Ruts in El Camino Real, the Royal Road from San Antonio to Nacogdoches, formed the gulley about fifty yards behind this location. The road had two routes through what is now Hays County, and both carried different names at different times, creating confusion. By the 1790s the main path had shifted from El Camino de los Tejas, today's Hunter Road, to this route, El Camino de Nacogdoches, to align with a new crossing of the Trinity River and a new approach to Nacogdoches. After 1800, new communities and military posts were added along El Camino Real, including San Marcos de Neve, Puesta del Colorado, Bastrop, and Trinidad de Salcedo. The archeological site of San Marcos de Neve lies 2.2 miles east near the San Marcos River crossing. Early in the 19th century, El Camino de Nacogdoches became an important immigration route. Later, as counties were founded, the road became the boundary between many of them, and it remains the southern boundary of Hays County east of the San Marcos River. In 1858 the legislature moved the western portion farther south, perhaps hoping to thwart attempts to relocate the county seat from the town of San Marcos. Elsewhere, parts of this worn route were cross-fenced and abandoned, while today's Old Bastrop Road preserves a segment that is still in use.