctrine and expressed a wish to learn their language.She was invited to go to the mission to CAMINO REAIr-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 361 receive instructions.Her studious habits,gentle and affable ways so charmed all who knew her that they applied to her the pet name of "Little Angel,"and called her native village "Ange- lina's Village,"The stream that flowed by the village was called "Angelina's River." In 1693,when the missions had to be abandoned,Angelina had not progressed in her work far enough to speak and write the Spanish language,and she either had to abandon the work she had set her heart upon,or leave her people and her horne. She chose to accompany the priests and soldiers to Mission San Bautista on the Rio Grande,where she remained for over ten years,perfecting herself in her studies,and where she became an object of much attention from explorers and travelers.Fa- ther Espinosa,in his diary,tells of finding her in her village when the missionaries went to refound the mission in 1716.In 1719 the French again invaded Texas and drove the missiona- ries away,but Angelina remained at her post,for in that same year a lone Frenchman (Belisle)tells of finding her there when he was lost in the wilds of Texas.Pena's dairy says she was still there in 1721,and one of a party of leading personages of the village,including eight Indian chiefs. The site of "Angelina's Village~'has recently been identi- fied.It is located on Mill Creek,in what is now Nacogdoches County,about seven and one-half miles south of Douglass. The present county of Angelina,which was created and or- ganized in 1846,was named for the river bearing Angelina's name.The first deed on record,in which land in Angelina Coun- ty (then a part of Nacogdoches County)was conveyed,states that the rollowing considerations were involved:one white shirt, eight brass bracelets,one handful vermillion,one fathom of rib- con,one gun,fifty charges of powder and ball.This deed was dated May 10,1801,and conveyed five and one-half leagues of land to Vincente Michelli,the land having originally belonged to Surdo,Chief of the Bedias Indians."Angelina's Trail"from San Francisco De Los Tejas Mission in Houston County,run- ning through Alto,Nacogdoches,San Augustine County to Ad.a~ Mission Site west of Robeline,Louisiana,should be marked through the counties "Angelinas Trail,"the same as "Poca- hontas Trail"in Virginia,giving notoriety to this history of the State... 362 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD HOUSTON COUNTY Houston County,originally part of Nacogdoches County, was created and organized in 1837,and was named for General Sam Houston. Crockett,the county seat of Houston County,is situated near the south slope of Cook Mountain.During the Mexican War it was nothing more than a small village.David Crockett stopped at this village on his way to the Alamo and camped un- der a large oak tree near a spring about five hundred feet from the main square of the present town of Crockett.This oak is now called the Davy Crockett Oak,and the spring also carries t he name of Crockett. A few years after Crockett camped there,the inhabitants of the village decided to name their town.The names of both Crockett and Bowie were voted on,and the first vote was a tie. A second election was held in the fall of 1837,resulting in the name of Crockett receiving the majority of votes.Highways Numbers 19,21,103,and 106 pass through the town of Crockett. Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was founded in 1690. Many historians claim this to have been the first mission found- ed in Texas.The approximate sites of this mission and the sec- ond East Texas Mission (Santissimo Nombre de Maria)were recently located by Dr.Albert Woldert of Tyler and Miss Adina de Zavala of San Antonio,assisted by Mr.J.M.Lovell of Au- gusta,Texas.On September 21,1934,granite monuments were erected at the sites of the first and second East Texas missions. The monument on the site of the first mission has an inserted bronze tablet,bearing the following inscription: NACOGDOCHES COUNTY Nacogdoches is one of the oldest towns in the State,its historical importance dating back to 1716.Many old landmarks, remindful of each of the six flags under which Texas served, are to be found here.Nacogdoches played an important part in the freeing of Texas.It was here that the smouldering flames of unrest were fanned into the rebellion that led to the independence of.Texas. "The Royal Street from the North"was the road from Nacogdoches to the Pueblo of the Masonite Indians.The history of ~ast Texas was traced in its dust.After the sandal prints CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 363 of the missionaries and their barefoot neophytes came the boot- heels of ruthless Spanish soldiers,hoof-prints of expeditions of French traders and American filibusters,confused patter in wheel-ruts of ox-carts and cannon carriages.And all of these in turn,have long since been worn away by the busy traffic of peaceful growth. "The above description of North Street graphically de- scribes the oldest street in Texas,unless it be its companion, Main Street,or as the Spaniards called it 'La Calle Principal." When the French and the Spanish explorers first came to N ac- ogdoches more than two hundred years ago,it was a street in a busy Indian pueblo." North Street intersects Main Street in Nacogdoches at the Courthouse Square,and traverses present Highway No.35 to the north city limits of Nacogdoches.This has always been the principal residence street of Nacogdoches;the homes of such great men of Texas as General Thomas J.Rusk,Judge Charles S.Taylor,and many others bordered on this street.Such nota- b1e people as Captain Gil Y'Barbo,Sam Houston,James Bowie, and David Crockett have left their footprints on this famous old street. Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Nacogdoches, founded by the pioneer missionary,Father Margil in 1716,was abandoned in 1773,and was again brought into use in 1779 when Gil Y'Barbo returned to Nacogdoches and built his settlement around it.This was the last of the four missions established in East Texas in 1716,and it was in this mission that Father Margil,president of all the missions,took up headquarters to guard the outpost of the Spanish dominion in the new Philip- pines.Romance and bloodshed trace the history of this old mission until 1802,when its use was discontinued,and a parish church was erected on Church Plaza,across the street from the present courthouse in Nacogdoches. The church on Church Plaza was seized by Colonel Jose de los Piedras in 1827,and used for barracks for his soldiers.All the mission lands in Texas were taken over by the Republic of Mexico in 1831.From 1831 until 1847 the Catholics had no regular church building,and the old "Stone House"was fre- quently used for church meetings. In January,1840,the Reverend John Murray Odin was sent into Texas by the church for the purpose of correctu1g certain abuses that had grown up,and to revive an interest in church 364 CAMINO REA,L-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD affairs.He and the Right Rev.Father Timon held a series of meetings in the old "Stone House,"and one of the results of these meetings was the building of Sacred Heart Church.It was not until the fall of 1847,however,that Sacred Heart Church was erected at its present location on Pecan Street in Nacogdoches,about one block north of Postoffice Square.Fa- ther Chaurion was located there as priest in charge during this building campaign,and immediately following the dedication of the church,Father Chambodut was sent there. .The original frame building,now eighty-eight years old, remains as it was constructed,and is in good condition.Part of the fine old furnishings in the church were donated by Fa- ther Chambodut soon after the church was built.These old furnishings were included as a part of the purchase price of the lot which Fidel Muller bought from Father Chambodut,and were named in the deed as "cabinet work." The original Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Mission site is located on the west side of North Street,0.2 of a mile north of the present courthouse in Nacogdoches. Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion was es- tablished in 1716,in probably the most picturesque section of Nacogdoches County-at the capital pueblo of the East Texas Indians,near the home of Angelina,the first Genis Indian girl to be educated in a Spanish college.This mission was founded by Captain Domingo Ramon at the capital of the Hasinai Con- federacy as a buffer settlement to French invasion from Louis- iana. This mission,together with the other three missions estab- lished that same year in East Texas,was the fulfillment of the dreams of Father Espinosa and Father Margil.For a while th~ mission prospered,but due to crop failures and the unfriendly attitude of the Indians,the missionaries retreated to San An- tonio in 1731,where they re-established the mission under the same name.When the French forces began their advance into Texas in 1718,it was to the Mission Concepcion that Father Margil retreated from his mission at Adeas,Ais,and Nacog- doches.H;~re,Father Margil and Father Espinosa resolved to stand by their .post~nd face the invaders,.despite the fact that Captain Ramon had retreated -with the Spanish soldiers from the pr:~sidip:to tl1e Mission San Francisco on the Neches. rhe -presidio,.oJ;'.fort,was built by Captain .Ramon two and one-half miles northeast of the missiQn,and.twenty-five Span- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 365 ish soldiers were quartered in the presidio to guard the four missions built that year,as the French were invading the land of the Tejas from Natchitoches,Louisiana. Mr.R.B.Blake of Nacogdoches recently definitely located the sites of the mission and presidio. There are two routes by which this mission site and the site of the old presidio may be reached from Nacogdoches.One route is by way of the lower Douglas or John Durst Road.The John Durst road leaves Highway No.21 at the top of the hill 0.4 of a mile west of the courthouse in Nacogdoches.Follow this road for 12.4 miles,to the forks of the road.Take the left- hand fork of the road for a distance of 1.5 miles.On the left- hand side of the road,a few hundred feet north of this point, are the two "bubbling springs".spoken of in old records.just above the "bubbling springs"are two piles of rocks thought to be from the chimney or chimneys of the old log mission.This site is now covered with large trees.The road leading by this old mission site was once known as the highway from Nacog- doches to Washington-on-the-Brazos. The other route from Nacogdoches is by the present State Highway No.21 to Douglass,turning to the left on the Legg's Store road,and at the old Legg home,just north of the old John Durst road,and overlooking Mill Creek,is the site of the old presidio.Continuing down the road to the Goodman bridge, turning up the hill to the left,passing through where Mount Sterling once stood,and going northeast on the old Washington- on-the-Brazos road,the side of Mission Concepcion will be reached. This mission was founded in 1716 by Captain Domingo Ramon,as one of the four buffer settlements among the Indians, designed to stay French invasion from Louisiana.Very little has been recorded about the history of this mission;however, Mr.R.B.Blake,through old court records,has recently deter- mined the site of the mission to be on Dill Creek,2.4 miles north- east of Cushing. About one mile east of this site is an old Indian cemetery; a few miles north is the site of the Indian village of Anadarko, while a few miles west on Indian Creek are the remains of the village of the Nasonites,where La Harpe,the French trader, had his headquarters,and from which town he hurled his de- fiance of the Spanish Governor,d'Alarcon.The.Governor had ordered La Harpe to leave that territory,and La Harpe answer- 366 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD ed "come and put me out."The jealous rivalries of Spain and France made it impossible for either to occupy that section,and the old mission was soon abandoned. The mission grounds may be reached by taking the road from Cushing to Laneville,turning to the right 1.7 miles from Cushing,and following a rambling farm road for 0.7 of a mile to a hill overlooking Dill Creek,a short distance east of the old Wallace residence. Until recently,it was generally supposed that the site of old Mount Sterling,founded and laid out by John Durst in 1837 and 1838,was located west of the Angelina River in Cherokee County.During the past year Mr.R.B.Blake of Nacogdoches, using old field notes and dead records of Nacogdoches County, definitely located the site of old Mount Sterling.The following description of old Mount Sterling is quoted from Mr.Blake. "Continuing westward toward the Angelina river,called San- ta Barbara river by Aguayo,we entered the boundaries of the once important town of Mount Sterling,which John Durst hoped to make the metropolis of East Texas.Here he built his home overlooking the Angelina,where he could see the steamboats moored to the wharves,bringing merchandise from New Or- leans,and carrying the