El Camino Real de los Tejas in Milam County, TX

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El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association

Please click HERE for more information and

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Milam commissioners hear update on trail markers

by Jeanne Williams - Temple Daily Telegram

October 13. 2011

CAMERON — Milam County commissioners this week heard a report on the El Camino Real de

Los Tejas National Historic Trail, which will be designated at six points in Milam County

with signs to be placed along off-system roadways in rural areas of the county.

Board representatives Dr. Lucile Estell and Joy Graham of Rockdale outlined plans by the

National Park Service to designate six historical sites along the ancient network of

trails used by Indians, early explorers and pioneers from Mexico City to Louisiana.

“I do believe in my heart that this opportunity to relate to the rest of Texas and the

United States Milam County’s role in the history of this state through the two routes

that come right through our county is a sign of better times for this area of Texas,”

Estell told commissioners.

Milam County will be the first Texas county to receive signs to be placed at Apache Pass,

the sites of Spanish missions and the Spanish garrison, and Sugar Loaf Mountain, which

became landmarks along some of the trails that made up the El Camino Real de Los Tejas.

“Milam County is a destination, a place where ‘something special happened here.’ Having

the upper route come through downtown Cameron and the lower route come through Rockdale

is an opportunity for our county to become more involved,” Estell said. “As I said today,

historic preservation in itself draws tourists, and tourists impact economic

development.”

The agency will work with TxDOT and the Texas Historical Commission in completing details

and installing signs. The agency has $7,000 toward completion, including $5,000 from the

National Park Service and a $2,000 grant from the Milam County Historical Commission

Preservation Trust Fund. To complete the project that amount must be doubled.

Exhibit on historic involvement of Spain and Mexico with Texas

on display at

Texas A&M University - Evans Library

November 2 thru November 11, 2011

COLLEGE STATION – October 18, 2011

A free public exhibit that commemorates the historic involvement of Spain and Mexico

with Texas will be on display starting November 2nd at 4:00pm at Texas A&M University’s

Evans Library. The exhibit will be on display through November, 11th.

The exhibit “El Camino Real de los Tejas: Past & Present,” created by the Consulate

General of Spain in Houston, features panels with old maps and engraving reproductions,

photographs, and other historical documents. “The exhibit is kind of a ‘historical

tourism’ along a very important road,” said David Rex Galindo, historical curator of the

exhibit.

A symposium led by experts in this field will be held November 3rd from 10:00 a.m. to

1:00 p.m. in the Evans Library, Room 204E, at Texas A&M University.

“Two of the foremost historians of Spanish colonialism and a wonderful young scholar who

is quickly developing a reputation in the field — who received her doctorate from the

Department of Hispanic Studies at Texas A&M University —will speak to the issue of Texas

colonial history. Their papers will be discussed by two prominent members of the

Department of History at Texas A&M,” said Alberto Moreiras, Department Head of Hispanic

Studies.

The exhibition and symposium seek to increase public awareness of a long and important

period in the history of Texas — the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, when Spain and

later Mexico were involved with the Lone Star State.

The Camino Real de los Tejas (Royal Road of Texas) is a historic landmark that dates

from 1680 to 1845 and spans Spanish, Mexican, and early American history. El Camino Real

de los Tejas was designated as a national Historic Trail in 2004 by the U.S. congress

and is one of 11 historic trails in the country. The trail has been extensively studied

by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Although the Camino Real de los Tejas

Association completed an ambitious Comprehensive Management Plan, this trail and other

Caminos Reales located across the Americas are not very well known by Texans. They

deserve a loving and detailed attention, said Cynthia Brandimarte, Director of the

Historic Sites & Structure Program of Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The exhibit and symposium are sponsored by the Department of Hispanic Studies, the Dean

of Faculties and Associate Provost Office, and the European Union Center at Texas A&M

University, and the generosity of Manuel and Carol Gonzalez, owners of Sterling Auto

Group in Bryan, Texas.

Exhibit organizers were the Consulate General of Spain, Houston, Texas A&M University,

and SPAIN Arts & Culture.

Collaborators in the creation of the exhibit include the Texas Parks and Wildlife

Department, El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association, Texas

Historical Commission, Gobierno de España Ministerio de Cultura, the Spanish

International Development Cooperation Agency, Gobierno de España Ministerio de Defensa,

and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

For more information about the exhibit, contact: epope@tamu.edu or by calling Erin Pope

at 979-862-7455.

New Officers Take the Helm of El Camino Real National Trail Association

Temple Daily Telegram - October 30, 2011

El Camino Real de los Tejas National Trail Association members elected Dr. Lucile

Estell of Rockdale, president, and named Joy Graham of Thorndale, Richard Santos of

Pearsall and Linda Curtis Sparks of Many, La., as vice presidents. Gary Dunnam of

Victoria was elected secretary and Mark Stine of Austin, treasurer.

These officers join nine other directors who represent their regions in 15 places on the

board.

At the annual membership meeting in Bastrop, Aaron Mahr, Steve Burns and Kristen Van

Fleet of the National Parks Service in Santa Fe, N.M., spoke about implementation of the

approved comprehensive management plan and explained the signage plan.

Milam County was selected to be the first county across Texas and Louisiana to receive

signs denoting the routes of the National Trail.