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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, For more than 300 years, the Camino Real de Tierra |
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Adentro played a vital role in the history, economy, and culture of |
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Mexico and the American Southwest; and |
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WHEREAS, Centuries before Europeans came to North America, |
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Native Americans maintained extensive trade routes between groups |
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in what is now Texas and New Mexico and civilizations further south; |
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when the first Spanish explorers arrived in the region in the early |
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16th century, native peoples often guided them through this |
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striking landscape along these traditional footpaths; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1598, Don Juan de Oñate and his party crossed the |
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Rio Grande near present-day El Paso and established a colony in New |
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Mexico; for the next three centuries, what came to be known as the |
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Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, or the Royal Road of the Interior, |
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functioned as the principal conduit of commerce, agriculture, |
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technology, languages, and religion between central Mexico and the |
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American Southwest, running 1,600 miles from Mexico City at its |
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southern end to San Juan Pueblo in New Mexico in the north; and |
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WHEREAS, In 2010, UNESCO added the portion of the Camino Real |
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that lies in Mexico to its prestigious World Heritage List; the |
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designation highlighted five of the route's existing urban World |
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Heritage sites that exemplify its cultural, commercial, religious, |
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and geographical significance, as well as 55 historic sites, |
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including bridges, chapels, former haciendas and convents, and |
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other natural and manmade features, related to the use of the road; |
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the American section of the Camino Real, which passes through El |
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Paso, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe, was designated as a National |
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Historic Trail by an act of Congress in 2000; and |
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WHEREAS, Recognized by UNESCO for its "outstanding universal |
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value," the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro represents the rich |
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heritage of hundreds of years of human interchange between the |
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cultures of Europe and the New World, and it serves as a vital and |
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tangible reminder of the inextricable links between two great |
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nations; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize the cultural and historical |
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significance of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and commend all |
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those involved in efforts to raise awareness of and preserve the |
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legacy of this extraordinary international landmark. |