[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2276 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]
105th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2276
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de
los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``El Camino Real de los Tejas National
Historic Trail Act of 1998''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) El Camino Real de los Tejas (the Royal Road to the
Tejas), served as the primary route between the Spanish
viceregal capital of Mexico City and the Spanish provincial
capital of Tejas at Los Adaes (1721-1773) and San Antonio
(1773-1821);
(2) the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth
century rivalries among the European colonial powers of Spain,
France, and England and after their independence, Mexico and
the United States, for dominion over lands fronting the Gulf of
Mexico, were played out along the evolving travel routes in
this immense area;
(3) the future of several American Indian nations, whose
prehistoric trails were later used by the Spaniards for
exploration and colonization, was tied to these larger forces
and events and the nations were fully involved in and affected
by the complex cultural interactions that ensued;
(4) the Old San Antonio Road was a series of routes
established in the early 19th century sharing the same corridor
and some routes of El Camino Real, and carried American
immigrants from the east, contributing to the formation of the
Republic of Texas, and its annexation to the United States;
(5) the exploration, conquest, colonization, settlement,
migration, military occupation, religious conversion, and
cultural exchange that occurred in a large area of the
borderland was facilitated by El Camino Real de los Tejas as it
carried Spanish and Mexican influences northeastward, and by
its successor, the Old San Antonio Road, which carried American
influence westward, during a historic period which extended
from 1689 to 1850; and
(6) the portions of El Camino Real de los Tejas in what is
now the United States extended from the Rio Grande near Eagle
Pass and Laredo, Texas and involved routes that changed through
time, that total almost 2,600 miles in combined length,
generally coursing northeasterly through San Antonio, Bastrop,
Nacogdoches, and San Augustine in Texas to Natchitoches,
Louisiana, a general corridor distance of 550 miles.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.
Section 5(a) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)
is amended--
(1) by designating the paragraphs relating to the
California National Historic Trail, the Pony Express National
Historic Trail, and the Selma to Montgomery National Historic
Trail as paragraphs (18), (19), and (20), respectively; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(22) El camino real de los tejas.--
``(A) In general.--El Camino Real de los Tejas (The
Royal Road to the Tejas) National Historic Trail, a
combination of routes totaling 2,580 miles in length
from the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and Laredo, Texas
to Natchitoches, Louisiana, and including the Old San
Antonio Road, as generally depicted on the maps
entitled `El Camino Real de los Tejas', contained in
the report prepared pursuant to subsection (b) entitled
`National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and
Environmental Assessment: El Camino Real de los Tejas,
Texas-Louisiana', dated ____ July 1998. A map generally
depicting the trail shall be on file and available for
public inspection in the Office of the National Park
Service, Department of the Interior. The trail shall be
administered by the Secretary of the Interior. No land
or interest in land outside the exterior boundaries of
any federally administered area may be acquired by the
United States for the trail except with the consent of
the owner of the land or interest in land.
``(B) Coordination of activities.--The Secretary of
the Interior may coordinate with United States and
Mexican public and non-governmental organizations,
academic institutions, and, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, the government of Mexico and its
political subdivisions, for the purpose of exchanging
trail information and research, fostering trail
preservation and educational programs, providing
technical assistance, and working to establish an
international historic trail with complementary
preservation and education programs in each nation.''.
Passed the Senate October 14 (legislative day, October 2),
1998.
Attest:
Secretary.
105th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2276
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de
los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.