“Walking the Steps of My Ancestors”: How Indigenous Texans Are Rethinking the Camino Real

On the outskirts of a golf course in Floresville, thirty miles southeast of San Antonio, Steven Gonzales meanders off a dusty trail into the woods. He’s looking for evidence of wagon swales, or ruts, dating back to the time of Spanish settlers in the 1700s. It’s an obsession that has occasionally earned the nonprofit director and history enthusiast the nickname “rut nut.” To the untrained eye, swales aren’t that impressive. They’re just sloped mounds of earth that end in flattened makeshift roads, compacted by centuries of travel. But this particular road, whether it runs behind the nearest Walmart or the local outlet mall, is important because it’s the road that led to the founding of Texas. Most of us drive right by it.Many great trails…

The post “Walking the Steps of My Ancestors”: How Indigenous Texans Are Rethinking the Camino Real appeared first on Texas Monthly.