THE MODERN OLD S’AMISK TRAIL
I', keeping with the ttrch of progress on sy.to obile trunk line " 3 needed from
Florid: to Californio thru these Southern Borderlands. Here in older. times the
Spanish co-.uuisto.-'ores end padres explored, colonized ■ ::d worked and broke their
pri litive trails. They left a herito ;e of re~t churches o.-.f. of relics of their
industrial occupatio s. But one old Spanish, fort stands in all these Southern
..orderlands. Their churches nd .'Isoions and the indue.tr- they fostered 'here the
pri ary polioie. of their empire building. ..'-venturers there - ere '."ho plundered
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and killed and t oak what they coy Id but the Qpvcm f-at dd3scc*e*=t’''-* hur-ne policies
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and the sndtiriae works are of the church and of *' s ad -ir.istrators.
".'her, thoie 419 enthusiasts set at 'obile in Ills a-.d organized to c o .ste the construction of the Old Spanish Trsil I doubt if any of1 the . re lly co .prehended the big achievements that were destined in the ;-,a e of that enterprise. I have yet many of those men 3ince that ti-ye and have leerne ' they went to that acting with firs and determination to open this southern country to modern travel but none of them realized the financia l : nd e:a ineering difficulties that lay else: d. It is a long wry from the pri itive tr-ils of the Spanish fof ers to a s wot:-. and unbroneh hi"hv.'.y ne'.rly 2,300 biles long!
3- 19yl there were "80,000,000 of co -.gleted roads and bridges on this Ola 3 unish
The secret of course is that never has this Old Spanish Trail project been a promoter’s plaything. It was organized and has been directed by the people of the South.
Somehow it has seemed as though the spirit of the padres and the conquistadores flamed again in the soul .of these Anglo-Saxon pioneers. We read the story of the Spaniards of those three centuries from (ST.) Augustine to San Diego and marvel at their fortitude in the face of such hardships. We view the evidences of their works and marvel at their achievements. We who have watched these modern men from Florida to California rise to the demands of this southern
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Tr il. TrurJ: lin©3 3out:, to tl is hig/W" h ve also ’ een	t:	e	end of
19^1 essentially continuous pave cnt viaclsigsz:sea.i any point on the Atlantic seaboard vAntoYi\o - d the South Tex s cities v! * lonterrey iss .. 1 ' 1 ■Bmumul'i*(irH h:::ico.