Remembering El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

By José Antonio Esquibel

Draft article submitted 10-9-98 to

Mirage

(Magazine of the University of New Mexico Alumni Association)

The Royal Road: El Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe, co-authored by Christine Preston, Douglas Preston and myself, was published in1998 by the University of New Mexico Press to coincide with the 400^th anniversary of the opening of this historic into New Mexico. For centuries, this braid of roads, maintained by the Spanish crown and traveled by frontier settlers, merchants, and soldiers, was known as "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro," the Royal Road of the Interior Land. It was one among many royal roads in the Spanish colonial provinces that ensured constant communication between settlements, and served as corridors of commerce and culture.

In the summer of 1996, I was introduced to Doug and Christine Preston by Gabrielle Palmer, Director of El Camino Real Project, with whom I had worked with as a research consultant for the project. Christine is a photographer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Natural History, Smithsonian, and New Mexico Magazine. Her husband Doug is a well-known author. With Lincoln Child he has co-authored a series of national best-selling novels. He has also written about his experiences in re-tracing ancient trails of the southwest.

When Doug and Christine consulted with Gabrielle Palmer about their intent to prepare a photographic account of El Camino Real, they expressed a desire to include historical information that would enhance the interest of this book among potential readers, particularly those whose ancestors traveled on the royal road in the colonial era. Christine, Doug and I met several times to develop ideas about my contribution to the book. Of most interest to the Prestons was a listing of family names that could appear in an appendix, in particular the names of families that came to New Mexico over El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Also of interest, were stories of people whose history was somehow associated with the royal road.

My contribution to The Royal Road: El Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe, is "The People of El Camino Real: A Genealogical Appendix" which is divided into seven parts. Of particular interest is the first part that details the different waves of Spanish colonization of New Mexico. In this part will be found the surnames of families that settled New Mexico in the colonial era (1598-1821) and for which there are known descendants living today. When this information is examined closely, the diversity of the people that settled New Mexico can be seen, in particular their geographic origins and ethnicity. The remaining parts provide stories about these seven people: fray Cristóbal de Salazar (a cousin of Oñate who was instrumental in establishing Christianity in New Mexico), Pasquala Bernal (forgotten namesake of the town of Bernalillo, NM), Tomé Domínquez de Mendoza (namesake of the village of Tomé, NM), Elena Gallegos and Santiago Gurulé, (a couple brought together from great distances by El Camino Real), Miguel de Quintana (New Mexico colonial poet originally from Mexico City), and Doña Eufemia (an early historical female figure of the Oñate expedition). My favorite story is that of Elena Gallegos and Santiago Gurulé, whom I count among my paternal ancestors. They both survived difficult and violent events in their lives, and their paths of destiny were joined in New Mexico at the end of the seventeenth century, becoming the progenitors of the large Gurulé clan.

I developed a passion for genealogical research as the result of two events —the birth of my daughter in 1984, and moving in 1985 to Iowa City, Iowa, where my wife attended graduate school at the University of Iowa. My particular interest has been researching and writing about families of the Spanish colonial era in the context of the historical events of their time, and recently exploring how family groups contributed to historic events and influenced the development of tradition Hispano culture in New Mexico. To date, the results have been the publication of thirty-six articles, one monograph, and co-authoring of The Royal Road.

The Royal Road is the first photographic documentary of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Over a period of four years, Doug and Christine Preston explored the 1,800 mile Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, in all logging 13,000 miles by car, 350 miles on horseback and several hundred on foot. Their account is given in the book along with 54 plates of full-page color photographs of villages, cities, and landscapes along El Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe. In addition, the book is one of only three books dedicated in its entirety to this subject. The Prestons and I hope our book serves to educate readers about the history and significance of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, and increase appreciation and interest in this historic route.

The interested reader can read excerpts from the book, as well as updates on activities related to the book, at this web page address: http://pages.prodigy.net/indigo_blue/elcamino.htm. The book can be ordered from any bookseller, or by calling UNM Press at 1-800-249-7737.

José A. Esquibel ('79 BA) lives in Santa Fe, NM, and works as a supervisor in the Prevention Services Bureau, NM Department of Health/Behavioral Health Services Division.

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