It’s the end of September, but the middle of Hispanic -American Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), which celebrates America’s rich Hispanic history and culture. National Hispanic Heritage Month, with roots going back to 1968, commemorates the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico, Chile, and Belize also celebrate their independence days during this period.
September was also International Underground Railroad month, chosen because it was the month two of the most famous freedom-seekers, and later operatives of the “Underground Railroad” network, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, escaped slavery. Historians are only just beginning to see how these two themes fit together, besides just some overlap on the calendar of commemorative month.
Here in the western part of Louisiana, it’s actually easy to see how these themes of Hispanic history and the Underground Railroad intertwine by looking not on a calendar but on a map! Mexico abolished slavery in 1829 and then more completely in 1837. Many freedom seekers held in slavery in what is present-day Louisiana and Texas often chose to attempt an escape to Mexico, a much shorter journey than to Canada, the more famous terminus of the Underground Railroad. Just as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 had required free states to return escapees to the South, the U.S. wanted Mexico to sign a fugitive slave treaty promising to return escaped freedom-seekers to the U.S. But Mexico refused, stating that all enslaved people were free when they set foot on Mexican soil.
Anthropologist and former History Center speaker Dr. Rolonda Teal is an expert on this southern route of the Underground Railroad and was instrumental in getting Louisiana’s Los Adaes State Historic Site in Natchitoches Parish listed on the U.S. National Park Service's Network to Freedom, a map and directory of sites affiliated with the Underground Railroad to coordinate preservation and education efforts nationwide. Los Adaes was under the jurisdiction of the Spanish Crown which prohibited the enslavement of peoples in the New World, and at Los Adaes, cattle ranching and subsistence farming were the primary economic activities of residents, activities that did not rely on enslaved labor the way cotton or sugar farming did.
Los Adaes’ listing on the Network to Freedom says, “The Spanish colonial mission and fort known as Los Adaes held the unique position of being a borderland site and served as both a destination and an Underground Railroad way station on an established route between French Louisiana and Spanish Texas.” This route, known today as El Camino Real de los Tejas, the Royal Road, had been established because Los Adaes was not self-sufficient and residents needed to trade for food with the French at nearby Natchitoches, La. The resulting path between the two countries (Spanish Texas - French Natchitoches,) also marked a route chosen by freedom seekers escaping to Los Adaes and other parts of the Spanish interior.
Los Adaes is part of the Cane River National Heritage area. It is an easy day trip from Bossier. The grounds are open to visitors on certain days of the week. Check the website for up-to-date information. https://www.canerivernha.org You can also visit parts of El Camino Real de los Tejas, now a National Historic Trail administered by the National Park Service. Visit that website at https://www.nps.gov/elte
If you have any Bossier Parish-related stories, photos or documents of Hispanic heritage, we would love to add that to the History Center’s collection and knowledge. Early voting will take place at the History Center through Saturday, October 7th. We will be open our regular hours for visitors and researchers during early voting, although if you would like ample space and quiet for your research, you may wish to wait until Tuesday Oct 10th for your visit. Monday October 9th will be closed for Staff Day. Our regular hours are M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org
For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.
Images:
- Hispanic Heritage Month illustration from the National Park Service
- Artist rendition of the fort that once stood at Los Adaes. Credit: Louisiana State Parks
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