Five Days On the Trail

The plazas that grace the oldest communities along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro are great starting points for a day on the trail.

Santa Fe I Albuquerque I Socorro I Las Cruces I El Paso

Santa Fe: 400 Years of History, All in a Day’s Work

The Plaza was a terminus of the Camino Real during the Spanish colonial period, from 1610 through 1821. Most early travelers to Santa Fe remarked on its low, earthen houses, its dusty roads, and its generally unimpressive city center. Today, the Plaza is the hearth of Santa Fe. It sports a new bandstand, an obelisk commemorating war heroes, bustling shops, and excellent people watching.

Santa Fe’s Plaza fronts the Palace of the Governors, the oldest continuously used public building in North America. Established in 1610 by Don Pedro de Peralta, this block-long complex was the Casas Reales, or the settlement’s “Royal Houses.” The block served as the residence of the governor of the province, the stronghold and arsenal, and the civic and military hub of the Villa de Santa Fe.  By 1680, the walled and fortified “Casas Reales” could accommodate “more than a thousand persons, five thousand head of sheep and goats, four hundred horses and mules, and three hundred head of beef cattle, without crowding.” The Palace of the Governors is open to the public as part of the Museum of New Mexico.

An easy walk from the Plaza will take you up to the Cross of the Martyrs, a monument to those who perished during the Indian Revolt of 1680. The cross is placed at the western margin of old Fort Marcy, a now-abandoned 19th century U.S. military fort. Follow Palace Avenue east to Washington, then two blocks north to West Marcy. Two blocks east on Marcy leads to Paseo de Peralta. Follow the Paseo north to the steps and switchbacks leading up to the Cross of the Martyrs. 

Tracing the Camino Real by car from the Plaza to Las Golondrinas, a living history museum south of Santa Fe, will take you back 400 years. Take West San Francisco Street (on the south side of the Plaza) west to Guadalupe, then south on Guadalupe three blocks to Agua Fria. Take Agua Fria southwest  its entire length. This street follows the south side of the Santa Fe River and lies atop the old Camino Real. Agua Fria still leads down through one of the oldest neighborhoods in Santa Fe, the traditional community of Agua Fria, about 4 miles from the Plaza.

Agua Fria continues southwest to Airport Road, again along the general route of the Camino Real. Taking Airport Road southwest, you’ll follow the Santa Fe River to La Cienega, another traditional community, and one which prizes its privacy. Airport Road will turn into County Road 56. At the junction with County Road 54A, take a sharp left turn, and  follow County Road 54A (Los Pinos Road) back to the northeast until you reach Rancho de Las Golondrinas. This living history museum opens a window into colonial New Mexico, and the site was the last paraje, or campsite, travelers would have stayed at before reaching Santa Fe. Today’s travelers can reach Las Golondrinas, the Ranch of the Swallows, from the interstate as well (click for directions).

Albuquerque: Tricentennial Town

Albuquerque’s Plaza and Old Town are the start of any trip along El Camino Real. Albuquerque was founded as a villa, or a Spanish civil town, in 1706. Ordinarily, such villas were established under the direction of the King or viceroy. Albuquerque was founded by Governor Cuervo y Valdés, who acted first, and notified the crown later. No slouch at diplomacy, Cuervo y Valdés named the community after the viceroy, Fernandez de la Cueva, Duque de Alburquerque, and justified himself as follows:
I certify to his majesty: That I have founded a villa on the banks and in the valley of the River of the North in a place of good fields, waters, pastures, and timber, distant from this villa of Santa Fe about twenty-two leagues,... naming it the Villa of Alburquerque... There are now thirty-five families located there, comprising 252 persons, adults and children. The Church has been completed... the government buildings have been begun, and other houses of the settlers are finished with their corrals, irrigation ditches running, fields sowed—all without any expense to the Royal Treasury.
He then boldly requested the Duke of Alburquerque to contribute "bells, ornaments, chalices, missals, images and jewels...," for the new church located on Albuquerque's plaza. This church, San Felipe de Neri, has recently been remodeled. The present building, which dates to 1793, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Old Town includes the plaza, San Felipe de Neri, and a fascinating neighborhood of small houses, shops, and restaurants. The plaza is the original center of the 1706 villa. The National Hispanic Cultural Center, just south of the historic Barelas neighborhood on old Route 66, and the Camino Real, features exhibits on Hispanic arts and culture from the United States and the Americas in general. The Center lies southeast of Old Town, at the southern end of 4th Street SW, just across Bridge Boulevard. This end of 4th Street is part of the historic Barelas neighborhood, one of Albuquerque’s older, traditional communities.

