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108. California's El Camino Real
A journey through Hispanic American history
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By Miguel Pérez

​Every time I go on one of my history tours, I feel like I'm traveling back in time, following 16-18th centuries maps on 21st century highways. But nowhere is that feeling more real that in California!

It's impressive. California doesn't let you forget you are traveling on El Camino Real.

If you are traveling north or south on some of the state's major coastline highways, you are constantly being reminded that you are on a road with a history that dates back to the Spanish missionaries of the 1700s, the road that still connects the 21 missions, four presidios, and several pueblos (now major cities) they built more than two centuries ago.

And they don't remind you in a subtle way. They have the most impressive roadside markers I have ever seen! These roads are lined with cast metal bells that hang from 11-foot tall poles shaped like a shepherd's crook!

The bells are similar to the ancient bells you see at the Spanish missions. The poles are modeled after the "Franciscan walking stick" used by Father Junípero Serra, founder of the first nine California missions and pioneer traveler on this dusty trail that eventually became major city streets and highways.


Stretching more than 600 miles (966 kms) - from San Diego in the south to Sonora in the north - El Camino Real (The Royal Road), also known as "The California Mission Trail," or "The King's Highway," is the road traversing the state through the heart of its largest cities, which also happen to be Spanish in origin.

Some of those cities first started as Spanish missions, pueblos or presidios (forts), and the road still connecting them was first established by Franciscan padres, Native Americans and Spanish soldiers who worked together to create a safe passage through California in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.


Today, -- depending on where you are in California -- El Camino Real can be a major highway or a city street. Yet, some unpaved portions of the original Spanish road have been preserved running parallel to the highways, especially near Missions San Miguel, La Purisima and San Juan Bautista.

Of course, there are other "Royal Roads" connecting Spanish missions in Texas, New Mexico and Baja California, Mexico. Practically every road built under the jurisdiction of Spanish royalty was called Camino Real, even if it also had another name. But in showcasing the historic Hispanic heritage of this road, no one beats California!

If you live in California, you probably take these distinctive bells for granted. But if you are a visitor driving on El Camino Real, "Wow," you see them every few minutes! You want to know more about them and what they represent!

Well, the bells remind you that these major modern highways were once merely mule, horse and eventually stagecoach trails.


Although the route originated at Misión San Bruno, in Baja California Sur, Mexico and began by linking Spanish religious outposts throughout present-day Baja California since 1683, the path of present-day California was created by the 1769-70 Gaspar de Portola expedition from San Diego to Monterey Bay.

Portola’s path was then followed by missionaries, soldiers and colonists until it became a dusty trail that connected pueblos, forts and California’s 21 Spanish missions. In fact, the missions were built – from 1769 to 1834 – along El Camino Real, and about one long day’s horseback ride from each other (about 30 miles).

Like today’s motel rest stops on the highways, by the 1820s, the path was a horse and mule “mission trail” where travelers were offered lodging and hospitality by Spanish padres and Native Americans, who even maintained the road that led to their Catholic settlements.

This lasted on until 1834. That was when the Mexican government, a few years after gaining independence from Spain, confiscated the mission properties, exiled the Franciscan missionaries, and sold the land that was supposed to be returned to Native Americans. And so, the once hospitable lodging outposts for travelers fell into neglect.

And yet the road that connected them kept thriving, as by then it was serving as the link between California pueblos. By the 1850s, when California was an American state, the El Camino Real served as the north-south stagecoach route.


Until that time, the trail was not marked by standardized road signs, but by Christian crosses sporadically carved on tree trunks by the side of the road. An example of one such tree trunk can be seen at the museum of Mission San Miguel Arcangel (see photo). "The bark grew back, and the cross was lost until the day the tree fell (near Paso Robles)," the exhibit explains, "and the cross was found on the inside."

Ironically, although Mexico abandoned the missions and stopped calling its roads Camino Real when it won its independence from Spain in 1821, the missions and the roads regained their Spanish heritage after California became part of the United States!

