Horses clopped down Morley Avenue on Saturday, carrying riders dressed to recall the journey of Juan Bautista de Anza and his soldiers and settlers from Sonora to San Francisco in 1775-1776.

Riders jog over from Morley Avenue to an alley and head for the border in the first reenactment ride in Nogales of Juan Bautista de Anza’s trek in 1975-1976.

It was the first Anza Day parade in Nogales and the number of riders fell short of what organizers had anticipated. But they traveled a paved stretch of the national historic trail that was dedicated only a year ago on Oct. 11, 2008.

Anza and his company trekked along Morley Avenue north to Hohokam Drive and then jogged over to Grand Avenue, said Lillian Hoff, president of the Friends of the 1904 Courthouse. In 1975, Hoff traced their steps in Santa Cruz County as a troop leader with 15 Girl Scouts.

Reenactment

On Saturday, the reenactment riders went south on Morley Avenue, turned west by Karam Park, jogged left into an alley to the international border, and then returned north on Morley Avenue to the courthouse.

The entire Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail runs 1,210 miles from Nogales to San Francisco, where de Anza was to build a presidio and mission.