Oñate's Route / El Camino Real

Before Oñate's colonists passed here they had stopped on the south bank of the river near present San Elizario. On April 30, 1598, Ascension Day, they gave thanks for crossing the desert with a feast, and Oñate took formal possession of the lands the Rio Grande drained in the name of the king, the act called La Toma. The caravan behind him ran more than two miles, with 83 wagons and ox carts and over 7,000 head of livestock. It forded the river near the later Hart's Mill early in May.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Oñate's Route On the Camino Real Juan de Oñate, first governor of New Mexico, passed near here with his colonizing expedition in May, 1598. Traveling north, he desig- nated official campsites (called parajes) on the Camino Real, used by expeditions that followed. In Oñate's caravan were 129 men, many with their families and servants. Official Scenic Historic Marker El Camino Real The King's Highway The oldest historical road in the United States, running over 2000 miles from Mexico City to Taos. Parts of the Camino Real were used by Spanish explorers in the 1580s, but it was formally estab- lished in 1598 by Juan de Oñate, New Mexico's first colonizer and governor. It was later referred to as the Chihuahua Trail.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mesilla Plaza — 22 mi
  A plaza laid out in 1848 by people who meant to stay in Mexico, American six years later, a stage stop and Civil War headquarters, and scene of a deadly political riot in 1871.

More markers nearby

• Brazito Battlefield — steps away
• Butterfield Trail / Espejo's Expedition — steps away
• Paraje de los Brazitos — 9.2 mi
• El Paso del Rio del Norte — 15 mi