It was the "mission revival movement" of the early 1900s that not only restored the missions but also inspired the idea for the roadside bells.

At a time when there were no other standardized road signs, and when Spanish mission iconography was actually used to promote California, it was decided that bells would serve as appropriate road markers, especially because bells had been an important part of mission life -- used to announce the time for meals, work time, Mass, and special occasions.

The road marker project, started by the California Federation of Women's Clubs since 1902, did not come to fruition until 1906, when the first 450 bells were unveiled at the plaza near Olvera Street, next to
Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, in downtown Los Angeles.

Over the years, various civic groups took turns maintaining the bells --  until the state took control over them in 1933. And while the bell markers 
dwindled over time due to vandalism, many were replace or restored in 1996, and again 555 more bell markers were added in 2005! The original 1906 bell molds were used to fabricate the replacements.



keep up with the passing of time






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En Español:
​
108. El Camino Real de California

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To enlarge photos/maps, click on them!
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Today's Camino Real
As designated by the California State Legislature - covers:

• Interstate 5 - from the Mexican border to Anaheim.
• 
Anaheim Blvd., Harbour Blvd., State Road 72, Whittier Blvd. -
from Anaheim to Los Angeles.

• 
U.S. Route 101 - from Los Angeles to San Jose.
• State Route 82 - from San Jose to San Francisco.
• 
Interstate 280 and U.S. Route 101 - from San Francisco to Novato.
• 
State Route 37 - from Novato to Sears Point.
• 
State Route 121 - from Sears Point to Sonora.
• State Route 12 in Sonora.
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Photo: Los Angeles Times
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Juan Bautista de Anza
​National Historic Trail

A portion of El Camino Real, between Missions San Gabriel and Dolores, is also called the "Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail," to commemorate the 1775-76 overland expedition - some 240 soldiers and settlers - men, women and children - that came all the way from Sonora, Mexico, cut across present-day southern Arizona and the Colorado River and went on to establish San Francisco.



De Anza visited the existing missions and established several presidos and pueblos. Several missions, including San Gabriel, La Purisima, San Luis Obispo, San Antonio, and Santa Clara are marked as destinations on the Anza Trail.
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Next: The Great Hispanic American History Tour treks north on El Camino Real to 


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                   CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS

1. Our Pre-Mayflower Thanksgivings
Nuestros Días de Acción de Gracias Pre-Mayflower
               
2. A Tale of Two Cities
                 
3. Our Pre-Hispanic Heritage
              

4. The Black Legend Returns

4. La Leyenda Negra Regresa
                
5. Even on HBO, The Black Legend Lives
                   
6. Our Spanish Heritage
                     
7. Exalted or Offended?
                    
8. We are all 'Americanos'
                  
9. Latinos are Failing
                  
10. Hispanic, Columbus or Indigenous Day?
10. 
™Dia Hispano, De Colon o Indigena?
                   
11. Two Good Places to Rest
11. Dos buenos lugares para descansar
                  
12. Whitman's Prophetic Letter
12. La Carta Profética de Whitman
                  
13. America’s Cradle
13. La Cuna de America
                 
14. Our Quincentennial is Coming!

14. ´Nuestro Quinto Centenario Se Avecina!
                   
15. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29
                
16. A Time To Welcome the Spirits
                  
17. A Hispanic Christmas
17. Una Navidad Hispana
                  
18. JOSE MARTI:
     His Legacy Lives Here
     Su Legado Vive Aquí 
                
19. Hyphenated and Proud!
                   
20. Politicizing Education

21. Speak Any Spanish Lately?
              
22. Happy Three Kings Day!
22. ​
´Feliz Día de Reyes!
               
23. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29

24. A Long-Overdue Museum
                 
25. America's First Christmas was celebrated in Spanish
25. La Primera Navidad Americana fue celebrada en español

26. The Grand Canyon
and the Bucket List
 Of Hispanic Heritage
26. El Gran Canyon
y la Lista de Lugares de la Herencia Hispana

                  
27. Now That Fiesta Month Is Here,
Can We Talk About Heritage?

27. Ahora que el mes de fiesta hispana esta aquí,

​™Podemos hablar de nuestra herencia?
                  
