The King's Road
The Spanish were very concerned about protecting their trade and commerce interests on the Mississippi River. A land link between their northern capital at St. Louis to New Madrid, which was situated below the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, made good military sense. Historian Louis Houck wrote the original road followed an old Indian trail and was further guided by the necessity to skirt bogs and low-lying areas as-well-as ford the many streams at their shallowest points. Once the road descended from Crowley's Ridge it followed nearly a straight line into New Madrid.
The early road was merely a bridle path according to Houck, but as the population increased and additional settlements were established along its route it became more distinct and defined. The road was extended south from New Madrid to present day Caruthersville (Little Prairie) in 1794.
While commerce could move easily down the river from St. Louis, the up- river voyage against the current was much more difficult; and, soon enough, heavily loaded wagons were using the road, which necessitated improvements.
The Spanish required those using the road to obtain permits from the post commandants in New Madrid, Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve or St. Louis. Otherwise, travelers had to use the river to travel from post to post.
During the same period the D.A.R. also petitioned the Missouri Legislature to appropriate $5,000 to survey the original route of El Camino Real from St. Louis to Caruthersville. Unfortunately, after passing through the House, the measure died in the Senate and the opportunity was lost for a comprehensive and accurate survey when much of the route still could have been located.
The monument in New Madrid was dedicated on April 11, 1916, in a ceremony that included the State Regent, Mrs. J. R. Salisbury; an invocation by the local Catholic priest, Rev. D. W. Clark; speeches by county attorneys J. S. Smalley and R. S. Rutledge; and a procession of the town's school children singing America.
Originally located where the road crossed the Cotton Belt Railroad, the monument has been relocated several times over the past century, but always placed along the original route.
In 1807 the route was declared a public road by Governor Meriwether Lewis and the Louisiana Territorial judges, and it became a postal route in 1812, the same year the Missouri Territory was organized. In 1814 the legislature authorized the "opening" of a road from St. Louis to New Madrid. This territorial road followed much of the original route of El Camino Real, and, as bridges were constructed over the many creeks between St. Louis and Crowley's Ridge, sections were rerouted and shortened. Achieving the status of a territorial road also meant that public funds would be expended for upkeep and maintenance of the road.
During the early years the portion of the road from New Madrid to Commerce is often referred to as the Illinois Road because travelers could cross the Mississippi River at Commerce into the Illinois Country, later Territory.
Maps of the road leading north from New Madrid drawn during the Civil War (1861-65) designate the route as Telegraph Road.
In the 1870s a New Madrid developer named the route Hatcher Street to honor U. S. Congress Robert A. Hatcher.
In 1922 the route was included in Missouri High-way 9 running from Arkansas to Iowa until becoming part of present day U. S Highway 61 in 1926.
Until 1928, U. S. 61 followed the original route into town. That year a bypass was constructed to the west of the city. Until then, residents who lived along the route had to contend with a large volume of dust that the heavy traffic was churning up from the gravel roadbed.
It was during the 1950s, through the efforts of the local Lucy Jefferson chapter of the D.A.R., that the route was renamed Kingshighway to once again mark its importance as the first road established in Missouri El Camino Real.