Editor’s note: The following article is a synopsis written by staff members and volunteers of the Cary Public Library highlighting one of the suggested reading books, as determined by their staff.
Maine has its “Golden Road” and this week’s book topic beats it by several hundred years and covers many more miles.
“The Royal Road: El Camino Real From Mexico City to Santa Fe” by Douglas Preston and Jose Antonio Esquibel with photos by Christine Preston is wonderful history of the immigration by Spanish explorers attempting to settle the southwest of North America and convert the Natives to Catholicism.
The authors and company tried to ride the trail by horseback, ATVs and “shank’s mares,” finding the travel challenging to say the least. Rough terrain, lack of water, desert heat and exhaustion were obstacles and how Spanish explorers and their fellow travelers ever endured was pure wonder. Some of the original wagon and cattle ruts can be seen even today.
Setbacks by the Spanish explorers were not gently tolerated by the Spanish royalty who dearly wanted to claim the land and any riches it might contain. Then there were the natives who weren’t happy with the invaders
Pictures in this volume are clear, and have sufficient captions to whet one’s curiosity regarding this historic “Road.”
Learning Santa Fe (means Holy Faith) is the most ancient capital city in the U.S., that many of the crown jewels of Spain came from this region and the names of the Rio Grande (Great River), Rio del Norte, Rio Caudaloso, (Abundant River), Rio Turbido, (Muddy River) and Rio Bravo, (Wild River) were neat items — if only for crossword puzzles!
With that same river the passage for hundreds of migrants the past few weeks, you might want to pursue a few of the hardships the earlier migrants experienced.
Also included in the history is quite a few pages of genealogical dates and names so if you suspect Spanish roots in your family tree this might be of interest.It is amazing what is available in the Cary Library; AC is included most days — free of charge.
The Cary Public Library is open Monday-Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 532-1302.
