El Camino Real (the royal road) referred to a major trail that was used by the Spanish government.
California’s El Camino Real may be the most widely known, but there was an even older trail that provided the primary overland route from Mexico, across the Río Grande in Texas, to the Red River Valley in what is now Louisiana.
The historic trail ran between the capital and center of New Spain (present-day Mexico City) and Natchitoches in modern Louisiana. Its name, El Camino Real de los Tejas, means the Royal Road to the Tejas. Although tejas is the Spanish word for roof tiles, that’s not what it means in this context. Tejas was derived for the Caddo Indian word for friend or ally.
The road was a simply dirt trail, and perhaps in places no more than a footpath. The route varied over time, and many offshoots and side roads were also called El Camino Real. The primary route, which ran roughly along Highway 6 in Louisiana and Highway 21 in Texas, was designated a National Historic Trail in 2004.
Interest in the Camino Real or Camino de San Antonio road revived in the early 20th century. In 1915, the Texas Legislature appropriated $5,000 to survey and mark the route. A few years later, in 1918, the Daughters of the American Revolution placed granite markers along the route to mark it, and many still remain.
Portions of the route are also known as the Old San Antonio Road, was designated by the Texas state legislature as one of the historic trails of Texas.