Historical Research
Historical research is conducted, using the National Park Service (NPS) “Old Spanish Trail National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and Environmental Assessment July 2001” as a baseline. (Once the Multiple Properties Documentation Form is completed in 2011, that will be another good baseline to consult.) A recent historical context (March 2011) prepared for the US Forest Service, Carson National Forest by Thomas Merlan, Michael P. Marshall and John Roney entitled “The Old Spanish Trail: Exploration, Trade, Colonization, and War” provides a vital entry to documentary sources. The Old Spanish Trail Association’s Website contains a wealth of resources with extensive historical and applied knowledge of the Old Spanish Trail. The books included in this Bibliography are consulted for site-specific information. Local libraries in the area of the proposed nomination are consulted for additional information, as are local OSTA chapters, historical societies and oral history projects. Sometimes this involves new work of locating and interviewing the oldest local residents, who may have knowledge of the way the trail may have been used over time.
Historic maps are a very important source of trail research and the David Rumsey Map Collection provides a digital counterpart to the indispensible six volume work “Mapping the Transmissippi West” by Carl I. Wheat.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field Offices in each state provide access to detailed site-specific historical data located in the General Land Office (GLO) survey plats and surveyors field notes, as well as current Master Title Plats (MTPs) and Historical Indices (HIs) which show current approved land uses. Access to digital records is available for Utah and Nevada at BLM state internet sites.
Archaeological Records
To determine if archaeology is available for your proposed project, perform an archeological records check with the BLM, Forest Service, or NPS office in your area as well as at your state’s archaeological records clearinghouse.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork consists of an on-site investigation and verification of the proposed segment(s), including a GPS documentation of the proposed trail alignments in the nomination boundaries, including pack and wagonroads, and any bypass or braided segments. Coordinate with all property owners. Local OSTA chapter members, trail stewards and representatives may also be invited to participate in the fieldwork. Oftentimes, these local experts have special knowledge which may also assist in choosing the best segments and updating the historical accounts. Sometimes, they know of experts in the area that they can bring to help find the missing links between trail segments, or they are working with archaeologists who are working on projects on the trail corridor. A thorough walk-through of the proposed nomination is completed. Most of these investigations take a minimum of one full day. Photographs are taken, in both color and black and white, of important landmarks, landforms, and landscapes along the trail, as well as the trail itself. In our investigations, we have determined that black and white photos have provided the best interpretations of the subtle trail features and landscapes that we are trying to document and preserve. Observations are made particularly of line, form and color of landform features on the horizon, mid-distance and near landscape of the trail corridor and route segment alignments. Archaeological remnants are documented on a field record form, with accompanying photographs and descriptions, as well as GPS locations. (Though it may be determined that most archaeological evidence dates from periods after the period of significance and therefore will not be used in the nomination itself.)
Mapping
Once the historical and fieldwork are completed, the GPS data is integrated onto USGS 7.5 maps. It has been determined that using a singular trail line is not the best means for protecting the landscape of the trail, as this method opens the trail up to development at a short distance on either side and fails to capture the reality that a pack trail and livestock driveway alignment used over 150 years ago probably cannot be confirmed except where later use by livestock and wheeled vehicles is observed. The trail was a fluid and evolving thing – more of a concept than a line on a map – and might have moved slightly to adjust for erosion, flooding, natural deterioration, or to avoid ice and snow. The trail itself then becomes a network of associated pathways, which are best protected by nominating an area that includes the entirety of those segments as well as more of the passable terrain whose traces may have been erased over time. This methodology has been termed a “catchment,” and may include a slightly wider berth along the foreground of the landscape, including more of the saddle or valley (where more of the trail segments are preserved) than a singular line. Where the trail occurs along a ridge (convex surface), as a packtrail and livestock driveway often will, just alongside it be found a wagon road that is cut into the side of a slope in switchbacks, we include the traversable top of the ridge and then a buffer to allow for braided pathways that may not have left a detectable imprint. On a concave surface we include the traversable surface, adjusting for drainage channel and trail movement and a buffer zone up the drainage sides to include a section of corridor (site) setting unaltered by travel along the segment. These subjective definitions of site boundaries on convex and concave trail surfaces assure that the setting is included in the ”vicarious experience” called for in the National Trail Systems Act. (If you'd like help mapping, we've been working with archaeologist John Roney, who co-wrote the Camino Real National Register nomination as well as one of the seminal pieces of new research on the OST, and who has provided impeccable maps for the OST nomination project. He can be reached via email here.)
Nomination
Once these investigations are completed, they are pieced together into a National Register Nomination, which includes the history, a description of the methodology, photographs, maps, GPS datapoints for the proposed boundaries, and a specific bibliography. The forms are available here. Involving the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) early is critical, as all nomination forms have to go through their office and their support and guidance is key. Draft nominations are sent to the State Historic Preservation Office as well as the Owners for review and editing until all are satisfied. Once a final product that is acceptable to all parties is obtained, it is sent via the SHPO to the Keeper of the Register for final review, another round of editing, and approval.
Good luck!
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