cotton from Nacogdoches back to New Orleans.Near the site of the old mission,he built his sawmill and gristmill.In Mount Sterling he built a large storehouse, contracting to place therein during the spring of 1838 some $30,000.00 worth of merchandise of various kinds. "On the bluff overlooking the busy river port,he built what was then considered a palatial home.From solid rock he exca- vated his dining room,most of it being underground and facing the river.In this dining room he and his neighbors placed their women and children during raids of the hostile Cherokees.But the Cordova Rebellion in the summer of 1838 marked the end of John Durst's hopes,and he soon abandoned his project and moved to Leon County.One would never suspect at this time that less than one hundred years ago this town was laid out in regular lots,blocks and streets,with a square in the center." The old Stone Fort has a history more intriguing,more ro- mantic,than any building in Texas,not even excluding the Alamo.Over the walls of the "stone house,"as it was called in the early records,have flown eight flags-the royalty flag of Spain,the flag of the Magee-Gutierrez expedition of 1813,that of Dr.James Long's Republic of 1819,the flag of the Republic CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 367 of Fredonia of 1826,the Mexican flag,the Lone Star flag of the Texas Republic,the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy, and the Stars and Stripes. The "stone house"was built as a private enterprise by Captain Gil Y'Barbo in 1779,and as a trading post,it became the most important building in the New Philippines.Cordero, Governor of the Province of Texas,and General Herrera,with 1300 Spanish troops had headquarters in the stone house when, on November 6,1806,the treaty was signed which averted war between Spain and the United States.In 1801 Peter Ellis Bean and the remainder of Phillip Nolan's expedition to Nacogdoches were imprisoned in the old Stone Fort,where they remained for ninety days.For three months it was the seat of govern- ment of the Eastern Provinces of Spain,when Governor Manuel de Salcedo was in Nacogdoches during the summer of 1810. The first two newspapers to be published in Texas were printed in the old Stone Fort.It again became the seat of gov- ernment when it was seized by the Fredonians in 1826.Fol- lowing the collapse of the Fredonian Republic,the building was occupied as a home by John Durst,who sold it to Juan Mora, the district judge,and Vincente Cordova,who was district at- torney under the Mexican regime.The official records were again placed in the old building,where they remained until a courthouse was built in 1840.In 1840 the old Stone Fort was transferred from Vincente Cordova to Rebecca Fenley,a daugh- ter of Mrs.John S.Roberts.The building remained in the Roberts family until it was purchased by Perkins Brothers in 1901 and demolished. This old building originally stood on the corner of Main and Fredonia Streets,facing the northeast corner of the "Plaza Principal,"where the two main branches of EI Camino Real merged.It was rebuilt in 1902 on the northwest corner of the Nacogdoches High School campus,where it is now being used as a library and museum. In 1825 Hayden Edwards obtained a contract from the Mex- ican Government to settle 800 families in and around N acog- cloches.Edward's contract required that he respect and pro- tect all good claims to land held by the Mexicans and Americans who already lived in the territory of his colony.To his dismay he found that nearly all the people were asserting rightful own- ership of the lands they occupied.Edwards posted notices at the principal street corners,commanding all the settlers in his 368 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD territory to present themselves before him and show their titles or documents of ownership,so that they could be received or rejected,according to law.In this blunt ultimatum Edwards over-stepped the authority which the Mexican Government meant to give him,and the President of Mexico issued an order expelling him from Texas. Instead of leaving,Edwards enlisted a few of his colonists and a few Indians stormed the Stone Fort,and captured Nacog- doches.They declared Texas independent and called their con- quest the Republic of Fredonia.The life of the Republic was only six weeks,and ended when Mexican troops calmly marched into Nacogdoches and recaptured the Stone Fort without blood- shed.Edwards was forced to flee into Louisiana.In later years,after Texas became a republic,he returned with his fam- ily to Nacogdoches,and became a peaceful citizen. This rebellion marked the real beginning of the long strug- gle for the independence of Texas,which was finally gained at San Jacinto. Although distrusted by both the American colonists and the Mexican Government,Peter Ellis Bean was one of the most remarkable characters figuring in the colonization of Nacog- doches,as well as all of Texas.During the war of 1812 Bean joined LaFitte and fought in the battle of New Orleans under General Jackson.Bean came to Texas in 1800 with Phillip Nolan's expedition for the purpose of capturing wild horses and carrying them back to Louisiana to sell.He was captured with the other men of Nolan's expedition who were not killed,car- ried to Mexico City,and incarcerated in a Mexican dungeon for six years.While Mexico was struggling for her independence from Spain,Bean fought with the Mexican Army,and later was made a colonel in the Mexican militia.In 1821 he was sent to Nacogdoches in charge of affairs pertaining to the Indians. Bean lived among the Indians around Nacogdoches,hav- ing several homes along the old King's Highway.The sites of the various homes of Bean are shown on the map accompanying this booklet.It will be noted that Bean's homes are located through San Augustine and Nacogdoches counties about one day's journey apart.Another one of Peter Ellis Bean's homes was located near Natchitoches,Louisiana.The Indians trusted Bean,and it was he who really suppressed the Fredonia Rebel- lion by starting a counter intrigue with the Cherokees and other tribes among whom he lived.Bean was also a friend of Stephen CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 369 F.Austin,and carried news of the colonists at Nacogdoches to Austin,who was in San Antonio.Bean remained neutral in the struggle between Texas and Mexico,and a few years later returned to Mexico City,where he died in 1846. One of the homes of Peter Ellis Bean may be found about 4.5 miles east of Nacogdoches,on the south side of the old Mel- rose road.This old house,built in 1820,stands in its original condition,and is still occupied as a dwelling. Nacogdoches was the home of General Thomas J.Rusk, one of the outstanding men of early Texas history.He was a statesman,jurist,soldier,and patriot.When Texas was a re- public,he was Secretary of War.He was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence,a general during the war,chair- man of the committee that drafted the measure uniting Texas to the Union,and helped drive the CherokE?e Indians out of Texas. The cemetery in which General Rusk is buried may be reached by driving east from the courthouse six blocks on Main Street,(Highway No.21),turning north on Walker Street for one block,then turning right and travelling one block east to the entrance of Nacogdoches cemetery.General Rusk's grave, marked with a tall granite monument,is located under the shade of old cedar trees in the Nacogdoches cemetery. Gil Y'Barbo,the founder of Nacogdoches,and an important figure in the early history of this section,was a Spaniard,as were many of his followers who settled near Nacogdoches in 1779.Although the founding of Nacogdoches really dates back to the establishing of the missions in 1716,Gil Y'Barbo was the first man to bring in a group of permanent settlers. Y'Barbo's colony had been granted permission to settle on the Trinity river at a place called Bucareli,but because of unde- sirable conditions,they moved further into East Texas.In Y'Barbo's report of the change in location of the colony,he says: "We came to the site of the Texas Indians three leagues beyond the old mission of Nacogdoches where there was a small chapel in which the reverend father may perform the holy sac- raments.Here we will sow grain and support ourselves and await the decision of your Grace whom I humbly beg to approve my action." After much debate among the Mexican authorities,"His Grace'approved and Nacogdoches was permitted to live.It be- came the Spanish center of the "Tejas Country."Many direct 370 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD descendants of Gil Y'Barbo still reside in the vicinity of Nacog- doches. For as long as the French claimed Louisiana,until 1762, this road was an important artery of contraband commerce; hence its title "Smuggler's Road."In 1714 Louis Jouchereau de Saint Denis obtained consent of Governor Cadillac to go from Natchitoches into Mexico for the purpose of opening up trade relations between the French and the Spanish colonies,as an agent of Anthony Crozat,although Cadillac characterized the journey as a "piece of insanity." Leaving Natchitoches with about twelve men he crossed the Sabine with Indian guides,and it is probable that after cro;~sing the Attoyac,Saint Denis continued due west instead of turr;ing northwest to the Indian Village of Nacogdoches.This route was purposely taken so that he could carry his caravan of merchandise around Nacogdoches and the Spanish authori- ties located there,in order to avoid payment of duties.Through- out the eras when Texas was occupied by the Spanish,the ~Tench,the Mexicans and the Republic of Texas,this road was in constant use for the purpose of smuggling. The point where the old road crosses Highway No.35 south of Fern Lake School has been definitely located through old deed records by Mr.R.B.Blake of Nacogdoches. As the Smuggler's Road was the first road to be laid out by white men in Texas,so the King's Highway,"EI Camino Real,"may well lay claim to being the oldest highway in Texas. De Soto and his men traveled this road in 1541 searching for the elusive gold mines.Later came Mother Agreda,the humble "angel in blue,"who blessed the Nacogdoches Indians. La Salle trod this road to Nacogdoches in 1685,only to be turned back to Fort Louis by illness.In 1690 over this road trod Bern- adino and Angelina,the first Texas Indians to be educated in the colleges of Mexico.During the period of the Texas Revolu- tion,one hundred years ago,this road,over which Texas soldiers marched against Santa Anna,was known as the road to Wash- ington-on-the Brozas. . The original church building,built in 1838,was one of the oldest Protestant churches,and the first Baptist Church to be built in the State.The original building was replaced in 1852 with the present building,which is still in a fair state of preser- vation.The cemetery is located at the rear of the church,and is the resting place of many early settlers of East Texas. CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 371 An old Indian cemetery in Nacogdoches County may be reached by driving about 4 miles east of the Nacogdoches Court- house on Highway No.7,and taking the lateral road that turns to the right.This road leads to the top of a high hill,which is about 2000 feet from the highway.Due east from this hill, about 1500 feet,there is a cultivated field.The old Indian ceme- tery is located just across the fellce of this field.Pottery and many old relics have been found in the old cemetery. Nacogdoches originally had three Indian mounds.One is still in perfect condition,and has a large oak tree growing on top of it.It is located on Mount Street,just across the street from the school campus.One mound is located on the south- east corner of the school campus,and another one just across the street to the south.The two latter mounds have been level- ed down,and are now barely visible. One large Indian mound is located on the Dunk Spradley farm,about four miles west of Nacogdoches on a lateral road. This mound is still in good condition. Another mound,about two feet in height,is located 3.1 miles east of Nacogdoches on Highway No.7.This mound is on the Robert Muckleroy Farm,about 1500 feet north of the Muckleroy home,near the site of the old Macao Indian village. The first oil field in Texas was discovered near Chireno on Highway No.21,about 19 miles from Nacogdoches.In 1877 oil was encountered at a depth of 100 feet,and the following year there were over 100 producing wells in this area.However, the expense of production and transportation was so great that the field was soon abandoned. In later years oil was discovered flowing from a shallow well located a few miles southwest of the discovery field.Sev- eral wells were drilled,and today the field supplies a small re- finery in Nacogdoches with crude oil of high gravity.This crude oil is used in the manufacture of lubricating oil. The University of Nacogdoches was one of the earliest schools to be built in East Texas.It was established in 1845, and was located on the site now occupied by the high school campus.The main building is still standing and is being used for the grammar school of Nacogdoches.This structure is of colonial