Founded in 1629 as a mission, San Antonio is a trading center for nearby farms and ranches. Corn and alfalfa thrive in the fields along the Rio Grande Valley. But to the southeast, beyond the river valley, lies a 35-mile-wide, 90-mile-long stretch of merciless desert. In the days when settlers trudged westward along the El Camino Real—The Royal Road—the desert earned the name Jornada del Muerto, or Journey of the Dead. Learn More...