28. Our Hispanic Heritage: On Exhibit and Yet Hidden
28. Nuestra Herencia Hispana: En Exhibición y Sin Embargo Oculta

29. Florida's Birthday Should Be a National Holiday

             
30. A Local Celebration that Should be National               

31. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 30               
​

32. The Conveniently 'Forgotten War'
32. La Guerra Convenientemente Olvidada

33. Guantanamo Has a History  June 4, 2013

34. Exposing the Social Media Bigots  June 18, 2013
34. Exponiendo a los Intolerantes
     de los Medios Sociales June 18, 2013

35. Thinking of Cusi On the Fourth of July
35. Pensando en Cusi en el Cuatro de Julio

36. The Discovery of White Hispanics
36.  El Descubrimiento de los Hispanos Blancos

37. Let's Build a Timeline Of Hispanic-American History
37. Vamos a Construir una Cronología
     De la Historia Hispanoamericana

38. In the Name of Heritage
38. En el Nombre de la Herencia

39. Hispanics or Latinos?
39. ™Hispanos o Latinos?

40.  Hollywood's Hidden Hispanic Heritage
40. La Herencia Hispana Oculta en Hollywood

41. Obliviously Living in ‘The Land of Estevan Gomez’
41. Viviendo Inconscientemente
       En la ‘Tierra de Estevan Gómez’

42. Marking America's Birthplace
42. Marcando el Lugar de Nacimiento De Estados Unidos

43. Hispanics in Denial Should Be Infamous
43. Los Hispanos en Rechazo Deben Ser Infames

44. 
Gay Marriage's Hidden American History
      Started in Spanish
 CABEZA DE VACA'S JOURNEY
44. La Historia Oculta del Matrimonio Gay
      En América Comenzó en Español
        EL VIAJE DE CABEZA DE VACA​

45. Super Bowl Coke Commercial
       Draws Out Ugly Americans

45. Comercial de Coke en Super Bowl
     Hace Relucir a los Americanos Feos


46. 
The 'Discovery' of Self-Loathing Hispanics
46. El ‘Descubrimiento' de los
     Hispanos que se Auto Desprecian


THE GREAT HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TOUR 
June 2014 - January 2015