type architecture,and has a tower and bell near the front of the building. The construction of Stephen F.Austin State Teachers Col- 372 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD lege was started in 1921,and the first school semester began in 1923.The college is co-educational,and the attendance ranges from 800 to 1500 students.This college has maintained a steady growth since its beginning,and seems destined to become one of the leading educational centers of East Texas. This institution,located on a tract of 209 acres of land,is within the city limits of Nacogdoches,on Highway No.35.The entire campus is attractively landscaped,and is covered with beautiful forest,typical of the virgin forests of East Texas. The old Midway Stagecoach Inn,located 19.6 miles south- east of Nacogdoches on Highway No.21,is now occupied as a dwelling,and retains the original design.This old inn was the stopping place of Sam Houston,Peter Ellis Bean,and other fa- mous early Texans. Several different tribes of Indians were inhabiting what is now Nacogdoches County when the early settlers came to this part of the country.The Nacogdoches Indians lived near the present city of Nacogdoches.The Hainai Indian Village was located near Douglass on Highway No.21.The Nacao Indians resided near the Attoyac river,north of Highway No.7,and the Nadaco and Nasoni tribes lived along the present boundary line of Nacogdoches and Rusk counties.In later years the Cherokee Indians came to East Texas and settled in the territory now known as Nacogdoches,Rusk,Smith,and Cherokee coun- ties,but they were driven out of the State in 1839 by the Texas troops,under the gallant leadership of General Thomas J.Rusk. This mission was founded in 1716 by Captain Domingo Ramon,as one of the four buffer settlements among the Indians, designed to stay French invasion from Louisiana.Very little has been recorded about the history of this mission;however, Mr.M.B.Blake,through old court records,has recently deter- mined the site of the mission to be on Dill Creek,2.4 miles north- east of Cushing. About one mile east of this site is an old Indian cemetery; a few miles north is the site of the Indian village of Anadarko, while a few miles west on Indian Creek are the remains of the village of the Nasonites,where La Harpe,the French trader~ had his headquarters,and from which town he hurled his de- fiance of the Spanish Governor,d'Alaroon.The Governor had ordered La Harpe to leave that territory,and La Harpe answer- ed "come and put me out.":Ihe jealous rivalries of Spain and CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 373 France made it impossible for either to occupy that section,and the old mission was soon ahandoned. The mission grounds may be reached by taking the road from Cushing to Laneville,turning to the right 1.7 miles from Cushing,and following a rambling farm road for 0.7 of a mile to a hill overlooking Dill Creek,a short distance east of the old vVallace residence. Until recently,it was generally supposed that the site of old Mount Sterling,founded and laid out by John Durst in 1837 and 1838,was located west of the Angelina River in Cherokee County.During the past year :Mr.R.B.Blake of Nacogdoches, using old field notes and dead records of Nacogdoches County, definitely located the site of old Mount Sterling.The following description of old Mount Sterling is quoted from Mr.Blake. "Continuing westward toward the Angelina River,called Santa Barbara River by Aguayo,we entered the boundaries of the once important town of Mount Sterling,which John Durst hoped to make the metropolis of East Texas.Here he built his home overlooking the Angelina,where he could see the steam- boats moored to the wharves,bringing merchandise from New Orleans,and carrying the cotton from Nacogdoches back to New Orleans.Near the site of the old mission,he built his sawmill and gristmill.In Mount Sterling he built a large storehouse, contracting to place therein during the spring of 1838 some $30,000.00 worth of merchandise of various kinds. "On the bluff overlooking the busy river port,he built what was then considered a palatial home.From solid rock he exca- vated his dining room,most of it being underground and facing the river.In this dining room he and his neighbors placed their women and children during raids of the hostile Cherokees.But the Cordova Rebellion in the summer of 1838 marked the end of John Durst's hopes,and he soon abandoned his project and moved to Leon County.One would never suspect at this time that less than one hundred years ago this town was laid out in regular lots,blocks,and streets,with a square in the center." In 1825 Hayden Edwards obtained a contract from the Mexican Government to settle 800 families in and around Nacog- doches.Edward's contract required that he respect and protect all good claims to land held by the Mexicans and Americans who already lived in the territory of this colony.To his dismay he found that nearly all the people were asserting rightful owner- ship of the lands they occupied.Edwards posted notices at the 374 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD principal street corners,commanding all the settlers in his ter- ritory to present themselves before him and show their titles or documents of ownership,so that they could be received or re- jected,according to law.In this blunt ultImatum Edwards over- stepped the authority which the Mexican Government meant to give him,and the President of Mexico issued an order expelling him from Texas. Instead of leaving,Edwards enlisted a few of his colonists and a few Indians,stormed the Stone Fort,and captured Nacog- doches.They declared Texas independent and called their con- quest the Republic of Fredonia.The life of the Republic was only six weeks,and ended when Mexican troops calmly marched into Nacogdoches,and recaptured the Stone Fort without blood- shed.Edwards was forced to flee into Louisiana.In later years, after Texas became a republic,he returned with his family to Nacogdoches,and became a peaceful citizen. This rebellion marked the real beginning of the long strug- gle for the independence of Texas,which was finally gained at San Jacinto. Although distrusted by both the American colonists and the Mexican Government,Peter Eiiis Bean was one of the most remarkable characters figuring in the colonization of Nacog- doches,as well as all of Texas.During the war of 1812 Bean joined LaFitte and fought in the battle of New Orleans under General Jackson.Bean came to Texas in 1800 with Phillip Nolan's expedition for the purpose of capturing wild horses and carrying them back to Louisiana to sell.He was captured with the other men of Nolan's expedition who were not killed,car- ried to Mexico City,and incarcerated in a Mexican dungeon for six years.While Mexico was struggling for her independence from Spain,Bean fought with the Mexican army,and later was made a colonel in the Mexican militia.In 1821 he was sent to Nacogdoches in charge of affairs pertaining to the Indians. Bean lived among the Indians around Nacogdoches,having several homes along the old King's Highway.The sites of the _various homes of Bean are shown on the map accompanying this booklet.It will be noted that Bean's homes are located through San Augustine and Nacogdoches Counties about one day's journey apart.Another one of Peter Ellis Bean's homes was located near Natchitoches,Louisiana.The Indians trusted Bean,and it was he who really suppressed the Fredonian Re- bellion by starting a counter intrigue with the Cherokees and CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 375 other tribes among whom he lived.Bean was also a friend of Stephen F.Austin,and carried news of the colonists at Nacog- doches to Austin,\vho was in San Antonio.Bean remained neu- tral in the struggle between Texas and Mexico,and a few years later returned to Mexico City,where he died in 1846. One of the homes of Peter Ellis Bean may be found about 4.5 miles east of Nacogdoches,on the south side of the old Mel- rose Road.This old house,built in 1820,stands in its original condition,and is still occupied as a dwelling. Nacogdoches was the home of General Thomas J.Rusk, one of the outstanding men of early Texas history.He was a statesman,jurist,soldier,and patriot.When Texas was a re- public,he was Secretary of War.He was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence,a general during the war,chair- man of the committee that drafted the measure uniting Texas to the Union,and helped drive the Cherokee Indians out of Tex- as. The cemetery in which General Rusk is buried may be reach- ed by driving east from the courthouse six blocks on Main Street, (Highway No.21),turning north on Walker Street for one block, then turning right and travelling one block east to the entrance of Nacogdoches cemetery.General Rusk's grave,marked with a tall granite monument,is located under the shade of old cedar trees in the Nacogdoches cemetery. Gil Y'Barbo,the founder of Nacogdoches,and an important figure in the early history of this section,was a Spaniard,as were many of his followers who settled near Nacogdoches in 1779.Although the founding of Nacogdoches really dates back to the establishing of the missions in 1716,Gil Y'Barbo was the first man to bring in a group of permanent settlers.Y'Barbo's colony had been granted permission to settle on the Trinity River at a place called Bucareli,but because of undesirable con- ditions,they moved further into East Texas.In Y'Barbo's re- port of the change in location of the colony,he says: "We came to the site of the Texas Indians three leagues beyond the old mission of Nacogdoches where there was a small chapel in which the reverend father may perform the holy sacra- ments.Here we will sow grain and support ourselves and await the decision of your Grace whom I humbly beg to approve my action." After much debate among the Mexican authorities,"His Grace"approved and Nacogdoches was permitted to live.It 376 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD became the Spanish center of the "Tejas Country."Many di- rect descendants of Gil Y'Barbo still reside in the vicinity of Nacogdoches. For as long as the French claimed Louisiana,until 1762~ this road was an important artery of contraband commerce; hence its title "Smuggler's Road."In 1714 Louis Jouchereau de Saint Denis obtained consent of Governor Cadillac to go from Natchitoches into Mexico for the purpose of opening up trade relations between the French and the Spanish colonies,as an agent of Anthony Crozat,although Cadillac characterized the journey as a "piece of insanity." Leaving Natchitoches with about twelve men he crossed the Sabine with Indian guides,and it is probable that after crossing the Attoyac,Saint Denis continued due west instead of turning northwest to the Indian Village of Nacogdoches.This route was purposely taken so that he could carry his caravan of mer- chandise around Nacogdoches and the Spanish authorities lo- cated there,in order to avoid payment of duties.Throughout the eras when Texas was occupied by the Spanish,the French, the Mexicans,and the Republic of Texas,this road was in con- stant use for the purpose of smuggling. The point where the old road crosses Highway No.35 south of Fern Lake School has been definitely located through old deed records,by Mr.R.B.Blake of Nacogdoches. As the Smuggler's Road was the first road to be laid out by white men in Texas,so the King's Highway,"El Camino Real," may well lay claim to being the oldest highway in Texas. De Soto and his men traveled this road in 1541 searching for the elusive gold mines.Later came Mother Agreda,the hum- ble "angel in blue,"who blessed the Nacogdoches Indians.La Salle trod this road to Nacogdoches in 1685,only to be turned back to Fort St.Louis by illness.In 1690 over this road trod Bernadino and Angelina,the first Texas Indians to be educated in the colleges of Mexico.During the period of the Texas Revo- lution,one hundred years ago,this road,over which Texas sol- diers marched against Santa Anna,was known as the road to W ashington-on-the-Brazos. This.road is now designated as State Highway No.21,and with a few exceptions,closely follows the old road through Hous- ton,Nacogdoches,San Augustine,and Sabine Counties in Di- vision No.11. CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 377 FORT JESSUP,LOUISIANA All that remains or Fort Jessup east of the Sabine River in Louisiana by the side of Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road, 20 miles from River and six miles frem the town of Many,are only stone pillars showing where the fort \vas built by Presi- dent Thomas Jefferson to guard the gah~\vay into Texas. General James Wilkinson of the U.S.Army was placed there in command with his army of sOldiers in 1805.'With Nat- chez,Mississippi,the Great Southern Hospitality City,was the headquarters for diplomats and politieians of the country seek- ing contact with the Texas Country trayelling Camino Real their destination to Texas.History gives us many :5chemes,as the Wilkinson and Burr Conspiracy.The ill timed expedition of Lieut.Augustus McGehee Expedition into Texas.leaving the,. American Army to esponse the cause of l\lexico,led to defeat of his cause. The period between the