Spanish Road to Santa Fe, 1808

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, picture this. The year is 1808.

Spain still holds Texas, and somewhere back in Mexico City, somebody is looking at a map and not liking what they see. An American, a man named Zebulon Pike, had already blazed a trail from the United States clear through to New Mexico. And if the Americans could get there, well, Spain figured they'd better make sure their own road was shorter, faster, and a good deal more impressive.

So they turned to a man who had earned the right to be trusted with something like this: Captain Francisco Amangual. Forty-six years of service to Spain. Forty-six.

That is not a career; that is a life's work, right there. On March 30th, 1808, Amangual walked out of San Antonio with two hundred soldiers at his back. Two hundred.

Now, Zebulon Pike, and yes, that same Pike of Pike's Peak fame, had made his trip with exactly eight men. Eight. Amangual wasn't just trying to find a road.

He had a message to deliver to the wild and fierce plains Indians along the way: this is the might and glory of Spain. You don't send that message with eight men. The route pointed north-northwest, charted to be the most direct road from San Antonio all the way up to Santa Fe.

And it was no gentle stroll. Stampedes hit the party on the trail; horses and mules scattered, some of them loaded down with crude sugar and other food, gone into the brush. The land took its toll.

But on April 8th, nine days out of San Antonio, they came into a valley, five miles to the south of where you're sitting right now. They followed a creek the Spanish called El Chimal, named for its bordering bluffs that rise up like Indian headdresses along the banks (what we now call the East James). And that night, Amangual made camp right here, by this red bluff.

The party found the country full of game. Buffalo ranging wide across the grass. And somewhere in that camp, after a long day's march, they killed a bear.

I imagine nobody went to bed hungry that night. They pressed on. Through the stampedes and the losses and the long empty miles, they pressed on.

And on June 19th, the expedition reached Santa Fe. Then, six months later, the whole party turned around and made it back to San Antonio. The road Amangual measured and mapped in 1808; traces of it are still out there.

Visible today, running parallel to the auto roads. Two hundred soldiers and a veteran captain carved something into this land that didn't entirely disappear. Forty-six years of service, two hundred men, and one red bluff on a Texas evening in early April.

Spain wanted to make an impression. Out here in Kimble County, it seems the land made one right back.

What the marker says

Most direct road from San Antonio to Santa Fe, during Spanish era in Texas, 1519-1821. Charted for closer ties between Mexico City and New Mexico, after American explorer Zebulon Pike blazed trail from U.S. to New Mexico. Spanish road of 1808 was mapped by Capt. Francisco Amangual and 200 soldiers. Amangual, veteran of 46 years of service to Spain, left San Antonio on March 30, 1808. On April 8, coming into this valley 5 miles to the south, he followed the East James (then called El Chimal Creek, for its bordering bluffs that resemble Indian headdresses), and camped that night by this red bluff. The party saw much game, including buffalo, and killed a bear. Stampedes and losses of horses and mules (some loaded with crude sugar and other food) made the trip difficult. The route pointed north-northwest. The party reached Santa Fe on June 19, and six months later returned to San Antonio. Although Zebulon Pike (discover of Pike's Peak) had traveled with only eight men, Amangual had to field a large party. One goal of his expedition was to impress the wild and fierce plains Indians with the might and glory of Spain. The road measured in 1808 has traces visible today, parallel to auto roads. (1967)