 About
450 years ago, a road was carved by the Spanish that would link
Mexico City to the important silver mining towns of Guanajuato and
Zacatecas. The road was crucial for the Spanish Colonizers, as it
represented the main artery to their booty and the capital of their
empire. This road, known to most as the La Ruta de la Plata or el
Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, passed right through San Miguel de
Allende, then known as San Miguel el Grande. The Camino Real and
its trade of commerce would eventually stretch as far north as Santa
Fe, New Mexico, in the present United States. Over the passage of
time, many parts of the road were forgotten or lost due to progress
and development. Alternate roads were used, highways were constructed,
properties exchanged hands, land was cultivated and entire communities
were raised upon the former road. But the road that was once lost
has once again been found.
In September of this year a team of researchers led by Archeologist
Luis Felipe Nieto Gamiño (Instituto Nacional de Antropología)
and Don Patterson (Coodinador el Enlace y Gestión Desarrollo
Urbano) were assembled by the Presidencia to work in conjunction
with Cristóbal Finkestein (Director de Relaciones Internacionales
y Coordinador del Proyecto: Patrimonio Cultural de la Humanidad).
Their mission was to identify what was once the Camino Real in an
effort to qualify San Miguel de Allende as an UNESCO World Heritage
Site. No work of its kind had been done before, and the team would
basically be starting from scratch.
Speaking with Mr. Nieto, he went onto explain the rational behind
the project. “The National Institute of Anthropology recommended
to us that since San Miguel de Allende is lobbying to be declared
a World Heritage Site, and various attempts have been made but not
yet cemented…we could reinforce not only our historic center,
but also other elements such as the roads which were ever so important.
Especially this road, which went form Mexico to Zacatecas and is
known as La Ruta de la Plata, where we could correlate some of the
elements that surround this road with some from San Miguel. And
that’s basically how the whole idea began.”
Although simply linking San Miguel de Allende to the Camino Real
is not the only criteria that will help it achieve World Heritage
status. “Of course there is the city, our historic center,”
continues Nieto. “But with this we can also reinforce the
importance of this route, of this road. Not as a stand alone, but
to compliment the other information that the historic center holds.”
The researchers used a copy of a Spanish Colonial-era map of San
Miguel’s valley (previously published on the cover of LJ #4,
and seen here again in insert) from the year 1580 as the blue print
for their research. The original map proudly hangs on the wall of
the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid. It measures 83x81cm
and was made from maguey paper. Although the Spanish created the
map it carries some very unique qualities, as it is a hybrid of
indigenous and European techniques, which not only marks directions
and landmarks but also tells a story. In this case, the story is
about the two Franciscan monks (aka Los Frailes) that were decapitated
by Chicimeca indians at the old bridge to Comonfort. Besides this
ancient map, the team also used aerial photography and present day
plans and topographic maps to compare and contrast actual photos
and took coordinates using a Global Positioning System.
 “The
work is divided fundamentally into three phases. One phase is compilation
of the information and its analysis. That is to say, aerial photography
and maps, it was almost all deskwork, we hardly left our offices.
Once we had an overview, then we began to go out into the field.
Afterwards came the other part of the desk work, the production
and presentation of the report with our recommendations and conclusions.”
As of press time, the team was preparing for a presentation to be
given on Tuesday, November 23rd at the Hotel Real de Minas. “Its
part of a conference called the Fifth Conference on the Camino Real
de Tierra Adentro which began the 17th, 18th, and 19th in Guanajuato
and this presentation is an extension of that,” explained
Nieto. “Investigators from the U.S., Canada and México
have all participated.”
 But
according to Nieto, this presentation only represents the very beginning
of the project. “There’s much work to be done. The point
of the report is to expand expectations, to expand the objectives,
because one of our recommendations is that they reuse these roads,
that they be reintegrated and be used principally by cyclists. This
is an actual use, which would keep the roads in good condition.”
The actual state of the Camino Real varies widely from section to
section. The original road was finished with stones at one point.
“However, there are parts that are still paved with stones
that can be used,” begins Nieto. “There would be parts
of the road that would need to be restored to make them usable.
Of course, over the years there were various constructions, not
just one. But these are antique roads with antique stonework. The
next phase of the work should be to try to analyze as much as possible
and create a working plan to give the road an actual use and conserve
it. It would make no sense to identify it and then simply abandon
it. That would be absurd. And besides, if this will serve as reinforcement
for World Heritage Status for San Miguel, we’d have the obligation
of conserving it. And we’re convinced, the best way to conserve
something is by using it.”
Although they had an ancient map to go by there were sometimes difficulties
in identifying the present day road. Using aerial photographs from
the 70’s they were able to identify parts of the road that
have since stopped being used and virtually disappeared due to cultivation
and overgrowth which had basically erased parts of the roads. Nieto
was impressed by “the quality of the stone work and its conservation.
I especially liked the piece that went form Querétaro to
San Miguel. It’s a substantial piece of about 100 or 150 meters
of stonework, which is still in very good condition. And also a
piece from Guanajuato to San Miguel, also in very good condition.”
 But
the Camino Real does not consist of any one single road. It is actually
an elaborate network of five roads that all crisscross and converge
at San Miguel. “There was the principal road which went from
Mexico-Zacatecas and had a tributary that entered San Miguel and
then connected again close to San Felipe,” explains Nieto.
“These along with the roads to Queretaro, Guanajuato and Michoacan,
are the 5 most important. They are all effectively part of the same
network. And one of the best conserved is the one from here to Comonfort.
It’s very well done. There are about 3 or 4 kms which are
conserved very well. A person from there actually told us that when
he began to cultivate his land, about 15 or 20 years ago, it cost
him a lot of trouble to take apart the stone work so that he could
work the land, and during that work he found some silver coins with
the year 1786 on them and he allowed us to photograph them. Which
indicated to us that this is definitely the road, without a doubt.”
For the moment, there are no plans for an excavation of any part
of the road. “The work we’ve done so far is superficial,”
says Nieto. “In the next stage we propose there should be
excavations to fully identify the various construction methods.”
 And
just how far is San Miguel from attaining World Heritage Status?
“Well, there is a process,” says Nieto. “With
these results we can begin to arm something that that UNESCO requires
called a ‘technical report’, documented with photographs,
plans, and maps.”
The first part of the project was done at the initiative of the
Presidencia with virtually no budget. But Nieto and his team members
are optimistic they will receive more funds to complete the later
stages of the project. While the first part of the project was done
in two months, Nieto estimates it would take a full year to complete
the remaining parts.
“My companions Julio [Alberto Bernal González] (Dept.
de Ecologia) and Don Patterson, actually work for the administration.
I assume they will continue and Don is doing some other very interesting
things regarding the Historic Center. Since everything moved very
quickly, we didn’t have very many resources at our disposal.
But thanks to the collaboration of many people such as Miguel [Chehade]
and Beto [Martínez] who have supported us we’ve been
able to go forward, because they didn’t even give us a car,
we were doing it with our own personal resources. For the next stage
I hope that we get more resources.”
“These are the first results, like I said much more work is
necessary, but there are some results which seem satisfactory because
they are definitely the roads without any doubt. As you can see
in our marvelous map from 1580. The aspiration is to continue, and
hopefully we can accomplish our goal and have it serve something.
Effectively it would permit us to arm the technical report that
will be satisfactory for UNESCO and finally have San Miguel declared
a World Heritage site.”
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