The King’s Highway, also known as El Camino Real and the Old San Antonio Road, played a vital part in the history and development of the state for more than 400 years. It was used as a trade route by the Indians and French traders. It was an exploration route used by the Spanish and French. It also served as a military highway for the Mexican and Texas armies. It served as a migration route for the many immigrants traveling westward.
The decision to place commemorative markers along the Kings Highway was made at the TSDAR State Conference in Galveston in November 1911. According to W.E. Dunn, University of Texas archivist, "The rediscovering and marking of the Camino Real is the most significant of all the work undertaken by the Daughters of the American Revolution in Texas." At a cost of $10,544 to the Texas Society, the road was verified and resurveyed, based on extant Spanish land grants and other documents. The Texas Legislature appropriated $8,000 in support of this project. Texas DAR chapters and members donated the sum of $2,500. The railroads contributed by transporting the granite monuments at one-half the standard portage rates.
Major V.N. Zively was appointed by Governor Ferguson to survey the route. He accomplished this assignment during the years 1915 and 1916. One hundred twenty-three markers were then placed, one approximately every five miles, along the 539-mile route. Each of the markers was inscribed as follows:
The route marked by Zively begins at the Sabine River at Pendleton’s Ferry and traverses twenty counties before reaching the Rio Grande River at Paso de Francia, near the town of Eagle Pass. The counties are as follows, from east to west: Sabine, San Augustine, Nacogdoches, Cherokee, Houston, Madison/Leon, Robertson, Brazos, Burleson, Lee, Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Comal, Bexar, Atascosa, Frio, La Salle, Dimmit, and Maverick. After a second survey to insure all the markers were properly placed, an official dedication ceremony was held in San Pedro Park in San Antonio, Texas, on Texas Independence Day, March 2, 1920.
As a part of the Texas Society DAR Centennial celebration in 1995, the decision was made to locate and rededicate as many of these markers as possible. A copy of Major V.N. Zively’s original survey had been located and copied from the State Archives for this purpose. Since then, Chapters and individual Daughters have been involved in finding, repairing, documenting, and rededicating these markers. As of February 2006, all but nine of the 123 markers had been located.
On October 10, 2004, the King’s Highway - El Camino Real -, was designated a U.S. National Historic Trail. In 2005, TSDAR celebrated the 90th anniversary of the project at the 106th Annual State Conference. In the fall of 2005, TSDAR members embarked on the El Camino Real Historical Bus Tour, a four-day, three-night, trek across Texas, following the historic route from the Rio Grande River to the Sabine River.
