Home |  PublicationsEncyclopedia |  Great Spanish Road

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

GREAT SPANISH ROAD.

In the 1600s and early 1700s Spanish adventurers from New Mexico explored parts of present Oklahoma. The Spaniards developed the first known trail in Oklahoma for which any records are available. Known as the Great Spanish Road to the Red River, it originated in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and terminated in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The road crossed the Texas Panhandle and entered Oklahoma on the 100th Meridian near the present town of Erick on the North Fork of the Red River. It then crossed the stream twice and followed the course of the Red River south to the Washita River southwest of Durant. There it forded the Red River to the Texas bank and proceeded downstream to Natchitoches.

Spain possessed the huge Louisiana region from 1763 to 1803, and during that period Spanish priests, traders, and trappers made good use of the route. They used shallow-draft boats as far as the streams were navigable, and then they carted their possessions and goods overland. The avoidance of hostile natives and a level course for travel and camping were important priorities in their explorations. The route of travel needed to have waterways for the boats, wood for campfires, and water and grass for humans and horses. In addition, good camping spots and plentiful game were required.

The Great Spanish Road provided all of these features and benefits, as illustrated by the deep, indelible ruts cut into the prairie by heavily laden, wooden carts. The highly visible track made it easy for others to follow the route in both directions. Even after the United States acquired Louisiana in 1803 and Mexico won its freedom from Spain in 1821, traders continued to use the pathway as an important commercial route to move people and merchandise. Near present Hugo, Oklahoma, the Great Spanish Road intersected a trail through Texas from Chihuahua, Mexico, developed in 1839 by Mexican traders. Using a network of trails, merchants could move goods move in and out of Louisiana via the Red River to or from Santa Fe or Chihuahua.

Lynn Brown

Bibliography

William Paul Corbett, "Oklahoma's Highways: Indian Trails to Urban Expressways" (Ph.D. diss., Oklahoma State University, 1982).

Grant Foreman, "Early Trails through Oklahoma," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 3 (June 1925).

Roy L. Swift, "Chihuahua Expedition," The New Handbook of Texas, ed. Ron Tyler (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1995).

A. B. Thomas, "Spanish Exploration of Oklahoma, 1599–1792," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 6 (1928).


Browse By Topic

Transportation


Citation

The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:
Lynn Brown, “Great Spanish Road,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=GR018.

Published January 15, 2010

Copyright and Terms of Use

No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain.

Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). This includes individual articles (copyright to OHS by author assignment) and corporately (as a complete body of work), including web design, graphics, searching functions, and listing/browsing methods. Copyright to all of these materials is protected under United States and International law.

Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole.