Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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During the era of Mexican rule, the Lee County area was part of the Milam District, a region extending from El Paso to the Navasota River, thus becoming a part of El Camino Real de los Tejas.
Sen. Hutchison spoke to the crowd that included Congressman Michael McCaul, Lee County Judge Evan Gonzales and Giddings Mayor Jim Arndt who were gathered to celebrate the area that was probably first explored by Europeans around 1691. When Domingo Teran de los Rios sought a direct route between San Antonio de Bexar and the newly founded Spanish mission in East Texas, he followed the established trails as he laid out El Camino Real.
Sen. Hutchison worked for three years to achieve the historic designation — the only new trail approved in the 108th Congress – which was signed into law by President Bush on October 18, 2004.
“Celebrating El Camino Real’s deep roots in these towns and historic sites is a reminder of why we must preserve our Texas history,” Sen. Hutchison said. “I worked diligently to secure this well-deserved honor. The National Historic Trail designation will remind people to celebrate our past as we look toward the future.”
El Camino Real de los Tejas was a corridor of trails used by settlers, immigrants, Native Americans and the military. The trail is a combination of routes totaling nearly 2,600 miles, from the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and Laredo to Natchitoches, Louisiana. It also served as a path for such Texas heroes as Davy Crockett and Sam Houston, who fought in the struggle for Texas’ independence from Mexico.
On Tuesday, the second day of a three-day tour down the El Camino Real, Sen. Hutchison also made stops in College Station, Caldwell, Bastrop, San Marcos, Greune and San Antonio.
The earliest known historical inhabitants of the future Lee County, the Tonkawa Indians, were hunter-gatherers who followed the buffalo on foot and sometimes set fire to the prairie to aid them in their hunts.
After Texas gained independence, what is now Lee County was part of the five adjacent counties: Bastrop, Burleson, Fayette, Milam and Washington.
The first known Anglo settler, James Gotier, settled on Rabbs Creek in southern Lee County in 1835. Settlement in the area, however, remained sparse until after the Texas Revolution. The population rose rapidly before the civil war, including Anglo settlers along with an influx of German settlers.
In 1871, the new town of Giddings was founded in what was then Washington County. Discussion began about the need for a new county so that residents would not have to travel so far to the county seat.
A bitter battle was waged between Lexington and Giddings to be the county seat. Giddings, because of its railroad connections, won the vote.
The county prospered between 1874 and 1900. The United States census of 1880, the first to include Lee County, reported a total population of 8,937. By 1900 it was 14,593.
Between 1970 and 1980, Lee County experienced its first growth in population in 50 years.
Senator Hutchison said, “Lee County remains true to its Texas roots and keeps alive its traditions. My sincere desire is that the designation of El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail will encourage more people to visit Giddings and all of Lee County and enjoy the generous hospitality which the people of this County have made famous.”