Isleta Pueblo, the southernmost of the Río Grande pueblos in New Mexico, lies a short drive south of Albuquerque, along the route of the Camino Real. Today’s travelers leaving the National Hispanic Cultural Center would take Bridge Blvd. west across the Río Grande, then head southwest, then south on Isleta Boulevard SW.  Isleta Blvd. leads directly to the Pueblo, and follows what would have been the western branch of the Camino Real. There was also an eastern branch that followed the east banks of the Río Grande, staying up on the first terraces above the river to keep out of the bosque, or riverine woodlands and wetlands at the river margin itself.

Socorro:  Refuge and Relief 

In June, 1598, the Piro Indian community of Teypana gave the weary, parched colonists much needed foodstuffs, and a welcome respite from the rigors of the first journey north along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The colonists were coming off a grueling three-day trek across the waterless mesquite terraces of the Jornada del Muerto, the “Deadman’s Journey” east of the Río Grande. This crossing saved a week of hard travel through the barrancas, or steep canyons along the west bank of the river, but cost at least one poor soul his life.

The welcoming Piro community, located just outside the southern boundary of present-day Socorro, did not survive the Spanish colonization of New Mexico. The Spanish established a small mission in the community of Pilabo, the northernmost of the Piro villages, and the site of today’s modern town. Two priests from the original Oñate colonist expedition stayed behind to built a modest church, bring the Catholic religion to the Piro, and plant the first grapes to be raised in New Mexico. They were chased south during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. After the Spanish returned in 1692, the little mission of Socorro, “relief” or “succor” in Spanish, remained deserted and dormant for the next century except for occasional visits by travelers on El Camino Real. In 1816, the Spanish Crown awarded land to 21 Spanish families under the Socorro Grant.

Sleepy, agricultural Socorro was the last settlement before the Jornada del Muerto crossing for travelers coming south along the trail and the first settlement of any size reached by travelers heading north off the Jornada del Muerto. In the 1850s, Fort Craig was established some 20 miles to the south to guard the trail and Socorro became a bustling “army town,” especially during the Civil War, when the town profited from the freighting and supply business.

Today’s travelers will find Socorro an excellent spot for exploring the middle stretches of El Camino Real in the United States. An easy day trip will take visitors from the Socorro Plaza, which hosts a farmers’ market on Tuesday evenings Saturday mornings in the summer out to the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro International Heritage Center, a brand-new, state-of-the-art visitor center that tells the story of the national historic trail through exhibits, programs, and self-guided trails.

The heart of Socorro still holds the essence of the trail in the Plaza, nearby San Miguel Mission, a late 19th century church built on the site of the original 1627 mission, and the old 1886 Opera House built by Juan Nepomuceno Garcia at the corner of Terry Avenue and California. The historic district that centers on the Plaza can be explored by car in about half an hour, or by foot in one to two hours.

The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro International Heritage Center lies about 30 miles south of Socorro along I-25. Signs at exit 115 take visitors east to Hwy 1 frontage road, south 1.4 miles, then east onto County Road 1598. The Center sits above the Río Grande, about 2.7 miles east. The Center was developed through a partnership between the BLM and the State of New Mexico and is now operated as a State Monument.

Travelers with a full day to spend will want to leave Socorro early in the morning to catch the first light at the world-famous bird refuge at Bosque del Apache. The Bosque sits just south of the little crossroads town of San Antonio, off I-25. Following signs to the refuge will put travelers on old New Mexico Highway 1, the state’s first designated highway, and the paved road that most closely follows the old path of the national historic trail in this section of the route. Twilights at the Bosque are also a well-known New Mexico treat, and late risers may want to bypass the refuge on their way to the International Heritage Center, and visit the refuge on their way back to Socorro.

Follow Highway 1 another 8 or so miles south from the Bosque del Apache to reach Fort Craig National Historic Site. Civil War buffs and Camino Real enthusiasts will find a visit to Fort Craig a must. This national historic site is one of BLM’s public lands treasures.  Travelers heading south may want to stay on Highway 1 for another 30 miles as it crosses to the west of the Interstate and winds down along the foothills of the San Mateo Mountains. The leisurely pace of this “blue highway” allows visitors to take a break from the high-speed interstate and enjoy the journey.

Las Cruces: Colonial Paraje Becomes Largest City in Southern New Mexico

Today’s Las Cruces is one of the nation’s fastest-growing communities, looking to the future through the eyes of the students at New Mexico State University and to a life well-lived as the site of one of the country’s premier retirement destinations. In the 18th century, Las Cruces was a paraje, or campsite on El Camino Real, known mostly to the nomadic Mansos Indians, who camped here before they were converted to mission life. The old paraje is now lost under booming Las Cruces, but trail travelers will want to visit history-rich La Mesilla, Doña Ana, and Fort Selden as part of their exploration of El Camino Real. “Blue highway” buffs may also want to follow NM 28 south from Las Cruces through San Miguel and La Mesa to get a feel for the old agricultural life of the southern Río Grande valley, with its stately pecan orchards, glistening green fields, and adobe compounds. This highway is designated the Oñate Highway, in honor of the leader of the first colonial expedition, but it does not follow the historic route of El Camino Real, which stayed on the east side of the river through here.

