Stories Without End

It’s best to begin both journeys and stories in places without roads, preferably with at least one knee and one hand touching the earth. Walk away from the car, away from asphalt, away from campsites and picnicking families, away from signs and trails. Go where the air is sweet and smells only of green; where the trees are swaying and you can hear the wind moving through the leaves; where you can see water rushing and falling and pooling; where if you’re still enough, you’ll see small animals wandering around. Oak trees and bald cypress trees abound. The best journeys and stories not only span distances but also time. The difficult thing is some people think the past is done and gone, that history is dead, that it no longer lives and breathes around us—and not that what was, still is, and will go on.

McKinney Falls State Park, about 10 miles outside of Austin, where Onion and Williamson creeks meet, was where I decided to begin my story. I knew I wouldn’t only be learning about the history of El Camino Real and visiting related historical sites, I would be feeling the history. History is neither distant nor objective; history lives in us. My identity and the history of my ancestors is a layered and complicated thing, but to me that only emphasizes the need to honor their struggles. And where else to begin my journey but at the point closest to my home?

The stone marker at the entrance of McKinney Falls proudly proclaims it as being part of El Camino Real de los Tejas,, a ritual brought by the Spanish that over time incorporated Mexican, Indigenous, and American symbols. From Laredo, drive Interstate 35 to San Antonio and Austin, and then continue on State Highway 71 and SH 21 to Nacogdoches. Along the way, enjoy Texas’ different climates: arid desert, tumbleweed and ocotillo country, hills and canyons, green forests, wide rivers, farmland, ranchland, swamps, and as always, the open sky.