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60. Time Portals on the Road

By Miguel Pérez

​
September 9, 2014 - 
As you drive west on I-10 across Texas, you can see Mexico from your left windows. Sometimes the highway gets so close to the Mexican border that you can clearly see the landscape on the other side of the Rio Grande.

But if you take an offramp a few miles before you get to El Paso, you not only can get much closer to Mexico but you can also travel back in time and relive West Texas' rich Hispanic history.

On "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro," the Royal Road of the Interior, established by Spanish explorers more than three centuries ago, you'll be crossing time portals back to the days when Spanish settlers and Native Americans built the first Spanish missions and communities in present-day Texas and established some of the oldest continuously active parishes in the United States.

A 9-mile stretch of El Camino Real is also known as the El Paso Mission Trail because that's where you'll find two Spanish missions — Ysleta and Socorro — established in 1682 and completed around 1690-91 "largely by Tigua, Piro, and Manso Indians, under instruction from the Franciscan priests who evangelized them," according to a sign that greets you there.

The sign, headlined "The Faith on the Frontier," notes that the Spanish explorers of the 16th and 17th centuries "were fired by three ambitions" — seeking material wealth, Christianizing the natives and colonizing the North American frontier. But it also notes, "North of the Rio Grande, the Spanish were far more successful at evangelizing for their faith than at discovering material riches."

The trail also takes you to San Elizario and its Historic District, some 17 miles southeast of El Paso, a community that evolved around the Presidio San Elizario, a Spanish fort built in 1789 to protect the nearby missions and Spain's northern frontier. The presidio's chapel, destroyed by a flood in 1829 and rebuilt in 1882, still is the focal point of the district, where there are historic homes, museums and shops for tourists to visit and where the chapel presides over the Spanish-style Veterans Memorial Plaza, which has the look and feel of a colonial plazita in Latin America.

And there is a reason for that. When the missions were founded, they were part of New Spain. And before the Rio Grande was established as the U.S.-Mexico border, this section of the old Camino Real had also been part of Mexico and the Republic of Texas.

But for more than 200 years, ever since Spanish explorer Juan de Onate's 1598 expedition into present-day New Mexico, it was a major trade and supply route from Mexico City to Santa Fe — some 1,500 miles. When they crossed the Rio Grande — in the area where Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, now borders El Paso — Onate's men were the ones who named the area El Paso del Rio del Norte, or The Pass Across the River of the North.

But El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, designated a National Historic Trail in 2000, was once the longest road in North America — and remains the oldest!

San Elizario is now a city of some 14,000 residents in El Paso County. Many of them still feel strong ties to their Native American and Hispanic heritage. Curiously, "Elizario" is a corruption of the original name given to the presidio — San Elceario, after San Elcear, the French patron saint of soldiers.

At missions Ysleta and Socorro, you learn they were established by missionary Francisco de Ayeta and Antonio de Otermin, the Spanish governor of New Mexico, as temporary camps to give refuge to Spanish settlers and Native Americans who had fled south from northern New Mexico after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

That's when Pueblo Indians rebelled against Spanish colonizers, as a result of the years of mistreatment they had endured under Spanish rule, killing some 400 Spaniards and driving 2,000 others out of New Mexico.

At the El Paso missions, you learn that they got their original very long names, ending with the words "del sur" (of the south), because they were named after the missions from which the Pueblos had fled in northern New Mexico.

"The mission was established after the most sweeping retreat by colonists and soldiers from Indians in the history of North America, the great Pueblo Revolt of 1680," the Ysleta signs explain. "The clash of cultures was a struggle over which ways of life (religion, economics, politics and many cultural traditions) should prevail. The conflict finally led to open rebellion by natives of what is now northern New Mexico and the expulsion of the Spanish."

Although many Spanish settlers had passed through the El Paso area on their way to northern New Mexico, they did not settle in this area until they retreated. Some Native Americans who already had adopted Spanish customs and embraced Christianity also fled south with the Spanish, but there are different interpretations on whether they did so willingly.

At Ysleta, you learn that "Spanish records show that during the escape south, some Christian Indians joined Governor Antonio de Otermin in flight to the Pass of the North," but you also learn that "history as recorded by Tigua oral tradition maintains that Indians were forced to accompany Otermin." And yet another sign at Socorro calls the Pueblo Revolt a "massacre" from which Piro Indian refugees fled.

"In any case," a mission sign concludes, "on October 12, 1680, Father Juan de Zavaleta held the first Catholic Mass on soil that eventually became part of the State of Texas." That Mass was reportedly attended by Otermin, 150 Spanish soldiers and colonists, and more than 300 Native Americans.

Ravaged by storms and fires over the years, these three churches have been repaired, reconstructed and restored many times. All three are still active parishes, administered by the Catholic diocese and serving the descendants of the Hispanics and Native Americans who built the original churches centuries ago.

But they have to be kept in a constant state of renewal. "All of the churches are constructed of hand made, sun dried adobe bricks, covered with white stucco," a mission sign explains. "Occasionally the walls must be renovated as water permeates the stucco, deteriorating the adobe."

Another sign explains that "several generations of buildings have replaced, destroyed or deteriorated structures on or near these sites," that "they have been active places of public worship continuously since their origins" and that "as living reminders of the blend of cultures which commenced more than three hundred years ago, the churches deserve our respect and reverence."

When the Great Hispanic American History Tour followed El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, I found many reasons to pay respect and reverence to our Hispanic heritage. But frankly, being so close to the Mexican border, which has been so controversial and the subject of this column for so many years, and staying away from covering current border events was excruciating.

But I was a man on a history mission, and the green Border Patrol trucks all over the area were not about to distract me. I actually pulled up next to one of them and, rather than ask about the immigrants crossing the border, asked for directions to a historic site. I couldn't believe myself!

Next week, the Great Hispanic American History Tour keeps exploring San Elizario and its claim to be the site of America's first Thanksgiving, celebrated by the Onate expedition in April 1598, some 23 years before the Pilgrims feasted at Plymouth Rock. But what about St. Augustine's thanksgiving Mass in 1565? Stay tuned.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM
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Ysleta Mission:

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Socorro Mission:

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San Elizario Chapel:

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San Elizario Historic District:

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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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  • 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