SouthwestFrontiers
Old Roads and Places of the
Red River Great Bend Country and Beyond
Not all those who wander are lost. J. R. R. TOLKIEN
From the woodlands and prairies of the Red River Great Bend Region to the Native and Spanish villages of Northern New Mexico there is a wealth of little known history to be discovered. Although much of this history can be found documented in archives and libraries, the most rewarding way to find this wealth is to follow the roads and look for the historic places, some dating to the 16th century and all ultimately connected. This website provides one view of the history of the early Southwest by mapping some of the roads and places that have developed over centuries. Three sections are offered, “Historic Northeast Texas,” “The Great Spanish Road,” and “Discovering Spanish Colonial America.”
Historic Northeast Texas
The webpages presented here provide links to an interactive Google map including many of the early trails, roads and places across Northeast Texas and the Great Bend Region of the Red River. Although a great deal of information is available here, it is far from complete. More will be added as time goes on. Stay tuned, and please let me know of mistakes or additional information you may have!
The Great Spanish Road
Early maps of the 19th Century west often show a “Great Spanish Road” going from Santa Fe to the Red River. This was also sometimes called the “Santa Fe to Natchitoches Road.” This webpage and its companion Google map offer a preliminary look at what might have been the route of the Great Spanish Road.
Discovering Spanish Colonial America
From its 16th-Century beginnings, Spain’s colonizing reach in North America covered not just what is now the Southern and Southwest United States of America, but farther north, up the Atlantic to Chesapeake Bay, up the Pacific to Vancouver Island, up the Mississippi to the Illinois country. These pages will eventually provide information on hundreds of places with a sustained Spanish presence. To start, a Google map including pre-1822 communities and places in New Mexico is available now.
How to Navigate this Website
There are links on this home page to the other pages, starting with the menu at the top, which is repeated at the bottom of this page. This menu starts with the “Historic Northeast Texas” top level page, which currently has four subpages, “Old Roads of Northeast Texas,” “Using MyMaps”, “Bowie and Red River Counties Places,” and “Bowie County Cemeteries.” An “Old Roads” Google map includes Northeast Texas and the “Ark-La-Tex” Red River Great Bend area. You can go to any of these subpages directly from the menu, but we suggest you start with the Historic Northeast Texas page first and then link to the others. There are several links on these pages to the interactive Google map that includes a number of layers such as “Old Roads,” “Bowie County Places,” “Red River County Places,” and “Bowie County Cemeteries.” When you go to this map, several of the layers will be open, and you can close these or open others as you wish by going to the legend on the left side of the map. We strongly suggest that first-time visitors go to the “Using MyMaps” page before opening the Google Map.
The “Great Spanish Road” top-level page does not have subpages currently but has links to its companion Google map. The “Spanish Colonial” page links to several subpages and to its Google map.
About Us
This website is being developed by Michael Stevenson, Ph. D. I am an engineer by training and historian by inclination. This website is based on my historical interests and research over many years. Much is still to come.
Get In Touch
- michaelstevenson@southwestfrontiers.org