Descansos Mark Today's Way of the Cross

     In many parts of the American Southwest and in Mexico, travelers pass numerous reminders of journeys not completed. Solitary crosses by the wayside stand as sentinels of love and death, and the promise of the resurrection. "Be careful," they silently plead to the passerby, "finish your journey on this earth in safety before you go on."

     The descansos (resting places) are a death-related aspect of folk art which stems from old traditions in Mexico and the Spanish - settled areas of the Southwest. In the old days, when the body was carried from the church to the cemetery, the pallbearers often had to stop and rest, as the distance was far and the burden heavy. The places where the procession stopped to rest became known as descansos. As they entered the graveyard (camposanto), there was a ritual stop at the entrance and each of the four corners of the cemetery. Here, decades of the rosary or requium prayers were said. Many cemeteries were built with special shelters to mark these stops, and shelters were also sometimes built at the stopping points on the way from the church to the cemetery. Although the early Spanish settlers preferred to bury their dead in a camposanto, this was not always possible and many were buried where they died. Crosses were placed to mark the gravesites. Later, the custom extended to marking the place of death, even when the body was carried to a cemetery. The descansos on the way to the cemetery and, of course, the crosses marking the graves in the open, were hallowed by custom, and soon the crosses and small shrines erected along the roadside at the site of a death in an automobile or other accident acquired the same hallowed ambiance.

     Created out of love in a time of pain, today's roadside descansos are truly folk art. They are made of many materials, sometimes even including the parts of the cars involved in the accidents. Each is unique, and yet similar in the expression of love and bewilderment on the part of the families who erect them. Generally, the families who choose to erect a descanso in memory of a lost loved one, place a temporary wooden cross at the site soon after the accident. This cross remains until the permanent memorial is built. Sometimes the wooden cross is left after the memorial is built, or incorporated into it in some way.

     Flowers, both real and artificial, are placed at the descansos by the family. Some families visit the descansos weekly, praying as they clean and decorate them. Others renew the decorations on the anniversary of the person's death or on holidays. Statues of favorite saints, holy water and lighted candles are other items often placed at these roadside shrines. Some of the shrines have a boveda, or small replica of a tomb, complete with a glass door at the front. Photographs and votive candles as well as flowers are placed inside.

     Normally, it is members of the immediate family who erect the descansos and take care of them. Sometimes, however, friends participate in the erection of the shrine and in its upkeep. The crucitas (little crosses) and the descansos not only mark the place where the soul has left the body, they also are a way of saying to the departed loved one that they are remembered and that the community is invited to share in this remembrance.

     Travelers in Northern Mexico and the Mexican-American areas of the Southwest encounter other mute invitations to prayer. In Mexico, these small roadside shrines are known as "traileros" and across the border to the North they are called "grutas", and are usually erected in the yards of family homes. Unlike the descansos which mark the site of a death, the traileros and grutas are usually erected to fulfill a manda (vow) or a promesa (promise) of the maker, made to repay a favor accomplished through the intercession of a favorite saint. The traileros are sometimes simply marks of devotion of previous travelers of the road.

     Descansos are made of many materials. The most popular is concrete finished with white cement mixed with marble chips. When dates of birth and death are shown, a star usually marks the birth; either a cross or a mark similar to a crossroads sign marks the death date.

     An examination of some of the descansos found in South Texas and Mexico shows the variety of expression of these memorials.

     One descanso on the road between Ben Bolt and Premont, Texas, was erected to honor the memory of Ernesto Cortez. It is a welded metal cross sunk in concrete. The words "Mom, Dad, TexMex," and several names were etched in the concrete by hand when the cross was planted. Cortez was a twenty four year old drummer in a band called TexMex, and was known as a "good kid." A little further down the road toward Falfurrias, a trio of white cement crosses memorialize Perla Gonzalez, age 13, Norma Gonzalez, 33, and Margo d'Escobar, age two and a half. A neighbor explains that they were killed by a truck and says the family comes often to clean and decorate the markers. The next marker on the road is a cross of plain white wood, with no name or date. Although the paint is beginning to peel slightly, the artificial Christmas wreath is no more than a year old; its colors are still bright.

     Between Falfurrias and Hebronville, the welded iron cross of Louis Gomez is starting to rust, but the silk flowers are bright and new, and a native flowering groundcover has been planted around the base of the cross. Bright blue metallic pinwheels whirl lazily in the gentle breeze.

     A marble finished concrete cross with a bas relief of the head of Christ is found across the border on the road from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey. This descanso was erected in 1972, but contains no name. A few kilometers further, a large white cement memorial with a statue of the Sacred Heart and a glass insert over a colored emblem marks the 1989 death of Lazaro Rivera Zunigo. The marker is circled by a wrought iron fence. Erected by the embers of the Transportes del Norte, the elaborate memorial contains a lengthy inscription which states that although his friends are deeply grieved at his leaving, Mr. Zunigo will live on in affection in their hearts.

