Being an avid reader of history over the years, I have many times read about the Jornada del Muerto or otherwise known as…”Journey of the Dead”.
The best description I’ve been able to find online is this link…
http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southwest/JornadadelMuerto-90mileso.html
The Wikipedia link provides another description…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jornada_del_Muerto
After reading these descriptions you now know that the Jornada del Muerto was a particularly harsh portion of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, or The Royal Road of the Interior Land…which is described in this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Camino_Real_de_Tierra_Adentro
Well, as luck would have it…the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and the Jornada del Muerto are located only 17 miles east from my current location of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and there is no way that I could be this close and not go out to see it in person. And yesterday, I did just that.
To help better acquaint you just where I went…lets start with this map of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro from the Wikipedia link above…
As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...
Now a map of the Jornada del Muerto…
On the above map you can find the Laguna del Muerto (dry) Lake of Death and immediately below it you will see the road on which I traveled.
Here’s a couple of Google Earth views of the big picture…
So what did I see when I finally got there? Here are some photos…
First this sign…
And then this plaque…
And then another sign…
Looking north towards Laguna del Muerto…
And finally looking south towards Mexico City about 1,300 miles distant…
If you have read Larry McMurtry’s book or seen the movie version of “Dead Man’s Walk”…part of the story occurs on the Jornada del Muerto.
While there, I found myself mesmerized trying to comprehend how many people traveled this road for so many years…and how many died along the way!
Visiting historic locations remains one of my very favorite activities as a full-time RVer!
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
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