establishment of the Neutral ground in 1805 and the De Onis Treaty in 1819 was a boisterous one in Texas.Before the Louisiana Purchase,the United States gov- ernment found that the vision of winning an Empire that Tex- as afforded to those generations of American adventurers, caught many,the fancy of many soldiers of fortune.Guards were kept by the U.S.Army at Fort Jessup to keep watch 011 the many incursions and Revolutions into Texas. Across from the road of the Fort going to Natchitoches at the litle store,the traveller is sure to be told all of the tradition of Fort Jessup of the Stones,that is all that rer.1ains of the Fort. It is related when General Taylor \vas in command there, that General Taylor's daughter Sarah,met her lover,the young Col.Jefferson Davis,and right there they rode away horseback and were married against the wishes of her parents.The Gen- eral and his wife took the marriage in deep grief.From gen- eration to generation this story has been told to the time Gen- eral Taylor became President of the United States,and Col. Jefferson Davis later became President of the Confederacy,sta- tioned in those barracks that once stood as the tourist stood there and the ruins were pointed out from the little gallery. The little house was the kitchen behind the stone pillars where General Taylor and Col.Davis and Colonel Many,(Town 378 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD of Many named for him)and this ,vas the kitchen where they were fed and other officers and American tourists. One is told,that is the old military road going East that is today the Old San Antonio Road,Caravans of supplies were carried along it by packed burros,by ox teams from Natchi- toches,to the Fort here,and into Texas to San Antonio.A mod- ern,graveled highway cuts across it now,and high powered cars speed along north on their way to Natchitoches,or South, on the way to Texas.The ruins of the old fort,and the old road,might easily be passed,unnoticed.More than a century ago,Fort Jessup was on the line of defense between the United States and the Mexican possession of Texas.It was here that General Taylor,battle-scan'ed army officer,who had spent weary and strenuous months in subduing the Seminole Indians in Florida,was stationed to watch other Indians,in these quiet pine forests.And it was from this place that he found himself called into the most strenuous action he had yet known,in the struggle with Mexico for the freedom and annexation of Texas, a victory from which he was called to highest office in the United States. Zachary Taylor,who rose from the lowest rank in the army to the Presidency of the United States,often remarked that his house was a tent and his home a battlefield.Almost equally as truthfully could his wife say.For he refused to stay in the comforts and shelter of a settled home.When her husband was assigned duty on the frontier when the children were small they stayed with relatives and were sent to school.But Mrs.Tay- lor went with her husband.She shared the privations and the dangers of life in Florida and made a home for her husband, wherever he \vas,even though there might be only a tent for shelter. With the Seminoles at last quieted,General Taylor \vas sta- tioned at the Baton Rouge barracks.It seemed that he and his family had reached a haven of rest at last.It is recorded Mrs. Taylor chose for her home,a little cottage on the very banks of the Mississippi River,formerly the home of the Spanish commandant,for Baton Rouge had not so long before been in... the hands of the Spanish.It was a humble enough house,but Mrs.Taylor soon made an attractive home of it,with fiowers growing and blooming arouitd it,and with a poultry yard and a small dairy to supply her table.General Taylor bought a plantation and began to Jook forward to the day when he would CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 379 have nothing to do but look after its management and settle down,at last into the comforts of a home,for he was now about 60 years old. But fate had something entirely different in store for this hard working fighter,who was known as "Old Rough and Ready." One day he received a letter from the United States War Department informing him that unrest had been noticed among the Indians of the western border.He was to establish what- ever forts seemed necessary to protect the lives of the white people living in this territory.Also,there was a great deal of unrest in Texas,over on the other side of the Sabine.Having proclaimed itself a republic,free from Mexico,it was having no little trouble in maintaining that status.Many American citi- zens had settled in Texas.They had objected to the Spanish and the Mexican rule.NO\v,naturally,enough,they wanted Texas to be admitted into the Unions,as a state.But Mexico entertained another idea of the matter.General Santa Anna decided to bring the wandering child home and reassert Mexican authority there.So with it all,for sometime the Mexican bor- der was about the nearest to a real stormy center that at ~he time existed in the United States.Gone were General Taylor's dreams of a peaceful existence. It was at Fort Jessup,located in a position thought to be one of the best for the protection of this border territory,on the Old San Antonio Road,used by freighters and muleteers, in carrying on the commerce between the United States and Texas or Mexico,that he established his headquarters. To refer to the historians again,they say that it was in 1831.that the love affair between Jefferson Davis and Sarah Knox Taylor began,to run through four years of opposition and hostility from Sarah's parents.They wanted her to marry a civilian,not a military man.Only too -Nell did they know the hardships a soldier's wife must endure.They wanted their daughter to be spared this.But,as it v;as then and as they say it ever shall be,love would know no barrier.The young people were married.A bitter estrangement resulted,between Gen- eral and Mrs.Taylor and the young son-in-law.Perhaps a hap- py reconciliation would have been brought about had not poor Sarah fallen ill with fever,a few months after her marriage, and died. It was about 11 years later and Davis \vas married the 380 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD second time when,as Colonel Davis,at the head of the Missis- sippi Rifles,he was ordered to the reinforcement of General Taylor's army,for the war with Mexico was on in earnest. Davis and his men took part in the fighting at Monterey. Here it was so plainly evident that General Taylor and Col. Davis went out of their way to avoid meeting each other that the soldiers began to comment on the fact. Then came the bitter struggle at Buena Vista.Things were looking dark for the United States Army,the men almost exhausted,when Davis,with a clever stroke,broke the Mexi- can charge,turning the tide of victory.Then it was that recon- ciliation took place,there on the battlefield.General Taylor clasping the Colonel in his arms,while both wept in forgiveness. It is not at all impossible to believe that the Louisianans at Many may be right,or at least partly right.It would be rea- sonable to suppose that Mrs.Taylor followed her usual custom of going with her husband,whenever possible,and was with him for a time at Fort Jessup.Possibly Sarah,and perhaps Betty,who aferwards became the social hostess of the White House,were there,too for a time. As the Centennial of Statehood is here,which will mark the hundredth year of our existence as a Statehood,our people are overwhelmed with grave problems,that seem to threaten our very existence but as the records of the volume abundantly show,we have gone through darker days in these one hundred years. BOUNDARY BRIDGE BETWEEN LOUISIANA AND TEXAS ON SABINE RIVER,GAINES'FERRY PENDLETON,T~XAS Pendleton Ferry Bridge Formal dedication of the Pendleton Ferry bridge over the Sabine River marked the attainment of another milestore in ef- forts to afford motorists easy ingress and egress to Texas.The bridge was dedicated at an elaborate ceremony attended by of- ficials of the states of Texas and Louisiana,with representa- tives of the respective highway departments predominating. - -Although traffic will be sped to its destination over the modern structure,there is an aura of romance around the old Pendleton Ferry that will live forever in Texas and Louisiana PE:'\DLETO~FERRY CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 381 annals.It was at Pendleton's Ferry that the first of the Span- ish Conquistadores entered Texas.The French explorers used it extensively.Later it was the principal crossing for settlers from Tennessee,Kentucky and Louisiana.When the first of the white men entered Texas there was,of course,no bridge or ferry,and a crossing was effected by a string of huge stones placed in the river bed just above the site of the existing bridge. The first ferry was installed by James Gaines,one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The bulk of the freight entering Texas in pioneer days crossed at the Pendleton Ferry.Freight was hauled along this route from a fort on the Red river in Louisiana known as Grand Ecore.St.Denis,the French explorer,crossed the Sabine river at this point,en route to Mexico.He later married the daugh- ter of the commandant of the fort of San Juan de Bautista and returned to East Texas,where he was one of the founders of San Augustine and Nacogdoches.Here also crossed the Texas hero,Sam Houston,after his voluntary flight from Tennessee. He camped at the ferry overnight before proceeding to San Au- gustine,where he resided for several weeks. The new hridge will facilitate traffic from Washington,D.C. to Mexico City along a highway that traverses Tennessee,Miss- issippi,Louisiana and Texas.The route has been completed through Tennessee and work is in progress through Mississippi. The only gaps remaining throughout the length of the route are in Louisiana and Texas. The Federal Engineer,John McDonald,at the dedication of the bridge stated in introducing Mrs.Norvell said "Mrs,Nor- vell has visited my office in the interest of the bridge 25 years and she is the mother of this bridge. THE GATEWAY INTO TEXAS Pendleton,Texas TEXAS-LomSIANA,BOUNDARY BRIDGE-SABINE RIVER Gaines Ferry,Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road Crossing into Louisiana to Natchitoches going to Natchez,Mississippi, Bridge Crossing into Natchez. At the dedication of the bridge in 1939,was the Federal Engineer,Honorable John McDonald.After expressing his 382 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD pride on a long delayed fulfillment,Mr.McDonald said:"I would like to present Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,the Mother of this bridge,who visited me twenty-five years in the interest of the bridge. The above tour is rich in points of historical interest and scenic beauty.This tour is approximately 268 miles in length and can be made in one day;however,two days should be al- lotted for this trip,staying over-night in the historic town of Natchitoches,Louisiana. Most of the early adventurers and American settlers passed through Natchitoches on their journeys into Texas.It was from this city that Moses and Stephen F.Austin set out to establish the first American permanent colony in Texas.Many expedi- tions into Texas were organized at Natchitoches. The description of points of interest on this route through Louisiana are given below.These descriptions were taken by permission from the Louisiana Tourist Guide,issued by the Louisiana Highway Commission. Thirteen miles west of Many,the parish seat of Sabine,on State Route 6,the old Beulah Baptist church is located.It is on a dirt road 0.2 of a mile south of the main highway,and is known through the country as the "Block House Church."It was here in 1835 that General Gaines built a rock house and six warehouses,and from this point he cut "Gaines New Military Road"to the Sabine.This was one of the earliest American surveys of this area,and present State Route 6 traverses this route to Pendleton Ferry on the Sabine river.On the Texas side of the river stand the first series of markers erected across Texas to designate the route of the San Antonio Trace or El Camino Real. From Many,the parish seat of Sabine,it is only a short distance to several points of historic interest.Fort Jessup,and Los Adais to the east,and the Block House to the west,are points that may be visited from Many. Eight miles west of Robeline,or 6 miles east of Many,on State Route 6,is the famous American frontier Army post of Fort Jessup,founded in 1822 by Zachery Taylor.Maps from the War Department show that the building area covered a square mile and that thirty or forty buildings were erected. This was the headquarters of the Western Department of the Army under General Gaines.It was here that General Taylor came in 1845 to concentrate his Army of Observation,and from CAMINO REAlr-OLD SA~ANTONIO ROAD 383 here he set forth to the Mexican War that was to lead him to the presidency.Three acres have been acquired by Sabine Par- ish as an historical park,and one of the original log buildings has been restored. One mile east of Robeline,and one-half mile north of State Route No.1,on Route 428,the Spaniards in 1717 founded the Mission