During the Colonial period in New Spain (now Mexico), a series of roads were established to enable travel throughout the Spanish colonies. These were called the Royal Roads, the Caminos Reales. The most well-known of these today are the Camino Real of California, that stretched from San Diego to Sonoma, and the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (also known as the Chihuahua Trail), the road that led from Mexico City through many of the great silver mining centers such as Zacatecas, Durango, and Chuihuahua, to the capital of Nuevo México, Santa Fe.

In 1638, the 1700-mile journey from Mexico City to Santa Fe took six months, and the caravan arrived approximately every three years. By 1815, with a well-established road and two centuries of experience, the trip had been reduced to 4 ½ months. The trip from Chihuahua City- the major commercial center in northern Mexico in the late colonial period- to Santa Fe took forty days (a trip that now takes about nine hours by car). Caravans usually left New Mexico in the late fall, after the annual trade fair held in Taos where traders acquired goods to sell on their trip south.

A caravan usually consisted of 32 carros-wooden covered wagons with metal axles and wheels similar to the prairie schooners of 19th-century America. Each carro was usually pulled by eight mules carrying up to two tons of cargo. Smaller carretas, that could carry half a ton, were used for shorter distances and were often pulled by stronger, but slower oxen. By the end of the 18th century, mule trains (recuas) also became common, although they were more susceptible to attack and easier to drive away.

The heavy, cumbersome carro helped determine the route of the Camino Real, as the caravans had to avoid both soft, sandy ground and steep inclines. Some of their cargo consisted of replacement supplies: spare axles, extra spokes, extra iron tires weighing 27 pounds each, and numerous tools for rebuilding a wagon on the road. Each wagon also had an extra team of eight mules.

Caravans of the 19th century were large, with usually more than 500 people, and 3-4,000 head of livestock. It may have taken several days for the caravan to pass through a single spot. Persons traveling with the caravan included the conductor or mayordomo; the arrieros (muleteers); 40 or more soldiers (ideally) to protect the caravan; the peones (laborers), and settlers. Each man was required to carry arms for his own defense. Food was sparse: in the 1840s, one traveler noted that on the trail, the New Mexican crews would typically eat one meal a day consisting of a small piece of meat, red chile, beans, and tortillas with a snack of a cup of chocolate and a piece of bread.

From Zacatecas north, this was never a road that one would travel alone. The threat of attack by nomadic Indians- the Chichimecs in Nueva Vizcaya and the Apache in Nuevo México- was constant, and the only security was in numbers. The scarcity of water, particularly between Chihuahua and El Paso del Norte and in the Jornada del Muerto in New Mexico, was another great concern to travelers. Sometimes a caravan would take a detour of many miles and days to acquire water at the nearest hacienda. Ironically, another problem along the journey was floods, with rivers too high to cross for several weeks. It was no accident that most major river crossings were near towns and haciendas where the travelers could stay during their wait. On some occasions, the cargo was unloaded, the wagons dismantled, and everything, including all the livestock and people traveling, was packed on rafts and towed across the river with ropes.

The earliest caravans to Santa Fe were the mission supply caravans, run by Franciscan friars, which brought badly needed supplies to over 50 missions established in New Mexico to convert the Pueblo Indians. The list of supplies for each mission included altar furnishings, priest's clothing for Mass, shoes, sandals, hats, cloth of all kinds, candle wax, paper, knives, scissors, tools, horse gear, kitchen equipment including pewter plates and bowls, and bronze kettles, one box of ceramics from Puebla ( a pottery-making center in Mexico), and wine, vinegar, sugar, saffron, pepper, cinnamon, raisins, almonds, syrup and honey.

After the 17th century, the caravans were led by merchants and entrepreneurs involved in the lucrative commerce created by the silver mines. Stops along the way south included major towns and haciendas where merchandise was both bought and sold. In 1638, Governor Luis de Rosas sold the items from (New) Mexico to merchants in Parral, Mexico including sayal (coarse woolen fabric), 413 blankets, 122 painted buffalo hides, 198 chamois skins, 900 candles, and about 57 bushels of piñon nuts. Another critical commodity traded south was salt, which was necessary for extracting silver from the mines. In 1840, New Mexican merchants sent 26,156 sheep, three carts with foreign (i.e. American) merchandise, 70 pounds of wool, 24 fanegas (bushels) of piñon, and 833 bundles of domestic merchandise.

Manuel Delgado, born in Pachuco, Mexico, moved to Santa Fe in 1786. After a 33-year military career, he retired in 1791 to become a trader on the Camino Real. The items in his will reflect the goods demanded from a Santa Fe merchant and the quantities required to stock his warehouse at the turn of the 19th century: hats, shawls, stockings from León, 95 hair combs from China, 20 3/4 yards of India print cloth, 29 yards of wool, 9 yards of velvet, 9 1/2 yards of fashionable ribbon, calico, jackets, pants, coats and fine linen shirts, plumb bobs, pruning knives and machetes, looms and combs for carding wool, 41 chairs, 6 washstands, chests and benches, knives, sheepskins, chamois, silk paper, mirrors, ceramics from Puebla, Mexico, Chinese porcelain, needles, scissors, guns, gunpowder, swords, spurs and bridles, saddles, drills and adzes, 2240 sheep, 64 goats, 18 pounds of lard and 16 pounds of chocolate.

Santa Fe was truly a "port" city; hundreds of miles from the nearest large body of water, the name is nevertheless appropriate. It was here that travelers from the United States first encountered Spain and Mexico and Pueblo New Mexico. And it was here that the Camino Real and the Santa Fe Trail would meet in 1821, bringing to her "shores" items as diverse as spices from Asia, chocolate from Meso America, silk from China, and linen from France.