El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, also called the Silver Route, was a Spanish road that stretched 2,560 kilometers (1,590 miles) from Mexico City to San Juan Pueblo (Ohkay Owingeh), New Mexico (now part of the United States). It was used from 1598 to 1882 and was the northernmost of four major roads that connected Mexico City to important areas during and after the Spanish colonial period.

In 2010, 55 sites and five existing UNESCO World Heritage Sites along the Mexican part of the route were added together to the World Heritage List. These included historic cities, towns, bridges, haciendas, and other landmarks along the 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) path from the Historic Center of Mexico City (a World Heritage Site on its own) to the town of Valle de Allende, Chihuahua.

The 404-mile (650-kilometer) part of the route in the United States was named the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail on October 13, 2000. This trail is part of the National Historic Trail system and is managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with help from the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association (CARTA). A section of the trail near San Acacia, New Mexico, was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

Route

The road starts at Plaza Santo Domingo, which is near the Zócalo and the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. It goes north through San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and ends at Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico.

History

Long before Europeans arrived, many groups of native people lived in the northern central steppe of Mexico. These groups created a path that would later become the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. This path was used for hunting and trading. It connected people in the Valley of Mexico with those in the north. They traded items like turquoise, obsidian, salt, and feathers. By the year 1000 AD, a thriving trade network stretched from Mesoamerica to the Rocky Mountains.

After the city of Tenochtitlan was conquered in 1521, Spanish explorers and settlers began exploring the area to expand their control and gain wealth for Spain. They followed trails that native people had used to move goods between the north and south.

In April 1598, a group of soldiers led by Juan de Oñate, the new governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, became lost in the desert near Paso del Norte while looking for the best way to reach the Río del Norte. A captured local named Mompil drew a map in the sand showing the only safe path to the river. The group reached the Río del Norte near present-day El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in late April. They celebrated the Catholic Feast of the Ascension on April 30 before crossing the river. They then mapped the route to what is now Española, where Oñate would build the capital of the new province. This trail became the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the northernmost of four main "royal roads" that connected Mexico City to other important areas like Acapulco, Veracruz, Guatemala, and Santa Fe.

After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which forced the Spanish out of Nuevo México, the Spanish Crown decided not to leave the region completely. Instead, they created a system called the "conducta" to supply missions, forts, and ranches in the area. The conducta involved wagon caravans that left every three years from Mexico City to Santa Fe along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The journey took six months and included 2–3 weeks of rest along the way.

Travelers faced many challenges. Floods could delay caravans for weeks while they waited for rivers to dry. Droughts could make water hard to find. The most dangerous part of the journey was the Jornada del Muerto, a 100-kilometer stretch of desert with no water sources.

Other dangers included attacks by bandits and the Chichimecas, a native group that often targeted caravans for horses, women, and children. Forts along the route allowed soldiers to protect caravans. At night, caravans formed circles with wagons to protect people and animals.

The Camino Real was used for over 300 years, mainly to transport silver from northern mines. As the road improved and more towns and farms developed, the risks of travel decreased.

In the 18th century, many towns grew along the Camino Real. The area between Durango and Santa Fe became known as "the Chihuahua Trail." The city of Chihuahua, established in 1709, became a major trading center. Albuquerque, founded in 1706, was also important for trade. El Paso del Norte, now Ciudad Juárez, became a major city with a population of 2,635 by 1765. It was known for agriculture and products like wine, brandy, and raisins.

In the 18th century, the Spanish Crown allowed fairs along the Camino Real to boost trade. Important fairs included those in San Juan de los Lagos, Saltillo, Chihuahua, and Taos. At Taos, the Comanches and Utes traded with the Spanish. Spain controlled trade in its northern provinces, so no trade occurred with the French colony of Louisiana.

During the second half of the 18th century, the northern border of New Spain was important to Spain’s goals. The Spanish Crown wanted to protect its northern provinces from other European powers like England and France. They aimed to include native people in their society and economy to help defend the region.