San Miguel de los Adais,the only Spanish mission in Louisiana.In 1721,on another hill-top across a little valley, the Marquis de Aguayo establishes the palisaded Presidio,or fort,of Los Adais.The Presidio was built to guard the mis- sion,and to pre claim Spain's sovereignthy of Red river in opposi- tion to France. Following State Route 1 west out of Natchitoches which was formerly known as the San Antonio Trace,one crosses the Rio Hondo,a small creek,which,in 1806,was an eastern bound- ary of the Neutral Strip.The Neutral Strip was established by General Wilkinson and Herrera,and continued in existence for 14 years. Natchitoches,"The Oldest Town in the Louisiana Pur- chase,"was founded by Louis Juchereau de St..Denis at least three years before New Orleans was established.St.Denis was one of the most romantic characters in the history of the South. He remained the commandment of Natchitoches until his death on July 11,1844.His will and many other original documents bearing his signature may be seen in the court records of Nat- chitoches. State Normal College.The Louisiana State Normal Col- lege at Natchitoches is one of the twenty-three A-I teachers' colleges in the United States.The vine-clad columns on Nor- mal Hill are the pictaresque remains of the old Bullard resi- dence and recall many phases of local history. The Good Darkey.The first statue to be erected in the South to the memory of the devoted negroes of ante-bellum days is located in Natchitoches.The bronze figure,the work of Hans Schuler,the Baltimore sculptor,is more than life size,and represents an old negro standing with his hat in his hand.The inscription on the base reads:"Erected by the City of Nat- chitoches in grateful Recognition of the Arduous and Faithful Service of the Good Darkies of Louisiana.Donor,J.L.Bryan, 1927." The above tour is rich in points of historical interest and scenic beauty.This tour is approximately 268 miles in length 384 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD and can be made in one day;however,two days should be al- lotted for this trip,staying over-night in the historic town of Natchitoches,Louisiana. Most of the early adventurers and American settlers passed through Natchitoches on their journeys into Texas.It was from this city that Moses and Stephen F.Austin set out to establish the first American permanent colony in Texas.Many expedi- tions into Texas were organized at Natchitoches. The description of points of interest on this route through Louisiana are given below.These descriptions were taken,by permission,from the Louisiana Tourist Guide,issued by the Louisiana Highway Commission. Thirteen miles west of Many,the parish seat of Sabine,on State Route 6,the old Beulah Baptist Church is located.It is on a dirt road 0.2 of a mile south of the main highway,and is known through the country as the "Block House Church."It was here in 1835 that General Gaines built a block house and six warehouses,and from this point he cut "Gaines New Mili- tary Road"to the Sabine.This was one of the earliest Ameri- can surveys of this area,and present State Route 6 traverses this route to Pendleton Ferry on the Sabine River.On the Texas side of the river stand the first series of markers erected across Texas to designate the route of the San Antonio Trace or EI Camino Real. The old trenches and earthworks on the Sabine River at Louis'Ferry,opposite Sabinetown,Texas,may be reached over a dirt road,about 4 miles southwest of Camp Sabine.The trenches are 5 and 6 feet deep and the earthworks even higher~ with a zig-zag opening to allow roads to enter.These trenches and earthworks were built by order of General Kirby Smith, Commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Con- federate Army. From Many,the parish seat of Sabine,it is only a short dis- tance to several points of historic interest.Fort Jessup,and Los Adais to the east,and the Block House to the west,are points that may be visited from Many. Eight miles west of Robeline,or 6 miles east of Many,on State Route 6,is the famous American frontier Army post of Fort Jessup,founded in 1822 by Zachery Taylor.Maps from the War Department show that the building area covered a square mile and that thirty or forty buildings were erected. This was the headquarters of the Western Department of the CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 385 Army under General Gaines.It was here that General Taylor came in 1845 to concentrate his Army of Observation,and from here he set forth to the Mexican War that was to lead him to the Presidency.Three acres have been acquired by Sabine Parish as an historical park,and one of the original log build- ings has been restored. One mile east of Robeline,and one-half mile north of State Route No.1,on Route 428,the Spaniards,in 1717,founded the mission San Miguel de los Adais,the only Spanish mission in Louisiana.In 1721,on another hill-top across a little valley, the Marquis de Aguayo established the palisade Presidio,or fort,of Los Adais.The Presidio was built to guard the mission, and to proclaim Spain's sovereignty of Red River in opposition to France. Following State Route 1 west out of Natchitoches which was formerly known as the San Antonio Trace,one crosses the Rio Hondo,a small creek,which,in 1806,was an eastern bound- ary of the Neutral Strip.The Neutral Strip was established by General Wilkinson and Herrera,and continued in existence for 14 years. Natchitoches,"The Oldest Town in the Louisiana Purchase," was founded by Louis Juchereau de St.Denis at least three years before New Orleans was established.St.Denis was one of the most romantic characters in the history of the South.He re- mained the commandant of Natchitoches until his death on July 11,1744.His will and many other original documents bear- ing his signature may be seen in the court records of Natchito- ches. State Normal College-The Louisiana State Normal College at Natchitoches is one of the twenty-three A-I teachers'col- leges in the United States.The vine-clad columns on Normal Hill are the picturesque remains of the old Bullard residence, and recall many phases of local history. The Good Darkey-The first statue to be erected in the South to the memory of the devoted negroes of ante-bellum days is located in Natchitoches.The bronze figure,the work of Hans Schuler,the Baltimore sculptor,is more than life size,and rep- resents an old negro standing with his hat in his hand.The in- scription on the base reads:"Erected by the City of Natchi- toches in Grateful Recognition of the Arduous and Faithful Service of the Good Darkies of Louisiana.Donor,J.L.Bryan, 1927." 386 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN AN1'ONIO ROAD NATCHITOCHES,LOUISIANA Natchitoches,Louisiana,was a trading post,second only to St.Louis in importance,and was the gateway along the King's Highway leading to Texas and Mexico. Among the explorers who were active in this region at the time,were De Leon,St.Denis,La Harpe,Aguago,Kino,Ramon, Anza,Font,Garces,Escalante,Morfi,De Mezieres,and Vial. Others there were,whose worth none can deny,who were active in making the history of Texas,but you hesitate to follow with the lesser names.' A generation later,Commandant Mier Y Teran wrote his name large in central and eastern Texas by erecting fortresses along the Brazos River at Tenoxtitlan on the Brazos,and Nacog- doches,preparing for Mejas Expedition as also Tornel and Ala- man were factors in our history during this period. With the Spanish Cavalcade rushing across to intercept the French and drive them back,as also the traders,trappers and gold seekers,we know of another class that band of outcasts- thieves,robbers,murderers,and ferocious sa vages--came in hordes and of their frequent skirmish in the open. Spanish Missionary activity was begun in 1690 among the Haisainai of the Neches Angelina country.Eight missions were built and others extended in 1716. Contributed by Natchez Natchitoches,Old San Antonio Association While the congressional committee on the "Natchez Trace Parkway"was inspecting the proposed route through Mississippi, the Planning Section of the Department of Public Works com- municated with the chairman and urged him to bring his group to Baton Rouge and consider the historic value of a road that was traveled by Hernando de Soto in 1542,again by Robert Cavalier de La Salee in 1682,and by Bienville and St.Denis in 1701,which was also one of the first roads charted in the South, and which had been used by the Indians many years before the coming of the white man.The congressional committee was not only urged to consider the historic value of Route de Bien- ville,the trail that connected Natchez with Natchitoches,but also to contemplate the intriguing story of El Camino Real over which Spanish Missionaries passed from Mexico to Los Andaes and established the first mission in Louisiana,within fifteen CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 387 miles of Fort St.Jean de Baptiste,a garrison that Bienville and St.Denis b~gan improvising in 1701.Los Adaes (near Rober- line)was the capital of Texas (Province of Tejas)for fifty-seven years and arroyo Hondo was the colonial international boundary line between Spain and France for more than a century. The ancient trail did not stop at Natchez.In fact the most important road in the entire southwest started on the west bank of Mississippi River and coursed through Natchitoches and Los Adaes and on past Fort Jessup,winding its sinuous way to the land of Montezuma.And the committee seemed impressed when reminded that prominent men have used Route de Bienville and EI Camino Real,for where in the pages of history can one find names that so intrigue our interest as those of De Soto,La. Salle,Iron-Hand Tonti,Iberville,Bienville,St.Denis,Athanase de Mazieres,and Tinhiouen,Chief of the Cadodachos Indian group.Those pages of history deal with Spanish colonization and domination,list names that are no less colorful,nor do names of men and places become commonplace as we peruse chapters that relate to more recent history.General James Wilkinson who sat at a tavern table in Natchitoches and wrote the letter that betrayed Aaron Burr;Sam Houston who consort- ed with military officers at Ft.Jessup and was given a sword, his most prized possession;Old Rough'n Ready Zachary Taylor who founded Ft.Jessup,called "The Cradle of the Mexico War," and U.S.Grant and Jeff Davis who served here-what a galaxy of names to make brilliant the pages of history:The courageous deeds there were David Crockett and Jim Bowie who fought to the last dying breath in the Alamo,and there was Philip Nolan whose daring exploits so intrigued Edward Everett Hale that he used the name "Philip Nolan"in portraying "The Man With- out a Country."Each of these rugged characters played his magnificent part in the century-old drama of EI Camino Real. If the precedent has been established that parkways can only serve places of historic value,what about Natchitoches with her matchless history?For a century and a half roads of thE Louisiana Territory led to Natchitoches.The Spanish missiona- ries and Spanish explorers who came out of the land of Monte:' zuma were seeking the area occupied by the Natchitoches In- dians and other tribes of the Cadodaches group.The French called this area "La Cote J oyeuse"and the Spanish,not being able to think ofa more descriptive appellation,were content to let it be known as "The Happy Shore." 