47. My Pilgrimage to San Xavier
47. Mi Peregrinaje a San Xavier

48. The Great Hispanic American History Tour
48. La Gran Gira por la Historia Hispanoamericana

49. On the Trail of Conquistadors
49. En el Camino de los Conquistadores

50. Beyond St. Augustine
50. Más Allá de San Agustín

51. A Hidden Hispanic Role Model
51. Un Modelo Hispano Oculto

52. The Hispanic Flank of the American Revolution
52. El Flanco Hispano de la Revolucion Americana
​

53. New Orleans Has a Spanish ‘Ne Sais Quoi’
53. Nueva Orleans Tiene Un ‘Ne Sais Quoi’ Español

54. Galveston: Still the Isle of Misfortune?

55. Extracting Compacted History
     Unveils Hidden Hispanic Heritage

56. 'Remember The Alamo' Was a Spanish Mission

57. San Antonio: The Showcase Of Our Hispanic Heritage

58. There Was Compassion On the Spanish Mission Trail

59. A Hidden Latina Role Model

60. Time Portals on the Road

61. The First Thanksgiving
     In the (Southwest) United States

62. The World's Biggest Statue
of a Nameless Horseback Rider


63. A River Runs Through Our Hispanic Heritage

64. A Beacon of Hope On a Border Mountaintop

65. A Mexican-American Town
65. Un Pueblo Mexico-Americano

66. The Crossroads of Conquistadors

67. Hiking In Search of Coronado's Trail

68. The Real American Pioneers

69. Keeping My Pledge to San Xavier

70. If They Knew Arizona's History,
     They Wouldn't Be So Xenophobic

71. 'Tucson' is a Spanish Adaptation

72. Under a Utah Lake, Hispanic Heritage Lives

73. A Hilltop View Of Hispanic Heritage

74. Searching for Coronado's Quivira

75. The Spanish Savior of St. Louis

76. 
Jefferson's Spanish Library

WASHINGTON, D.C.
February-June 2015

77. When Galvez Came to Congress
77. Cuando Gálvez Vino al Congreso


78. A Tour of Our Extraordinarily Hispanic U.S. Capitol

79. Searching for Not-S0-Hidden
Hispanic Heritage in Washington, DC


80. Smithsonian Omits Hispanics In U.S. History Exhibit
80. Smithsonian Omite a los Hispanos
     en Exhibición de Historia de EE.UU.
MIAMI - August 2015
​
81. Finding Dad in a Museum
81. Encontre a Mi Padre en un Museo


​CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP - 2018
82. International Friendship Park ​at U.S.-Mexico Border
​- A Jagged Corner of the World


83. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
​
84. Cabrillo National Monument

85. ​It took more than 2 centuries

86. Presidio Park: The Birthplace
of the Spanish Colonization of California


87. Junípero Serra Museum Transcends the Story of a Great Man

88. Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá:
California's First Spanish Mission


89. Old Mission (Padre) Dam: California's First Aqueduct

90. Even at the beach in San Diego, you can't avoid Spanish history

91. Chicano Park: Mexican-American ​painted under highway ramps

92. Balboa Park: Candy for your eyes amid a painful controversy!

93. San Diego: An American Town
Named After the Saint from Alcalá

93. San Diego: Un Pueblo Americano
Lleva el Nombre del Santo de Alcalá


94. San Luis Rey de Francia: The King of the California Missions
94. San Luis Rey de Francia: ​El Rey de las Misiones de California

95. San Antonio de Pala:
A Sub-Mission to Reach
 the Natives of the Interior
95. San Antonio de Pala:
Una Asistencia para Alcanzar los Nativos del Interior

96. San Juan Capistrano:
The Home of the Mission Swallows
 from Argentina
96. San Juan Capistrano:
El Hogar de las Golondrinas Desaparecidas ​de Argentina

97. San Gabriel Arcángel: A Mission that Launched Cities
97. San Gabriel Arcángel: Una Misión Que Lanzó Ciudades

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanics had to be imported

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanos tuvieron que sen importados


99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
A Walk through Mexican-American History

99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
Un Paseo por la historia 
​mexicoamericana


100. Strolling the Hispanic Walk of Fame
​100. Caminando por el Paseo Hispano de la Fama

101. San Fernando Rey de España Teaches
California's Colonial History

101. ​​San Fernando Rey de España Enseña
la historia colonial de California


​102. Mission San Buenaventura Survived Earthquakes and Pirates
102. Misión San Buenaventura Sobrevivió Terremotos y Piratas

​103. Father Serra Cross: On a hill,
​overlooking ​the land he shepherded

​103. La Cruz del Padre Serra: En una colina,
​con vistas a la tierra que pastoreaba


104. The Birthplace of Santa Barbara
104. El Lugar de Nacimiento de Santa Barbara

105. The Queen of the Spanish Missions
105. La Reina de las Misiones Españolas

106. Mission Santa Ines: Built to relieve other overcrowded missions
106. Misión Santa Inés: Construida para aliviar otras misiones superpobladas

107. Mission La Purísima Concepcion:
​Going back in time ​to Spanish California

107. Mision La Purísima Concepción:
Retrocediendo en ​el tiempo a la California española


XXX. Saluting an exile: ​Father Félix Varela
XXX. The Meaning of 'Sotomayor'
SPECIAL SECTIONS
• Great (pro-Hispanic) Americans
​
• 16th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 17th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 18th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
​
• Spanish-American expeditions before Jamestown
• NYC ​Hispanic Landmarks
• NYC Hispanic Art
• Do You Know/Sabes?
• Garita Art
​
• Do You Speak Spanglish?
HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TIMELINE
​1513 Ponce de Leon Discovers North America, Names Her 'Florida'

