Skills used
- Latitude & Longitude
- Using scale to measure distance
- Using directions
- Tracing routes on maps
- Solving problems
Vocabulary
Missions, haciendas
Materials Needed
Globe in Horizon Ring Mounting
Lesson
While the English colonies were gaining a foothold on the east coast of North America, the Spanish were busy building missions and establishing large ranches called haciendas in the West. By the time Jamestown was founded in 1607, Mexico City had been a thriving Spanish city for more than half a century, and Spanish missions were already established in what is now the state of New Mexico. By the early 1800s the Spanish had settlements in the West that reached as far north as the present site of San Francisco, California.
On your globe, find the cities of Mexico City, Mexico at 20N/99W and San Francisco at 37N/122W. Use you globe's mounting ring to determine the great circle distance between Mexico City and San Francisco. How far is it? (1.) _________________________ What direction is San Francisco from Mexico City? (2.) _____________________________
One of the things that helped the Spanish govern settlements scattered over such long distances was an excellent road network called El Camino Real.