[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 366 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 366
To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de
Tierra Adentro as a National Historic Trail.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 4, 1999
Mr. Bingaman (for himself and Mr. Domenici) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de
Tierra Adentro 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 Tierra Adentro
National Historic Trail Act.''
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal Road of the
Interior), served as the primary route between the colonial
Spanish capital of Mexico City and the Spanish provincial
capitals at San Juan de Los Caballeros (1598-1600), San Gabriel
(1600-1609) and then Santa Fe (1610-1821).
(2) The portion of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro that
resided in what is now the United States extended between El
Paso, Texas and present San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, a distance
of 404 miles;
(3) El Camino Real is a symbol of the cultural interaction
between nations and ethnic groups and of the commercial
exchange that made possible the development and growth of the
borderland;
(4) American Indian groups, especially the Pueblo Indians
of the Rio Grande, developed trails for trade long before
Europeans arrived;
(5) In 1598, Juan de Onate led a Spanish military
expedition along those trails to establish the northern portion
of El Camino Real;
(6) During the Mexican National Period and part of the U.S.
Territorial Period, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
facilitated the emigration of people to New Mexico and other
areas that would become the United States;
(7) The exploration, conquest, colonization, settlement,
religious conversion, and military occupation of a large area
of the borderlands was made possible by this route, whose
historical period extended from 1598 to 1882;
(8) American Indians, European emigrants, miners, ranchers,
soldiers, and missionaries used El Camino Real during the
historic development of the borderlands. These travelers
promoted cultural interaction among Spaniards, other Europeans,
American Indians, Mexicans, and Americans;
(9) El Camino Real fostered the spread of Catholicism,
mining, an extensive network of commerce, and ethnic and
cultural traditions including music, folklore, medicine, foods,
architecture, language, place names, irrigation systems, and
Spanish law.
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:
``(21) El camino real de tierra adentro.--
``(A) El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal
Road of the Interior) National Historic Trail, a 404
mile long trail from the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas
to present San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, as generally
depicted on the maps entitled `United States Route: El
Camino Real de Tierra Adentro', contained in the report
prepared pursuant to subsection (b) entitled `National
Historic Trail Feasibility Study and Environmental
Assessment: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, Texas-New
Mexico', dated March 1997.
``(B) Map.--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
Interior.
``(C) Administration.--The Trail shall be
administered by the Secretary of the Interior.
``(D) Land acquisition.--No lands or interests
therein outside the exterior boundaries of any
federally administered area may be acquired by the
Federal Government for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
except with the consent of the owner thereof.
``(E) Volunteer groups; consultation.--The
Secretary of the Interior shall--
``(i) encourage volunteer trail groups to
participate in the development and maintenance
of the trail; and
``(ii) consult with other affected Federal,
State, and tribal agencies in the
administration of the trail.
``(F) Coordination of activities.--The Secretary of
the Interior may coordinate with United States and
Mexican public and non-governmental organizations,
academic instititions, 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.''.
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