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Published Sunday, April 19, 2009 12:08 AM Group trying to preserve history of OSR By MATTHEW WATKINS matthew.watkins@theeagle.com Drivers on Old San Antonio Road may have no idea that
they are following a path trod centuries before by Native Americans, Spanish conquistadors and early Texas settlers. But the road along the northern border of Brazos County has been
deemed historically significant by the federal government and is a part of the family history of thousands with deep Texas roots. In the past few months, Barbara Althaus and the Brazos
County Historical Commission have been working to educate government leaders and residents about the history and significance of the trail. They hope that the cities of Bryan and College
Station and Brazos County will work together to develop it and make the area a pivot point for tourists who come to the region to explore their past. "I think that this could be a wonderful
thing for Brazos County," said Althaus, who has researched the trail for months and has maps and binders full of research in her home. "It has more than 300 years of history and could
bring lots of people to our county." History Old San Antonio Road, originally called El Camino Real de los Tejas, once linked Mexico City to Los Adaes, an 18th-century settlement in
the Spanish province of Tejas. The site is now in Louisiana. "It is Texas' first interstate," County Commissioner Kenny Mallard said at a meeting last week. The trail is made up of a
series of routes that begin in Texas at Guerrerro, Laredo and Villa de Dolores and pass through San Antonio and Austin to the north and Goliad to the south. They come close together
north of Bryan and then continue northeast through Nacogdoches on the way to Louisiana. Travelers took different routes during different times of the year, depending on vegetation and
the level of the many rivers they had to forge. OSR moves relatively parallel to the Gulf of Mexico and was formed from previously established buffalo trails and Native American trade
routes, historians historians say. The path was traveled by French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, in the late 1600s as he explored East Texas in hopes of expanding
his country's empire. He was killed by his own men, and his ill-fated Fort St. Louis fell apart soon after. The Spanish explorer Alonso De Leon then traveled parts of the trail searching
for La Salle's fort in hopes of ridding the area of French influence. The travels of those two explorers helped develop El Camino Real de los Tejas as an established path. In ensuing
years, the road was frequently used to move goods to Spanish establishments in present-day Louisiana in an effort to isolate French influence on their developments. In the early 1800s,
American explorer Zebulon Pike, for whom Pikes Peak is named, passed through Brazos County while searching for the Red River, according to Althaus' research. He was lost and camped on
Rye Loop on the current outskirts of Bryan, she said. Later, Texas legends Davy Crockett, Stephen F. Austin, Jim Bowie and Sam Houston all traveled the road, and it became known as Old
San Antonio Road. It was the northern border of Austin's Colony from 1821 to 1836. In 1836, Texans used the trail to flee Santa Anna during what is known as the Runaway Scrape. "They
literally ran for their lives," Althaus said. The importance of the path diminished once major Texas towns such as Austin and Houston began to grow, but parts of it are still traveled
on OSR and Texas 21. Preservation and development The historical significance of the trail was recognized as early as 1915, when the Daughters of the American Revolution began placing
granite markers commemorating the path every five miles. Some of those markers are currently prominently displayed in parks, but others have been forgotten and lie hidden on the side
of the road. In 2004, President Bush declared El Camino Real de los Tejas a National Historic Trail, and the National Park Service has Buy a print Eagle photo/Stuart Villanueva Barbara
Althaus is working with the Brazos County Historical Commission to encourage city and county governments to develop historical sites along OSR, once known as El Camino Real de los Tejas.
Group trying to preserve history of OSR | Bryan/College Station, Texas -The Eagle Page 1 of 2 http://www.theeagle.com/local/Group-trying-to-preserve-history-of-OSR 4/19/2009
since been working with local governments along the road to develop historical attractions. The Brazos County Historical Commission has been working on local developments since late
2008. In January, researchers from the National Park Service surveyed sites in Brazos Valley and declared a spot on Rye Loop a "rare jewel" because it offers an unobstructed view of
a prairie along the road that looks virtually the same as it did three centuries ago. "There are no buildings, no cell phone towers and no water towers," Althaus said. "You can just
hear the horses and wagons going giddy-up up the highway." Nearby, researchers discovered long stretches, called swales, where the land was pushed down by horses, cattle and wagons over
centuries of travel. Members of the Brazos County Historical Commission believe they may have found more swales near the Navasota River that could be the longest in the state. Althaus
said the commission received a favorable reaction from the National Parks Service when officials looked over the site. Members of the commission have begun lobbying local leaders to
provide funding for development of the area. The National Park Service will match the local governments' funds if they contribute $30,000 to the development. The site on Rye Loop is
owned by the city of College Station, and some city employees have been active in researching the land. County Judge Randy Sims said he has enjoyed meeting with the historical commission.
"It is really exciting, and it is awesome that people were traveling through what is now the state of Texas for so long," Sims said at Tuesday's county commissioners meeting. "We will
take a look at budget time and see if we can make money available." Plans for developing the area are in their infancy. The historical commission is still researching Brazos County's
role in the history of the road, but members say they want to make sure that they don't miss out on having a national trail pass through their backyard. "Whether Brazos County does anything
or not, the trail will be developed," Althaus said. She said she envisions turning the "rare jewel" into a viewing point. "Something open, simple, that doesn't break the continuity of
the prairie or obstruct a view but gives the traveler what the pioneers would have felt when they looked out over that prairie," she said. More signs could be added along OSR, she said,
and Bryan-College Station could be a sort of home base for travelers who would then spread out across the region during the day to view other historical sites. Althaus predicts that
those sites will increase in the years ahead. "We are just in the early stages of finding out how Brazos County relates in time [to El Camino Real de los Tejas]," she said. "Soon we
are going to start hearing a lot more about El Camino Real." Group trying to preserve history of OSR | Bryan/College Station, Texas -The Eagle Page 2 of 2 http://www.theeagle.com/local/Group-trying-t
o-preserve-history-of-OSR 4/19/2009