April 22, 1513 ​Alaminos discovers the Gulf Stream

1517 De Cordoba, wounded in Yucatan, stops in Florida

1518 Grijalva Reaches Galveston Island

1519 De Pineda confirms Florida ​is not an island​

1521 Ponce de Leon Returns to Florida, Falls Mortally Wounded

1524-25 Estevan Gomez Explores North America's East Coast

1526 Ayllón lands in S.C., settles in Georgia


1528 Narváez expedition succumbs to storms and natives

1528-36 Cabeza de Vaca treks across North America

1537-42 Cabeza de Vaca Returns to Spain, Writes 'La Relación'

1539 De Niza Searches for Golden Cities of Cibola
​

1539-42 De Soto celebrates first American Christmas

1540 Hernando de Alarcon Reaches California

1540-42 Coronado Explores the Southwest,
Cardenas Discovers ​the Grand Canyon


1542-43  ​Cabrillo explores California coast​

1559 De Luna Builds Santa Maria de Ochuse​


1565 Pedro Menendez de Avilés Establishes San Agustin

1566 Santa Elena Built in South Carolina

1598 ​Juan de Oñate Explores New Mexico

1602 Sebastian Vizcaino ​explores the West Coast

1610 Pedro de Peralta establishes Santa Fe

1610-26 The Birth of San Miguel, oldest church in the U.S.A.

1613 Juan Rodriguez becomes the first Manhattan immigrant

1633 Misión San Luis de Apalachee is born in Tallahassee

​1682 San Antonio de la Ysleta becomes first mission in Texas

1691 Father Eusebio Kino builds Tumacácori and Guevavi

1692 ​Father Kino builds San Xavier del Bac 

1692 Diego de Vargas leads ​'Bloodless Reconquest" of Santa Fe

1695 Castillo de San Marcos ​Completed in St. Augustine

1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero is born
​- long before it became The Alamo
​

1738 Runaway slaves establish Fort Mose,
​the first free African-American community​


​1738 Francisco Menendez Leads Fort Mose

1742 Spanish Soldiers ​Open Fort Matanzas

1752 Spanish Soldiers Build Presidio de Tubac

1763 Spanish Florida Goes to England

1765 Juan Antonio Maria de Rivera ​explores ​Colorado and Utah
​
1769 
Father Serra opens ​San Diego de Alcalá,
California's first ​Spanish mission


1771 Father Serra establishes San Gabriel Arcángel

1772 Good hunting determines site
​of ​Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa


1775 Captain Hugh O’Connor
​builds Presidio San Agustin del Tucson


​1776-83 Hispanics in the American Revolution

1776 The Birth of San Francisco

1781 Spanish troops defeat the British, capture Pensacola

1781 Pobladores of Los Angeles are imported

1791 ​Alessandro Malaspina Alaska Reaches Alaska

1797 Fermín Francisco de Lasuén
Establishes Misión San Fernando Rey de España


1797 The Birth of Villa de Branciforte

Herencia Hispana Oculta de America:
La Lista de Lugares, Ideas, y Evidencia Historica para Reconectár a los Americanos con sus Raíces Hispanas

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America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage:
The Bucket List of Places, Ideas and Historical Evidence to Reconnect Americans with their  Hispanic Roots
  • HOME
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  • EN ESPAÑOL
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  • VIDEO LECTURES/CHARLAS
  • MY STUDENTS
  • MIGUELPEREZ.COM
  • ABOUT/SOBRE MIGUEL
  • VIDEOS WE LIKE
  • CONTACT US/CONTÁCTENOS
  • TIMELINE/CRONOLOGIA
  • THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY MUSEUM
  • THE GREAT TOUR/LA GRAN GIRA
  • CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
  • NYC HISPANIC LANDMARKS
  • NYC HISPANIC ART
  • ON THE ROAD AGAIN
  • EN EL CAMINO OTRA VEZ
  • OUR MEDALLIONS SAGA