Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: Locating Trail Segments through Predictive Modeling

Matthew DeFreese

Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: Locating Trail Segments through Predictive Modeling

Year: 2017

Summary

The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was a trail connecting Mexico City with New Mexico from 1598 until the early 20th century. This period reflects significant trail alteration in response to transportation change from carreta carts, stagecoaches, wagons, and automobiles plus localized weather conditions during travel. These shifts caused travelers to create alternate trail segments, leaving the Camino Real a series of trail segments, not a single path. As it travels through the Jornada del Muerto, a region of limited water resources roughly thirty-five miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, a few segments have been identified with more expected. A predictive GIS model will be created to locate these segments by understanding how transportation traveling the trail moves and how other factors cause alteration. Implications of this model allow researchers to better understand how the Camino Real’s use changed over time and help learn about little investigated regions.

Cite this Record

Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: Locating Trail Segments through Predictive Modeling. Matthew DeFreese. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Fort Worth, TX. 2017 ( tDAR id: 435581)