Captain Nicolás de Lafora, part of an expedition led by the Marqués de Rubí, described the frontier of New Spain in his book "Viaje a los presidios internos de la América septentrional." This expedition, from 1766 to 1768, assessed military defenses and proposed a line of forts to protect against attacks by the Utes, Apaches, Comanches, and Navajos. Don José de Gálvez, a Spanish official, promoted a "Comandancia General de las Provincias Internas" to manage the northern provinces. However, he acknowledged that a long war with native groups was not possible due to limited resources. Instead, he focused on peace and increasing trade in 1779.

In 1786, Bernardo de Gálvez, the nephew of José de Gálvez, continued efforts to strengthen Spain’s control and improve relations in the region.

Uses of the name

The name can sometimes be confusing because during the Viceroyalty of New Spain, any road that could be used by horses and carts was called "Camino Real." Many roads in the viceroyalty had this name. Areas inside the viceroyalty but not in Mexico City were called "Tierra Adentro," especially the northern regions. The part of the road between Santiago de Querétaro and Saltillo was also called "La Puerta de Tierra Adentro" ("The Door of Tierra Adentro"). There were many "Caminos Reales de Tierra Adentro" in New Spain. The road from Saltillo, Coahuila, to the Province of Texas was likely the second most important after the road to Santa Fe.

World Heritage Site

The section of the road in Mexico was named to the UNESCO World Heritage List in November 2001 under cultural criteria (i) and (ii). Criterion (i) refers to "Representing a masterpiece of the creative genius of man," and criterion (ii) refers to "Being the manifestation of a considerable exchange of influences, during a specific period or in a specific cultural area, in the development of architecture or technology, monumental arts, urban planning or landscape design." In 2010, criterion (iv) was added, which states "Offering an eminent example of a type of building, architectural, technological or landscape, that illustrates a significant stage of human history." On August 1, 2010, UNESCO officially named this road a World Heritage Site. The designation includes a core zone of 3,102 hectares and a buffer zone of 268,057 hectares spread across 60 historical sites.

UNESCO identified 60 sites along the road in its declaration. Five of these sites—Mexico City, Querétaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Zacatecas—had been recognized separately before. The original historical route does not match the route identified by UNESCO, as UNESCO's declaration left out sections such as the part north of Valle de Allende in Chihuahua, the part through the Hacienda de San Diego del Jaral de Berrio in Guanajuato, and the part in the United States. Because of this, some experts have suggested that the declaration might be expanded in the future. The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia is researching to find and collect evidence for additional parts of the original road, such as bridges, pavements, and haciendas, that could be added to the UNESCO designation.

1351-000: Historic center of Mexico City.
1351-001: Old College of Templo de San Francisco Javier (Tepotzotlán) in Tepotzotlán.
1351-002: Aculco de Espinoza.
1351-003: Bridge of Atongo.

1351-004: Section of the Camino Real between Aculco de Espinoza and San Juan del Río.

• Mexico City.
• Church of San Jerónimo, Aculco de Espinoza.
• Old College of San Francisco Javier in Tepotzotlán.

1351-005: Templo and exconvento de San Francisco in Tepeji del Río de Ocampo and bridge.
1351-006: Section of the Camino Real between the bridge of La Colmena and the Hacienda de La Cañada.

• Templo and exconvento de San Francisco in Tepeji del Río de Ocampo.
• Bridge of Tlautla.

1351-007: Historic center of San Juan del Río.
1351-008: Hacienda de Chichimequillas.
1351-009: Chapel of the hacienda de Buenavista.
1351-010: Historic center of Santiago de Querétaro.

• Querétaro Cathedral.
• Templo y exconvento de San Francisco de Asís.
• House of la Corregidora.
• Querétaro Aqueduct.
• Capilla de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in San Juan del Río.
• Hacienda de Chichimequillas, El Marqués municipality.