388 CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD The congressional committee was favorably impressed by the interesting history of the area through which a westward extension of the Natchez Trace Parkway would pass,or specif- ically,the area that was served by EI Camino Real and that connecting link from Los Adaes to Natchez Trace Parkway would be chartered in 1718 as "Route de Bienville." EI Camino Real was the artery of transportation from Mexico City;it passed through Ten.s and eastward through Louisiana from the Sabine River to Los Adaes and Natchitoches. Thousands of emigrants from Virginia,Tennessee,and the Caro- linas followed the Natchez Trace to its juncture with Route de Bienville and on over EI Camino Real to become pioneers in the development of the Lone Star State,hence,it is but natural that Texas will join Louisiana in urging Congress to extend the parkway to the Mexican border. When we reflect that the Federal Government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in constructing parkways- not one mile of which is in Louisiana-we are confident that after our country's enemies have been subdued and we enter that period of transition from war help coordinate efforts of Louisiana and Texas in their request for an appropriation suf- ficient to construct an extension of the Natchez Trace Park- way to the Rio Grande,where,it is hoped that our neighbor to the south will help us memorialize their interpid missiona- ries and their courageous explorers by continuing the parkway to its ancient terminus-Mexico City. THE GREAT STRATEGIC MILITARY HIGHWAY A great Parkway is being envisioned from Natchez,Miss- issippi to Natchitoches,Louisiana,across Texas to Mexico,by the Natchez-Natchitoches-San Antonio Road Parkway Associa- tion. Opening up National and International Highways for com- munication,travel,across the continent and memorializing the highways as shrines to the pioneers of the Nation,a result as a war time acceleration of construction of the Inter-American Highways. WASHINGTON,D.C. Congress has just passed a bill for pro war work funds available for this purpose would be those now provided for regu- CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 389 lar Federal aid to Secondary of Feeder Roads and for the elimina- tion of grade crossing hazards,which now remain unspent by the State. The Natchez-Natchitoches-San Antonio Road Parkway As- sociation is an active Association.Its headquarters at Colfax, Louisiana,Judge N.R.Stripling of San Augustine,Texas,is President.G.C.Smith of Colfax,Louisiana,is Secretary;A. A.Fredericks of Natchitoches,Louisiana,First Vice President and W.F.Duncan,Colfax,Louisiana,is Second Vice President. The Natchez Trace Parkway across Louisiana is assured, since the members of the Historical Louisiana Society are work- ing with the Park Commissioners and a Natchez Trace Parkway Association was formed in 1934 and already have secured one hundred thousand dollars from Legislative Act to layout a 300 foot Parkway from Natchez,Mississippi,across Louisiana to Pendleton crossing of Sabine River into Texas. THE NATCHEZ TRACE-NATCHITOCHES- SAN ANTONIO ROAD The Natchez Trace,Natchitoches-San Antonio Road,path of the bison and Indian through the primeval forest,is in proc- ess of being restored by the United States Government,as a paved National Parkway,winding past historic inns,churches, mansions,forts and battlefields,all to be kept in tact and even- tually restored for future generations.Strips of virgin forest, fields of cotton,corn and sugar cane,whenever traversed by the Trace,are purchased to preserve the native scene. The world has found America,and the Americans have al- ready learned from experience the value of the American life in their courage,sacrifice,and devotion to its freedom. LOS ADAES Once Capital of Spanish Tejas,Royal Presidio of Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adaes,the Only Spanish Mission in Louis- iana,for More than Fifty Years the Seat of Govern- ment of the Province of Texas Located near Robeline,in Natchitoches Parish,Seven Leagues Distant from Natchitoches,the Oldest Town in the Louisiana Purchase By J.Fair Hardin,Vice President, Louisiana Historical Society The recent Centennial Year of Texas Independence brought 390 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD out almost forgotten facts of Texas history,among them the interesting link between Louisiana and Texas in the fact that for more than fifty years the capital of that vast Spanish province was located east of the Sabine river,on a ridge near the little town of Robeline,in northern Natchitoches Parish~ Louisiana. A sultry day in August,the 29th,to be exact,in the year 1721,two hundred and seventeen years ago,and much commo- tion stirred the accustomed quiet of two wooded hills and the valley between lying just seven short Spanish leagues west- northwest of the French frontier post of Saint Jean Baptiste, at Natchitoches,on Red river,founded just seven years be- fore in 1714.A cavalcade was arriving from beyond the Rio Grande,some hundred odd colonists of motley kind,with house- hold goods and domestic cattle,a hundred or more Spanish soldiers,some of whom were struggling with six small cannon, a small group of sombre clad padres,allIed by a gallant knight of Spain.The Marquis de Aguayo was successfully concluding his long and weary expedition upon which he had set forth from Zelaya,in Old Mexico,the preceding December.He has estab- lished or re-established,during the intervening months and along the intervening leagues,five missions and presidios,or fortified garrisons,and now was come to the crowning event of his patriotic enterprise,the re-establishment here,facing the :French,of the Mission of Los Adaes,among the Indian tribe of that name,which had been so boldly founded here four years before,in 1717,by Father Margil.Being wholly unprotected in this advanced position,it had been promptly suppressed by the French,who jealously disputed the advance of Spain beyond the Sabine.To the re-established mission the Marquis gave the name of his patron,San Miguel,and to protect it henceforth from the hostile French he built upon the hill to the east across the little valley the palisaded Presidio of N uestra Senora del Pilar de Los Adaes,the easternmost outpost of Spain in the West,and destined to be for more than fifty years from this date the Capital of the Province.of Texas and the seat of gov- ernment of thirteen of its royal Governors. Two hundred and fifteen years have wrought vast changes in this historic site,but its importance has been finally recog- nized and it has been rescued from oblivion through the efforts of the Daughters of the American Colonists of Louisiana,of Shreveport,aided 'CYtheir National organization.Today the ten CAMINO REAL--OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 391 acres of the Presidio site constitute an Historical Park,belong- ing to the Parish of Natchitoches,purchased and donated to the Parish by the group of patriotic women,headed by Mrs.Louis C. Gulkley,Honorary State Regent;Mrs.Donald C.Dickson,Past State Regent and Chairman of Historic Places;Mrs.S.L.Wil- liams,State Regent;Mrs.Alaric C.Whittington,Mrs.Howard Doll,Jr.,Mrs.Frank Doll,Mrs.Ama Ford Vance,Mrs.Robert Roberts and Mrs.J.Harry Stephens.Besides purchasing the site,they have removed from it an original cabin,restored and curbed in attractive manner one of the original springs,beside the bordering highway,from which Aguayo himself slaked his thirst on that sultry August day,and which serves to identify the spot,and have erected a flag-pole with a base of native stone bearing a tablet with appropriate inscription giving the history of the site. For a little more than half a century,from 1721 to 1773 to be exact,this was the actual seat of the military and civil administration of the vast Province of Texas,and for the longer period,from 1717 to 1783,sixty-six years,it faced and stal- wartly opposed the continual threat of the westernmost French outpost at Natchitoches,less than seventeen miles away.Thus, here,in one present-day North Louisiana Parish,was fixed the forntier between two great colonial empires of France and Spain, that so long contested for supremacy on the North American continent,a contest that ended only with the final triumph of Spain in 1783 .by the cession from the French,by which the frontier ceased to exist. Tell the average Texan that his Spanish Capital was once within the confines of present Louisiana and he will doubtless deny it,holding for San Antonio that claim of precedence,yet one of the greatest historians of Texas,Doctor Herbert E.Bol- ton,affirms it.Tell the average Louisianian this fact and he will frankly doubt the statement,so completely has this im- portant site and its history been ignored in recording the his- tory of the State. To visit the site of this one-time Capital of Spanish Texas on Louisiana soil,and of the only Spanish Mission in Louisiana, drive fifteen miles from Natchitoches,along the Jefferson High- way,now numbered State Highway 1 and 6,an excellent asphalt road .that follows the .route of El Camino Real,the Old San An- tonio Trace that once connected Natchitoches with San Antonio and Mexico-City.Within a mile and a quarter of the modern 392 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD town of Robeline,at a sign conveniently erected by the Daugh- ters of the Colonists,turn right and drive for half a mile along the Allen gravel road,and you may there drink from the same spring that quenched Aguayo's thirst,and a short walk brings you to the top of the knoll upon which stood the Presidio which he founded.From this hill-top you may look across the valley to the Mission site,and reconstruct the scenes of two centuries ago,when the royal standard of Spain here bade defiance to the fleur de lys of France,and a colonial frontier was fixed. The need is as great today to build a Parkway Highway across Texas to Natchitoches,Louisiana,and Natchez,Miss- issippi,for the home front,as when the Military Highway was first laid out on a basis of close control in travelling across Texas to Natchitoches. The Natchez Trace extends from Nashville to the southern border of Tennessee,a distance of 101 miles,across the north- west corner of Alabama for 33 miles,and 314 miles through Mississippi,to Natchez,making a total of 448 miles. The Natchez Trace Parkway,now completed,will be a major section of the road system linking Washington,D.C.,and the East,through Nashville and Natchez,and numerous historic shrines and picturesque resorts of the Deep South.Crossing the Mississippi River Bridge at Natchez it will converge with Natchitoches-San Antonio Road,connect through Louisiana and Texas with the completed Mexican Highway,thus becoming a 448 mile link in the proposed Pan-American Highway uniting North Central and South America. Along the Ancient Natchez Trace,Natchitoches-San An- tonio Road,is written the history of the southwest. The Natchez Trace was traveled by many of the well-known figures in the history of our country-Jefferson Davis,Peggy and Lorenzo Dow;the revivalists;Henry Clay,when campaign- ing for the Presidency;the fast-riding John Morgan;the fa- mous Audubon. Lafayette rode over the Trace during his visit to the Natchez Country;Aaron Burr was given his preliminary trial for treason under the two live oaks just beside the Trace;Meriwether Lewis died at an inn on the Trace when returning from his Western explorations. It was when marching his rejected Tennessee militia home- ward over the Trace from Natchez to Nashville in 1813,that Andrew Jackson acquired his famous nick-name "Old Hickory." CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 393 The need is as great today to build a Parkway Highway across Texas to Natchitoches,Louisiana,and Natchez,Miss- issippi,for the home front,as when the Military Highway was first laid out on a basis of close control in traveling across Texas to Natchitoches. The Natchez Trace extends from Nashville to the southern border of Tennessee,a distance of 101 miles,across the north- west corner of Alabama for 33 miles,and 314 miles through Mississippi,to Natchez,making a total of 448 miles. The Natchez Trace Parkway,now completed,will be a major section of the road system linking Washington,D.C.,and the East,through Nashville and Natchez,and numerous historic shrines and picturesque resorts of the Deep South.Crossing the Mississippi River Bridge at Natchez it will converge with Natchitoches-San Antonio Road,connect through Louisiana and Texas with the completed Mexican Highway,thus becoming a 448 mile link in the proposed Pan-American Highway uniting North Central and South America. Along the Ancient Natchez Trace,Natchitoches-San An- tonio Road,is written the history of the southwest. The Natchez Trace was traveled by many of the well-known figures in the history of our country-Jefferson Davis,Peggy and Lorenzo Dow;the revivalists;Henry Clay,when campaign- ing for the Presidency;the fast-riding John Morgan;the fa- mous Audubon. Lafayette rode over the Trace during his visit to the Natchez Country;Aaron Burr was given his preliminary trial for treason under two live oaks just beside the Trace;Meriwether Lewis died at an inn on the Trace when returning from his Western explorations. THE NATCHEZ-NATCHITOCHES-SAN ANTONIO ROAD P ARKW AY WILL SEEK FEDERAL AID The Great Stragetic Military National Highway was here before Texas came into the Union. The most historic and significant highway on the American continent,will seek communication,as being built and opened this year across four national frontiers in Central America,as a result of the War Time Construction of the Inter-American Highways. 394 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD THE NATCHEZ-NATCHITOCHES PARKWAY The Natchez-Natchitoches Parkway,.old San Antonio Road Association,have vi~ioned a Park Highway (two-way)across Texas from Mexico City,connecting Natchitoches,Louisiana, Natchez,Mississippi,and across Smoky Mountains down through Shenandoah,Virginia,to Washington,D.C.,with four Natural Capitols connecting.We are still seeking our goal. