OLD SPANISH TRAIL
WHEN ORGANIZED
1: The Old Spanish Trail project was organized at Mobile in 1915. It was only an unbelievable dream then. It has cost seven years of work to establish an unbroken, officially recognized trunkline of first importance from sea to sea, and to assure its construction. It will cost over $100,000,000 to complete it.
2: In 1919 San Antonio was asked by the eastern sections to assume the leadership. The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce accepted, and appropriated $1,000. Since then National Headquarters have been at San Antonio.
GEOGRAPHICAL IMPORTANCE
3:	San	Antonio lies at the geographical center.
The state of Texas is the middle third of the whole mileage—Texas, 948 ms. East, 970 ms. West, 912 ms. San Antonio and Texas should be made the future crossroads of the continent—lying central to Florida and California, Mexico and the United States and Canada.
4: The Old Spanish Trail is the only transconti-netal highway that will be open to travel all the year. It will connect and develop all the winter playground sections. In summer it has the Gulf in the east and the hills and mountains in the west to promote a steady flow of summer travel.
All trunklines building from the north to the soutli will carry their traffic to the Old Spanish Trail, then the traffic will turn east and west on this highway.
It embraces more military, naval and air establishments than any highway its length in the world.
It possesses climatic and historical attraction without equal in the United States.
5: For these reasons state, national and international recognition has been given to the OST project as to no other continental highway.
6:	It is being put under construction rapidly.
Contracts in progress range generally from $10,000 to $170,000 per mile. But the engineering problems and costs over this 2830 ms. of territory are so great, and barrier sections so numerous, constant effort is necessary to hasten the day of comfortable travel.
7: Of the 2830 ms. from St. Augustine to San Diego, 2100 ms. are built or building, but barrier sections still block travel. To produce the tens of millions of dollars necessary to construction, federal, state and local funds must be gathered together in large volume, and often with great difficulty.
TOURIST VALUES
S: The advertising values of this work are greater than any advertising that can be bought and paid for. Correspondence and data in evidence show the numbers reached the past few months without cost, except for literature and administration, exceed’
2,000,000 people. With 13,002,427 motor vehicle licenses today in the United States the perpetual drawing power of this highway is beyond calculation.
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
9:	It	is self-evident there must be a central,
national headquarters behind such a work, co-ordinating and co-operating with state, federal and local officials to work out the innumerable problems, and to turn the tide of travel into this territory. Administration is costly, for it involves costly travel expense.
10: A careful business organization exists behind this work. Books are well kept. All moneys are properly banked and audited, and are disbursed by an Executive Board of San Antonio business men, which governs headquarters work. Local units and local OST officials from among local business men are being established in all communities as fast as the work can be extended.
11: National organizations of all kinds today are co-operating with the OST organization.
12:	It	is	necessary	to	expand	the	Headquarters
organization to keep pace with the rapidly growing national interest. OST Headquarters today are handling work arising through inquiries by numerous national organizations, colleges, schools, newspaper and magazine editors, public libraries, lecturers, feature writers, chambers of commerce, tourists, auto clubs, tourist agencies, federal, state and local officials, seeking data and information, offering co-operation, or that teaching, publication, public record, etc., may be fostered. These files are a remarkable manifestation of interest in the Old Spanish Trail, and also a tribute to the value of the literature, maps and service of the organization.
13:	Along	the	highway	demands	increase for
administrative service. To promote still better cooperation among the OST cities and towns, and to handle better these numerous inquiries and offers of co-operation, it is planned to align the civic organizations from St. Augustine to San Diego behind the work, with the San Antonio civic organizations giving assurance that the national administration at San Antonio is conducted with business-like care. Civic organizations of many other cities .are already giving their support to this as a necessary civic ■function, and send their community quota to Headquarters. Primarily, they are entitled TO KNOW the, work at Headquarters is conducted properly. Secondarily, with Headquarters entrusted to San Antonio we must live up to the trust.
FINANCING METHOD AND EXPERIENCE
14: The New Orleans Convention ordered quotas fixed for all OST towns and cities, based upon population and bank resources. This gives us, first, the “Mathematical Quota,” then the “Working Quota” is determined. The Mathematical Quota for Sonora, Texas, for instance, is 16 (16 members at $10), but the Working Quota is fixed at 20, and Sonora cheerfully carries 20 members. The Mathematical Quota for San Antonio is 2252 ($22,520), but the San Antonio quota is fixed at 500 ($5000).