1351-011: Bridge of El Fraile.
1351-012: Antiguo Real Hospital de San Juan de Dios in San Miguel de Allende.
1351-013: Bridge of San Rafael in Guanajuato.
1351-014: Bridge La Quemada.
1351-015: Sanctuario de Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco in the Municipality of San Miguel de Allende.
1351-016: Historic center of Guanajuato and its adjacent mines.

• Antiguo Real Hospital de San Juan de Dios.
• Guanajuato city.
• Bridge La Quemada.
• Sanctuario de Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco.
• San Miguel de Allende.

1351-017: Historic center of Lagos de Moreno and bridge.
1351-018: Historic center of Ojuelos de Jalisco.
1351-019: Bridge of Ojuelos de Jalisco.
1351-020: Hacienda de Ciénega de Mata.
1351-021: Old Cemetery of Encarnación de Díaz.

• Parroquia de la Asunción de María in Lagos de Moreno.
• Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Refugio in Lagos de Moreno.
• Bridge of Lagos de Moreno.
• Bridge of Ojuelos de Jalisco.
• Church in Encarnación de Díaz.
• Old Cemetery in Encarnación de Díaz.

1351-022: Hacienda de Peñuelas.
1351-023: Hacienda de Cieneguilla.
1351-024: Historic center of Aguascalientes.
1351-025: Hacienda de Pabellón de Hidalgo.

• Church of San Blas in Pabellón de Hidalgo.
• Aguascalientes.
• Hacienda de Pabellón de Hidalgo.

1351-026: Hacienda de San José de Gracia.
1351-027: Hacienda de San Isidro.
1351-028: Hacienda de San Antonio.
1351-029: Hacienda de San Miguel.
1351-030: Hacienda de San Luis.
1351-031: Hacienda de San Vicente.
1351-032: Hacienda de San José.
1351-033: Hacienda de San Antonio.
1351-034: Hacienda de San Miguel.
1351-035: Hacienda de San Luis.
1351-036: Hacienda de San Vicente.
1351-037: Hacienda de San José.
1351-038: Hacienda de San Antonio.
1351-039: Hacienda de San Miguel.

National Historic Trail

In the United States, from the Texas–New Mexico border to San Juan Pueblo north of Española, the original route (once named U.S. Route 85 but later replaced by U.S. Interstate Highways 10 and 25) has been named a National Scenic Byway called El Camino Real.

Over the past few decades, trails for walking, biking, and horseback riding have been added to parts of the trade route corridor. These include the existing Paseo del Bosque Trail in Albuquerque and parts of the planned Rio Grande Trail. The northern end of the route, Santa Fe, is also the endpoint of the Old Spanish Trail and the Santa Fe Trail.

Along the trail, preserved stopovers, or parajes, include El Rancho de las Golondrinas. Fort Craig and Fort Selden are also located along the route.

CARTA

The El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association (CARTA) is a group that works to promote, teach about, and protect a historic trail. CARTA partners with the U.S. National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, and Mexican organizations to care for the trail. CARTA also creates a journal called Chronicles of the Trail, which is published every three months. This journal shares more about the trail's history and what CARTA is doing to help protect it.

Chihuahua Trail

The Chihuahua Trail is another name for the path that goes from New Mexico through the state of Chihuahua to central Mexico.

By the late 16th century, Spanish explorers and settlers had moved north from Mexico City across the central plateau to reach Santa Fe. Until Mexican independence in 1821, all communication between New Mexico and the rest of the world was limited to this 1,500-mile (2,400 km) trail. Along it traveled ox carts, mule trains, missionaries, governors, soldiers, and settlers. When the Santa Fe Trail was created as a land route between Santa Fe and Missouri, American traders expanded their activities south along the Chihuahua Trail to Durango and Zacatecas. Eventually replaced by railroads in the 19th century, the old road from Mexico City to Santa Fe was revived in the mid-20th century as a major highway in Mexico. The section from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas, known as US State Highway 85, was first used by Franciscan missionaries in 1581. This road may be the oldest highway in the United States.