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN RESURGENCE OF MILITARY HIGHWAYS Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell A great Military Highway is being envisioned from Wash- ington,D.C.,across Texas to Mexico,South America,by the President of the United States and Good Roads Committee. A letter from the President of the "Natchez-Natchitoches- San Antonio Trace Association,"has prompted the writing of this article in furthering the interest of the bill now before Con- gress for a Parkway Boulevard-A Military Highway from the Capital,'Vashington,D.C.,to Natchez,Natchitoches,San An- tonio,Mexico and South America. . A highway of international interest was the Natchez-Nat- chitoches-San Antonio Trace.A constant and dominant factor that continued competition between France and Spain for con- trol of the Texas-Louisiana frontier for empire and commerce... Led'my man's human drives,it connected famous trading and mission forts at San Antonio,Texas,Nacogdoches:San Augus- tine,Natchitoches,Louisiana,and Natchez,Mississippi. The founding of the Royal Highway-Camino Real,old San Antonio Road,was a law of a nation;starts with Spain in 1687 when the Vice-Roy of Mexico sends Father Massenet and Cap tain DeLeon into the Texas wilds to find LaSalle's colony... After being greeted with the word "Texas,Texas,"by the friendly Indians of the territory and led to their villages,and in living for a time with them,Father Massanetafter burrowing. under the Indians'skin,found the n~me "Texas"-the Indians' geeting and not the tripal name.Retp,ridng.to Mexico,Father. Massanet"gave a Written r~PQrt .to .tne Vice~R'oy,who in :.turn sent the report 011to the l~ing of Spain;:(now-trap-slated .by.Dr.. Castamido in'our Catholic heritage in Texas),'The King of Spaln~ CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 395 immediately,(1691),sent back to the Vice-Roy of Mexico the Crown's orders,to be carried out by the Vice-Roy,and directing four legal processes required for the apprehensions expressed- to get control of the Confederacy of Indians on the Texas-Louis- iana frontier and to keep out the French from winning them. First-he named this unknown land,"Texas,"the name be- ing used by the Indians greeting,among themselves,in their own world. Second-he named Monclova,Mexico,the capital of this province,and appointed Don Domingo Teran De Los Rios,the first provincial Governor. Third-he ordered the Governor Don Domingo Teran,to go and found a road-route as straight and direct from Monclova, Mexico,over to the Indians as could be found and giving ground bearing directions,stating he did not want an indirect circuitous route by Es Pirito Santo as too tortuous,but must be a high road straight and direct,to get along over the ground to the country of the Tejas. Fourth-The founding of eight Missions among the Tejas, and neighboring Caddoan tribes,now Louisiana. With authoritiveness,Don Domingo Teran set out on his expedition May 16,1691.With all supplies,50 soldiers,ten Mis- sion Priests,to build Missions to Christianize the Indians,Army Posts,to hold the country against encroaching French winning over the Indians,on the Texas-Louisiana frontier. . With the military power given this Highway from Mexico, El Camino Real to the Spaniards and Mexicans,and to the Am- ericans from the East-the old San Antonio Road became the strategic moving power of this then unknown country for two hundred years.With the many expeditions sent over from Mexico,soldiers to the Posts,charge ships of the Monks,driving a trade of 500 cattle and one thousand head over the trail to Eastern Texas,on foot,actively employed to feed the army sta- tioned in Eastern Texas.It was the Spaniards and Mexicans moving out to the things and conditions they wished to attain. With the travel so steadily coming in from the East,the capital of Texas was moved in 1695 to Adae Mission,now Robe- line,Louisiana,and it remained there until moved to San An- tonio in 1720. Money was issued by Spain with seals of Spanish Authority on Camino Real money..When traveling over the highway from Mexico to Natchez Forts,this money was officially used by the 396 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Government in attending to the business of taxes to be had from the travellers and burdens carried by the animals over the high- way from point to point until delivered. The travel continued now from the East to the West,over this highway for two hundred years,with battles and skirmishes surging back and forth. President Thomas Jefferson became interested and sent in presumably a colleague to look over fauna and horses to be found. Later established a strategic army post at Fort Jessup in Louis- iana,to guard the gateway to Texas,placing General James Wilkerson head of U.S.Army in command.Governor Cordero of Texas Province in 1820 agitated the military highway be built for 'heavy transportation.U.S.Senator Sam Houston debated in United States Senate,this highway be made a great military highway from Washington to Natchez,across Texas to Mexico, but Thomas Benton of Missouri,won out over him in getting his bill through for the Santa Fe Trail,blazed in 1848 by Williams &Bickwell.Sam Houston again in Texas Senate,had the bill passed to improve and make the trail a great highway.It was passed by house,and vetoed by President Lamar. The D.A.R.in 1915 had before the Texas Legislature,a bill to survey the road by report of findings by Dr.W.E.Dunn~ Spanish architect.This was carried.Then the D.A.R.had an- other bill passed by the legislature to erect 128 monuments,one every five miles along the highway across Texas.Afterwards the Old San Antonio Road Association was chartered,and a bill put through the legislature to open up highway by State High- way Commission,and to pave the same.It has been made a travelled highway through fields and abandoned river crossings with bridges.It traverses the most beautiful part of Central Texas-the ridge route,travelled by the buffalo and Indian,then the white man,the moving power of this earth,moved in and conquered the Southwest for America. Camino Real is actually an International Highway-this highway was given first by a nation for military purposes,be- fore one nation could receive it.It has served Texas in colony settlement,order,conduct and plans. America is dealing with the future protection and growth of our country.With the new problems brought up in the transportation of our armies being massed and delivery of sup- plies for the armies-from the present emergency-the nation should have a great central military highway across the conti- CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 397 nent,built and paved in the old Appian way,that is essential to the progress of our Demorcacy.A security agency to protect ourselves by building a world power in a great military highway enforcing peace in a frontier where the stirring ones are causing confusion actively engaged at the moment.This is one coun- try that must feel for its every citizen,man,woman and child. Today,a standing army is being mustered,rolled into bat- talions,National Guards,Artillery,Cavalry,Flying Columns of the Air,Military trains of soldiers,Cavlary horses,are travelling the O.S.T.Highway 90-across Texas,over the Gulf Coast route,to their encampments.In time of war this route is sub- ject to fire,in line of battleships,topedoes,cruisers,and high water in times of rainy seasons.When the Old Military High- way-El Camino Real,through Central Texas,should receive the attention of the President and the United States Good Roads Committee,and made the great central highway through the United States-a great international highway.President Roose- velt is interested in an internationally linked highway with Mexico and South America. "The cannons spit forth their iron indignation." "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war,"for a great military highway-so occurred in this space,the great military highway in America laid down by Spain. Highway Extends from Mexico City to Washington,D.C., Connecting the Two Capitals. The Old San Antonio Road is the name used most frequently in Texas,but actually EI Camino Real,is far more than a road to San Antonio. It is an international highway connecting Mexico City with Washington,District of Columbia. From Mexico City the road goes to Monclova,enters the United States at Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande River,passes through San Antonio,New Braunsfels,San Marcos,Cedar Creek, Bastrop,Paige,Caldwell,Benchley,Normangee,Midway,Crock- et,Alto,Nacogdoches,San Augustine,Pendleton on the Sabine River,where it leaves Texas and goes to Natchitoches,Louisiana, then on to Natchez,Mississippi and on to Washington. 398 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD Here is the way Will P.Watson,known as the Arkansas Traveler,describes the route,published in a booklet issued by the Sabine Index at Many,Louisiana,when the Pendleton Bridge was dedicated: Leading out of the city of Washington,crossing the majestic Potomas on a mighty bridge it wends its way southward,pass- ing through the famous Shenandoah Valley,made famous by Stonewall Jackson and his hosts in Gray,and most of the im- portant spots are marked showing Jackson's headquarters.From EI Camino Real may be seen the heights of Harper's Ferry: "The Wilderness"remains to be seen-where Southern men put up one of the staunchest fights ever recorded in history-a fight equal to that of the Spartan braves who defended the passes of Thermopylae.Thousands of brave men from Dixie sleep the last long sleep in unmarked graves along El Camino Real in Vir- ginia. On down the valley of Virginia we come to Richmond,cap- ital of Southern Confederacy,and today one of the most beau- tiful cities of America.There we pause to look over the Con- federate capital;visit the remains of the fortifications of the city,and visit many of the historic spots in and around the city. Truly EI Camino Real traverses the most beautiful portions of the historic old Virginia and the writer regrets that space will not permit him to launch into descriptions of its many charms. Go yourself and enjoy the wonderful scenery and visit the hun- dreds of spots made sacred by human sacrifices of the past in a cause that was just but lost-settled by the arbitrament of arms. From the Virginia,El Camino Real leads you down in North Carolina and on to the capital,Charleston,through some of the most beautiful and most impressive scenery ever viewed.This city,too,is one of history and tradition but today modern in every respect and one of the leading centers of commerce and manufacture of the entire South.There you will find sights to see;places to visit and a kindly welcome from the people who follow the traditions of the southland and extend real South- ern hospitality. Leaving North Carolina's capital,EI Camino Real leads you to and through the Blue Ridge Mountains-a country unto itself-but one you will enjoy passing through and one you will CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD 399 never forget.Pause as you pass and visit some of the moun- taineers,they will be glad to entertain you and you will be sur- prised-for God never created a freer-hearted race of people than those mountaineers of North Carolina and Tennessee. On to Nashville,Tennessee,we follow EI Camino Real where we visit Tennessee's capital;drive over the city's broad thoroughfares;visit its many points of interest and meet many of its leading people.Nashville is proud of her past,and being one of the oldest inland cities in the United States it has many interesting points that the traveler along EI Camino Real should visit.Nashville is glad to have you and you will be glad you visited this beautiful,hospitable Southern City. From Nashville,EI Camino Real travels over the Old Nat- chez Trace,mentioned in a former paragragh,meandering down through the historic old state of Mississippi,passing through its capital--Jackson-on down to Natchez,the Bluff City,and the oldest settlement in the state-rich in history and tradition, and beautiful even beyond the descriptive abilities of him who wrote:"Sweet Auburn,loveliest village of the plains."To ap- preciate the cities one must visit and see them. Crossing the Mississippi River at Natchez,EI Camino Real takes a westward course and from Vidalia,the parish of Con- cordia parish,runs to Ferriday,another thriving city of Con- cordia.From Ferriday to Jonesville on Black River,the city that ships more fish than any shipping center in the entire country.From Jonesville it leads to Jena,capital of LaSalle parish,center of large lumber industries and prosperous agri- culture.From Jena,we travel over EI Camino Real to Tullos, center of one of Louisiana's oil fields,and from Tullos it leads us on into Winnfield,capital of Winn parish,and birthplace and former home of the late Senator Huey P.Long.From Winn- field we travel on to Natchitoches,oldest settlement in all of the Louisiana territory,and then to Many,capital of Sabine parish. Crossing the Sabine upon the beautiful bridge,the King's Highway enters the Lone Star State-Texas,and on we go to San Augustine,one of the oldest settlements in the State of Tex- as.From San Augustine we follow the route to Nacogdoches; to Alto;to Crockett;to Caldwell;to Bastrop;to Austin;to San Marcos;to San Antonio and on to Laredo,where the Rio Grande 400 CAMINO REAL-OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD is crossed into Mexico and the motorists will find a completed hard surfaced road to the City of Mexico. Throughout its entire route El Camino Real leads through most historic territory and the traveler will find points of inter- est along its entire several thousands miles of travel. INDEX King's Highway-Camino Real-Dld San Antonio Road-Was the First Artery of Commerce serving Tex'as and Mexico 64 Meaning of Word "Camino Real"26 Meaning of the Word "Texas"353.354 The Spanish Gold Hunters-The Peripili Books First of Kind Used by Surveying Spaniards 27.28,41 The Coming of the French 31-33 The Finding of LaSalle's Fort 31,394 The Coming of Louis .Tachereau St.D€unis 38,370 The Spanish Come Again with Expeditions to Keep Out French 38 The First Mission 38,346 The Portolan Charts Used,dated 1311 on Surveying 29 Pineda-The First Map Maker of Texas Coasts 28 The First Expedition Sent by Spain into Texas to Keep out the French -Build Missions to Christianize Indians 30 The Woman in Blue 28-42 Aguayos Expedition ____48-51 The Founding of San Jose Mission ,35-5] French and Spaniards at Odds Over Ownership of Louisiana and Texas 27.28 Marriage of St.Dennis to Lovely GranddaughteT of Captain Diego- Ramon,Commander of San Juan Baptista on Rio Grande 38 President George Washington Asks to be made Director of Indian Trading Posts-1796 56 Napoleon Comes in and Takes a Hand 60 Immigrating Pulsating into Texas n__n___n n 60-74 Population Settled Along Camino Rcal.Eastern Texas.Then Later Between Fort Worth and Weatherford-Timbered Locations 64 Louisiana Boundary With Texas and Secession n 59 Revolution Starts Near San Antonio-Between Main Plaza and Alamo __59 ~urder and Loot 59 Secession of Louisiana to Spain _n n 36-58 United States of America n 58 BeginIling of Trade with San Antonio n 38,39 Thomas .Tefferson 71,73,157,396 .Tean Lafitte 66 C10se of ~exican Ftevolution 60 King's Highway Historic Foundation n 1 Thrilling Days When Nolan Invaded Texas n 76 Ellis Bean Sets Up Hat-Shop in Chean C11ihuahua n__81 United States Post Fort Jessup 1803-by Jefferson n 73 In 1714 Jachereau St.Dennis Crossed Texas with Trade Commission From Governor of Louisiana 67 The Covered Wagon n 87 Stephen F.Austin Arrives with Colony _n 94 INDEX (Cont'd) Colonization Laws Enacted with Mexico n n__74 ~ustin Fteturns to Texas 86 Pioneers Following the Trail n n___n ---86 Moses ~ustin and Son,Stephen F.Austin,Get Permission to Establish Colony n n 8&-94 Mexico Invites ~mericans into Texas n 89 The Empresarios 89 Stephen F.