Commems Collection Classic: 1935 Old Spanish Trail - Honest Recognition

One thing that can be said about the 1935 Old Spanish Trail 400th Anniversary Half Dollar is that it did essentially nothing to support the preservation, maintenance and/or marking of the actual Old Spanish Trail.

1935 Old Spanish Trail Half Dollar


The "trail" presented on the coin is not the "Old Spanish Trail" - the coin's trail map was a bit of historical misappropriation that was designed more to support LW Hoffecker and his El Paso, Texas coin business than the actual Old Spanish Trail.

The true Trail stretched from Villa Real de Sante Fe de San Francisco (present-day Santa Fe, New Mexico) to El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles (present-day Los Angeles, California) - a distance of approximately 2,700 miles (via its winding pathway, not as the "crow flies"). The Trail was a heavily used, multi-cultural trade route from late 1829, when it was initiated by Mexican trader Antonio Armijo, through to the late 1840s when it was surpassed in popularity by the California Trail and the Mormon Road to the north, and other trails to California to the south.

In July 2001, the US Department of the Interior and the US National Patk Service published their National Historic Trail Feasibility Study and Environmental Assessment Report for the Old Spanish Trail. The Report offered three potential options for the US Federal Govenrment's incolvement with the Trail going forward: Alternative A was no involvement by the Federal Government, Alternative B opened up the potential of public-private cooperative efforts and Alternative C was designation of the Old Spanish Trail as a National Historic Trail and future management by the National Park Service.

In February 2002, Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), introduced the "Old Spanish Trail Recognition Act of 2002." The bill sought to amend the National Trail System Act by incorporating the Old Spanish Trail as a National Historic Trail. The bill enjoyed a relatively smooth journey through Congress, and became Public Law on December 4, 2002.

So, though there is no direct connection between the actual Old Spanish Trail and the 1935 commemorative half dollar that bears its name, I like to consider the coin as a tool that, in a small way, helped keep the memory of the original trail alive until it received the recognition and management/protection (by the US National Park System) that it deserves. Maybe the 25th anniversary of its Federal designation (in 2027) will be commemorated with a medal!

For more on the Tail, see:

- Old Spanish National Historic Trail


For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including more about the Spanish Trail half dollar, see: Commems Collection.