The 2026 annual meeting will take place on May 1 and 2, 2026 in Alto, Texas. Our general membership meeting will occur on May 1 at A. Frank Smith Methodist Church located at 131 Cooper St, Alto, TX 75925. Cherokee County site visits will take place the following morning, May 2.
Click here to Register
May 1
11:30 AM: Check – In and Registration Opens
12:00 PM – 12:15 PM: Welcome and Introductions
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM: Deborah Burkett “Women Along the El Camino Real, 1700s – 1800s”
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM: Amy Heath on experiencing El Camino in the Austin metro area and how working on the project inspired her to move back to Oklahoma and reconnect with her Tribe.
1:45 PM – 2:15 PM: Noah Duke and Josh Diamond from Mission Tejas
2:15 PM – 2:30 PM: Break
2:30 PM – 2:45 PM: Fourth Annual Public Service Award presented to Senator Robert Nichols
2:45PM – 3:15 PM: Aaron Gates or Amy Kitmacher from Mission Dolores State Historic Site
3:15 PM – 4:00 PM: John Zumwalt on El Camino Real as a network of longstanding travel and trade routes used by the Caddo for centuries before the Spanish assigned it a name. Rather than framing it as a road imposed onto an existing landscape, the talk would explore how Caddo movement, exchange, and community relationships shaped these paths long before colonial contact.
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Carolyn Spears “Digging into Diaries: Native and Introduced Plants along El Camino Real de los Tejas”
4:30 PM – 4:45 PM: Break
4:45 PM – 4:55 PM: Brad Patterson – Texas Historical Commission Update
4:55 PM – 5:15 PM: Angelica Sanchez-Clark and Rosharon (Jori) Welchans – National Park Service Update
5:15 PM – 5:30 PM: ElCaT General Membership Business
5:30 PM: Conclude
May 2
8:30 – 12:00 PM: Tour of historic sites in the area
12:00 – 6:00 PM: Continued tour further east.