~ustin n n n 91 Government of the First C'olony n 85-88 Empresarios'Grants pn____n______n__n ___88-91 Life of the ~ustin Family ~n 93 Initiate Project Here u n n 97 Santa Anna 100 General Wilkerson's U.S.Army Meets Cordera and General Herrera at Sabine Border nn n n n -- 99 Gre'at Real Estate Deal n 99 Tragedy of the Alamo n 100 Davy Crockett's Diary __n n__n __100-102 All Crossed the Line n__n n n 102 General Edward Burleson,Milam,Travis n 104 Treaty of Velasco 105 Republic of Texas n n 105 Histodc French Embassy n lOG Secedes from Union __n n 109 Famous Dispatch Found n n__n 110 Houston Changes His Plans n___n 111 The Enemy Destroyed 112 Texas.Celebr'ates Her First Christmas 114 Col.Josiah P.Wilbarger-~ustin Colonies 117 Old Time Music and Square Dances n n 117 Coal Oil ~D1PS 119 Texas Declaration of Independence Signers 120 Dissolved the State Congress of Coahuila and Texas 123 Bunton Becomes Leader n n 124 The ~nnexation of Texas n n 125 The Mexican Prophecy Fulfilled 12'6 Said Senator Houston,"Back to Texas Republic Road Bill Debating in United States Senate"-he says:"A Road is Now Needed to Connect the ~tlantic and the Pacific Oceans and to Run Over the Great Isthmus of Texas"___nn n u--__126 Sam Houston Texas'Political Father-His Scrapbook Tells of First Inaugural Ball,1846 128 War With Mexico-Houston's Part in Confederacy 134 Dr.Bolton's Notes on De Mezeres,1778,on Eastern Texas Indians.__143,144 INDEX (Cont'd) Moses Austin Selects Site for Colony-Son Stephen at Dying Father's Request Brought Three Hundred Families to Washington on the Brazos 144 Repeating the History-The Declaration taken from Jefferson's Document of 1776 145 Santa Anna's Army Falls at San Antonio,1836 148 Some Queer Characters of Record in Early Texas 152 The Great Str'ategic Military Highway 153 Jachereau de St.Dennis 155 Antonio Crozat 155 Daughters American Republic Take Action in 1912 to Perpetuate King's Highway,Gamino Real,Old San Antonio Road 162 State Meeting Daughters American Republic 1911 in Galveston Pro- pose Texas Markers on Highways 158 .Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman-V\l-estel'n Division of National Old Trails Road,D.A.R.Appointed by National Society of D. A.R.Object:"Commemorating Pioneer Trails"-"Behind the Trails Lie Civilization'''-Permanent Reminder,the pioneers Trailed and Blazed the Trails J 69 Courage and Triumphs {}f Texas Pioneers Recalled 172 San Jacinto Day 174 Mrs.Masee B.Urwitz 175 Miss Elizabeth Butler Gentry,National Old Trails 177 Texas State Historical Society--Chas.W.Ramsdell,secretary,1914 178 Dr.E.C'.Barker,Austin,1914 180 Dr.W.E.Dunn,Austin,1914 :180 University of Texas,March 1915 181 University,Austin,Texas 182 Dr.W.E.Dunn,by Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,1914 183 Mrs.Norvell,by Dr.W.E.Dunn,November,1916 183 Recording Secretary National Old Trails Road,D.A.R.1915 184 Senator Louis Wortham consents to present Bill to Legislature for Appropriation to Save the Road 186 Memorial to Texas Legislature 186 The Great Strategic Highway 186 Subscribers to Boulder Fund 191 Camino del Rey-Road of the King-WIll Woldert 193 Camino Real is Worthy of Perpetuating 200 Maps and History by Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman Old Trails Committee,D.A.R.201 Report of Major V.N.Zively,C.E.,on Surveying the Road 202 Diary of Morfi,1778 212, First Report of Survey,December 6,1915 216 Second Report,March 4.1916-Third Report,October 23,1916 Preface to Work on the Survey 217 INDEX (Cont'd) Editorial Nacogdoches,October 28,1915-Surveying Old San Antonio Road Through Nacogdoches-Leon County,at Point near Mid- way.Here General Arrendon in 1813 had S()Augusta Magee's Soldiers Shot 219,220-223,224-227 Joe Wrenn,United States Post Office,Normangee 22& Surveying of King's Highway Report to National Chairman D.A.R. by Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,Chairman,and Costs of Subscribed ~onuments 229 County Judge Wildenthal's Carrizo Springs Report 238 The Javelin,Carrizo Springs Editorial 239 Address to Continental Congress,1919,by Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, Chairman of Old Trails Road in the Southwest 240 County Judges Asked for Report on Identifying Monuments Through the Respective 14 Counties Road is Surveyed Through 242 "Along A Highway from Del Rio to Saltillo"-San Antonio Express 243 San Juan Baptista Mission on the Rio Grande Among the Jumano and Apache Indians 245 Texas History Paves Highway from Eagle Pass to Robeline,Louisi- ana,San ~~ntonio Express 246 Range Rodeos of Cow Country 247 Texas Historian Writes on Old San Antonio Trail and How It Con- nects with Natchez,Mississippi 248 San Antonio of Tod'ay,once Battlefield of History 251 Address,Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell,State Regent D.A.R.1919 Annual State Conference 255 Continental Hall,'\Vashington,a Monument to the Soul of Men and Women Expressing Spirit and Sacrifice--The Morning Cometh and _~so the Night 267 State Memorial Dedication,San Antonio,Texas,San Pedro Park, Three o'clock,Saturday,February 21,1920.Announcements of Program.Luncheon by Alamo and San Antonio de Bexar Chap- ters and Editorials of San Antonio Express,Newsp'aper 258 Poem Dedicated to Mrs.Norvell,by Mrs..A.C.Pancost.Parade, Military and Civic with Imposing Dedication Ceremony 260 Rejoicing in Completion of a Patriotic Task-Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell, State Regent,Presented the Surveyed and Marked Trail to the State of Texas for National Society of Daughters of American Revolution.A Permanent Chain of Monuments,as Reminder that Our Forbears Traveled the Wilderness Road 263 Reports with Articles on Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road 266 Heroic Age of Texas,by Mrs.Adele B.Looscan,President,Texas State Historical Association 271 Camino Real,Old San Antonio Road,by J.D.Fauntleroy,former State Highway Engineer.Written in 1920 276 Programme of Dedication,March 2,1920,San Pedro Springs,San Antonio,Texas.San Antonio Express,1920 281 Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell honored by American Defense Society for Texas __283 INDEX (Cont'd) Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell Honored by U.S.Good Roads Association- Beaumont Enterprise n ___u __284 Louis Cuerons,Mexico,D.F.,Civil Engineer,Chief of DeJx;.rtment Prospects and Construction,Mexico,Gives Pointers on Jnter- national Highways n_n n n____.____n 286 George Louis C'rockett-Old King's Highway Joins Present with Romantic Past.______nh _n_nn u n _._290 Address to State Highway of Texas-1919,by Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell __296 Old San Antonio Road Association Organized to Assist jn--"~.~serv- ing and Maintaining by Commission of Texas Highway ____n ~.97 Membership Drive for San Antonio Road Association _n _299 Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce,August 27,1929 ___u 300 Nacogdoches County Fair Association,October 24,1929 _301 The Gateway Into Texas,Mrs.Lipscomb Norvell .302 A.B.McSwain,County Judge,Bexar,Texas,May 17,1!>34 _.304 James Sullivan,C'ollege Station Brazos County,Sends Commiil_ce List __304 Nat Patton Congressman 7th District,Texas n _____n_206 Motorcade Over San Antonio Ro'ad from San Antonio to P...!IJleton on Sabine River and Return,Jan.17,18,1938 __.__206 Fred M.Herndon,Secretary to State Parks Association ____206 Bennett and Bennett,Attorneys at Law,Designating Naming 'j}Park for Monument of Old San Antonio Road,to be Located ___308 Ceremony Held in March Honoring Be'aumont's \V oman's Re~earch, on Camino Real,as Known in History,by Citizens to Honor Mrs.Claudia W.Norvell n___n _n 309 Hearing by Highway C'ommission,as to Building Old San }I.ntonio Road,by Paul D.Page,Bastrop,Texas _n n___310 Acros.s State Road Spanned Highway Commis.sion Agrees to Back Artery Linking Sabine with Rio Grande Delegation to Au~tjn 312 Markers Slated by Bridges over Neches,Trinity,Brazos,and Cedar Creek ___312 Surveying Old San Antonio Road by Widening Pioneer Surv.;y for a 100 Feet Travelling Road n _313 Normangee Big Celebration for Dedication of Monument,May 25, 1939-Centennial Monument ln Norvell Park n __n 315 To Mark 248th Anniversary of El Camino Real,Old San }'t:;:;tonio Road-At Normangee,May 25,1939--"Galveston News"___316 Honoring First Governor Don Domingo Teran Los Rios-for Plazing Cami:::l0 Real n n _____318 Monument Erected on Dividing Line-Madison-Leon Countks,at Normangee u _n ___..__320 Nations Honor First Governor-World Leaders Present at Dedication of Monument to Colonial Statesmen n__n 321 INDEX (Cont'd) Program,Mar 25,1939,Normangee Park,by Historians-State Offi- cials-Representatiyes of Mexico-Rev.Paul J.Foik,Dr.Carlos Castaneda,Dr.Eugene Barker,Texas University;Dr.Ross Spheares,University of Louisiana;Judge R.N.Stripling,San Augustine;D.N.Cushing,Grand Commander,Knights Templar of Texas 323 Nations .Honor Camino Real-Old San Antonio Road-The President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,Secretary Cordell Hull invited and Responded .in Appointing Ambassadors from Spain,French Re- public,Ambassadors from Mexico _324 Judge W.C.Davis,Bryan,Speech of Acceptance of Monument 326 For State Reception--Committee:Frank C.Gross,Mr.Martin,and W.A.Maecger,San Antonio 327 Dr.C.E.Castaneda,University of Texas,Garcia Library,History of Camino Real 330 "Texas Land of God's Predilections"-Rev.Father Paul J.Foik,St. Edwards Uni\'ersity,Austin __335 Jose Faus.Sp::misll-Representing Spanish Ambassador-Address 334 Monument Unveiled-Names of Founders of Road Inscribed-Mrs. Lipscomb Norvell 339 Normangee Chamber of Commerce-Congratulations-D.C.Holleman, Chairman 341 First Mission in Tex'as-Nabedeche,Angelina County 347 Houston County 346 Mission Santissi Monombre de Marin.Neches River-Mission San Francesco de Los Neches River--Cherokee County 348 Little Angel-Indian Heroine-Her Fate a Mystery-Birth date unknown 349 Early History of Alto-Home of Grand Xenisi 353 Texas Nation-Woman Sanita Adeva Solis,Tells of Coming to Banks of Neches 355 Ais Tribe-The Friendly Indians Ask for The Woman in Blue 358 Nations of T€xas Indians-16 Tribes 359 Texas Indians Extinct 359 Nacogdoches Second to Oldest Town in Texas 362 Missions of East Texas Located by Mr.M.R.Blake of Nacogdoches 365 Fulfillment of Dream of Espinoza and Father Magi! 364 Magee Expedition ______----366 Stone Fort 366 First Two Newspapers in Texas 367 Sites of Various Homes of Bean 36& Developing General Thomas Rusk 369 Sites of Texas Indians 369 The Smugglers Road 370-376 Original Church Buildings 370 University of Nacogdoches 371 INDEX (Cont'd) Hayden Edwards h~~~ __~_373 Peter Ellis Bean u u ~374 Boundary Bridge Between Louisiana 'and Texas-Sabine Rive}'380 Gaines Ferry,Pendleton,Texas-Gateway into Texas ___h 381 Through Louisiana-Natchez to Fort Jessup-Many h 382 Robeline-Adae,Natchitoches n___u ____385 Fort Jessup Built in 1883 to Guard Gateway into Texas ________377 Natchitoches-Commandant De St.Dennis Fort ___________u u383 A Great Parkway Visioned,Uniting the U.S.Capitol with Capitol of Mexico City u u _____388 Contributed by Natchez-Natchitoches-Old San Antonio P~YJnvay ABsociation _386 History Repeats Itself in a Resurgence of Military Highway 394 Natchez-Natchitoches-San Antonio Parkway-Los Adaes___389 ...... MAP .8c.:.,:..-".~ ~<JNg~rJJ$H~J.A y ... ~"'-."..4::-"..,, II r li"I , , <) c, ~ +, <' o o , , EI Camino Real Old San Antonio Road ArchiYest Dr.W.E.Dunn,Texas University Surveyor V.N.Ziyely,C.E. Map Maker,G.Cuahundra,C.E.