A day’s exploration of Las Cruces might begin with the small historic district located just north of Amador Avenue on Main where a Farmer’s Market is held each Wednesday and Saturday morning.

For the agriculturally-oriented, the modern New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum details the growth of communities, agriculture, and livestock production along the Río Grande, and includes temporary and permanent exhibits that discuss El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. 

History buffs will also want to follow the historic route of El Camino Real. Take Amador west to Valley Drive, NM185, and then go north on Valley to follow the old route taken by centuries of colonists, traders, and soldiers. Valley Drive leads you through northern Mesilla Valley orchards and fields kept green by the waters of the Río Grande. Travelers on the Camino Real would have been driving their wagons and stock just east of the river, up on the first terrace above the floodplain.  A stop in Dona Ana will give visitors a chance to see the recently restored church and the modest plaza that were typical of the small towns that grew up along El Camino Real. Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, also known as Nuestra Señora de la Purificacion, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a Registered Cultural Property on the New Mexico Register. The old plaza and town center are also recognized as the Doña Ana Village Historic District.

Follow NM185 north to reach old Fort Selden, another of the mid-19th century army posts established to protect towns and travelers along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. This post once housed some of the black troops that the Indians called “buffalo soldiers.” Today, the fort offers a shady place for a picnic and the small visitor center and educational programs are an excellent introduction to the history of the Mesilla Valley and the role of the US Army on the trail.
 
La Mesilla and the Mesilla Plaza played an important role in the American history of the Camino Real. When the US and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which established a new border between the two nations, Mesilla was on the Mexican side of the border. The town grew rapidly as Mexicans displaced by Anglo-Americans arriving to claim lands under the treaty established new homes at Mesilla. In 1853, however, the Gadsden Purchase negotiated to give the US a good railroad corridor to the west coast, brought Mesilla into US territory, and the Mesilla residents found themselves once more on the US side of the border. The town later became a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from St. Louis and San Francisco, but lost any hope of prominence when the new rail lines were routed through Las Cruces rather than Mesilla.

Today, Mesilla gives a glimpse into the old West. It was a major crossroads on the Chihuahua Trail, the successor to El Camino Real following the American takeover of the Southwest, and it served the garrisoned troups at Fort Selden. The lively nightlife of the garrison town attracted outlaws and thrill seekers. Billy the Kid probably raised a few drinks at Mesilla bars before he was caught and then sentenced to be hung at the courthouse on the southeast corner of the plaza in 1881.

El Paso: El Paso del Norte, the Gateway to the Interior Lands

The sister cities of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, span the Río Grande at the place where, in the spring of 1598, Juan de Oñate and his band of several hundred colonists rested by the river, gave thanks for the successful journey north from Santa Barbara and Zacatecas, and took possession of the Tierra Adentro, the Interior Lands, in the name of the Spanish Crown.  El Paso del Norte, the Pass of the North, sited on the Río Grande between the Franklin Mountains on the east and the Sierra de Juárez and the Cerro Muleros on the west, had been known to the Spanish since their earliest explorations in the mid-16th century.

Over the next three centuries, settlements would be founded on both banks of the river. The Spanish settled largely on the south side, where they controlled trade and travel along El Camino Real, and brought the local Piro Indians into mission settlements. After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Americans built settlements on the north side of the river, now the international border. El Paso del Norte, once a Spanish settlement on the south side of the river, has now grown into the bustling city of Juárez, while the railroad town on the north side of the river once known as Franklin, now bears the name El Paso.

A visit to El Paso del Norte today will include a stop at the Oñate Crossing, marked by a small plaque and a tiny grassy park behind La Hacienda Restaurant on Paisano Drive, as well as a trip to the downtown plaza to visit the Luis Jimenez sculpture of three alligators which graces the modern fountain. Old time residents of El Paso and Juárez still remember the live alligators which swam in a cool pool in the center of the plaza.

Trail buffs will want to follow the Mission Trail south of El Paso to the old mission communities of Ysleta del Sur, Socorro, and San Elizario. Mission Ysleta and Mission Socorro were founded in 1692 and were home to a number of Pueblo Indians brought south with the Spanish during their retreat across the Río Grande following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Tiwa-speaking members of Isleta Pueblo, 250 miles to the north, were resettled at Ysleta and Socorro, where they were joined by Piro-speakers and by Mansos, as part of the Spanish mission program. San Elizario was built first as a military presidio, or fort, to protect riverside settlements from Apache attacks in 1789. The Mission Trail follows TX 20 south past all three sites.

Visitors heading north from El Paso may want to stop at Keystone Park, a wetlands restoration project and archaeological site that offers environmental education, interpretive exhibits, and information about El Camino Real. The park is located at 4200 Doniphan Drive.