     Closer to Monterrey, a marble finished cross serves as a memorial to twenty-two year old Francisco Martin Martinez Gonzales. Killed in 1993, the new cross was erected almost a year later. The old wooden cross with a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe remains behind the memorial, along with parts of the car he was killed in. An artificial flower arrangement is attached to the tree at the site of the crash. The new marker has carefully been outlined with reflective tape to warn motorists of the dangerous curve in the road.

     The marker for Hector Sanches is plain but highly decorated with colorful flowers. The marker's inscription states that it was erected by his wife and children.

     A red, green and gray welded metal cross near Monterrey remembers Roberto Parra Ibarra, killed on Valentine's day of 1992. The new sculpture has replaced the previous wooden cross. Reflectors from the car have been set around the memorial and welded to it to warn motorists of the hazardous area. Other parts of the car form an integral part of this folk art sculpture.

     The elaborate shrine for Miguel Lozova Silva contains a glass box with a crucifix and flowers. A small inset top forms a sheltered area and contains votive candles. The initial wooden cross is still set behind the new shrine.

     The painted inscription on a black metal cross reads "Martin Lopez Caneino, nacio (born) 29 VII 1941 / Fallecio (died) 5-1-1990. The letters D.E.P. stand for "descanso en paz" (rest in peace.) The marker is a recuerdo, or remembrance, from his wife and children.

     The old road through the mountains from Monterrey to Saltillo is twisting and dangerous. There are many memorials to the dead here, some set at spots which seem impossible to reach safely. Yet even the oldest seem to have been cared for within recent months. One of the most poignant is a trio of crucifixes with a fourth marker, a small marble angel. On a concrete pad in front of the markers a large white X is painted. At a particularly dangerous curve where the road is narrow and rough, a tiny capillita (chapel) filled with flowers and lighted candles is marked "Harry." The inscription on the top says that the marker was placed by his parents and brothers. Although the marker was erected in 1992, the candle inside had been burning only a few days at most.

     Near Miguel Aleman, Mexico, an elaborate wrought iron and glass descanso contained a crucifix, brightly colored silk flowers, a pottery vase, but no name or date. Outside the sleepy town of Dr. Gonzales, a trio of marble finished crucifixes erected in 1970 display bright new floral arrangements, nearly a quarter century later. Directly across the road, a crucifix was put up in 1984 by the mother and brothers of Blanca de la Garza de Leon. The cross has been broken and carefully repaired. Just before Tres Fresnos, a cement descanso for Oscar Canalez holds a statue of St. Joseph and the child Jesus. A white concrete shrine containing a statue of St. Jude and a number of votive candles is probably a trailero, rather than a death memorial. Its only markings are the words "Mex de Gas," on the front of its support post and "CMA.MT" on the back.

     Just outside the town of General Torres, the traveler can pull off the road onto a white rocked parking area in front of a concrete and wood cross erected seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Ten concrete steps lead to a wooden cross at the top of a small hill. Standing at the base of the cross, travelers look out over a peaceful valley with a tiny river. The feeling of peace is strong here. The paint on the wooden cross is beginning to peel, so the cross has been there for some time, but the entire area is scrupulously clean. There is not a single piece of litter anywhere around, and the concrete is very white and swept clean. On a Saturday afternoon, a young doctor from Peru on his weekly visit from Monterrey talked to a group of construction workers. Questioned about the mysterious cross, the worker said he had no idea who placed the cross or why, but that the locals called it "cruz de montanita," or cross of the little mountain. He said it was simply a place to stop and pray.

     At the state line between Nuevo Leon and Taumalipas, a wooden box secured in a gnarled mesquite tree appears at first glance to be some sort of highly decorated bird house. On closer inspection, one discovers a descanso cut of rough plywood, a trailero rather than a death marker. Handwritten graffiti on the face of the shrine invites the traveler to stop and pay attention. Some names are written, and a blue ball point is obligingly left for future travelers to write their names here for posterity. The trailero contains a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe and a crucifix. It is filled with large glass votive candles, several of which are burning. An orange metal box attached to the tree below the trailero is filled with new, unburned votive candles. On the ground behind the shrine is a pile of twenty or thirty empty glass candle holders.

     Just before Miguel Alemon, the friends of Erasmo Jaime Garza have built a beautiful white cement and yellow wrought iron descanso. The silk flowers decorating the site form the young man's initials. Close by, a trio of crosses were erected for two women and a man in 1970. Fresh floral arrangements adorn this descanso in 1994.

     Across the border in Starr County, Texas, a boveda has been erected in memory of the boys of the Landa Gutierrez family and two of their friends. The original four rough wooden crosses were last decorated with colorful artificial flowers on Valentine's day. Pots of live flowers have been sunk in the ground, but have withered in the hot Texas summer. The miniature tomb contains a statue of the Sacred Heart, colorful flowers, and photographs of the four boys aged 18 to 26.

     Throughout the state of Texas, and in New York, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, and Louisiana, there are a special set of roadside death memorials unrelated to the Hispanic traditional ones. These simple white crosses with red engraved center plates are erected in memory of the death sites of persons killed by drunk drivers.

     Bryan Poole, an oil and gas auditor of Houston, Texas, erected the first of these white crosses in memory of his son, Larry, on Memorial Day, 1983. Larry, a thirty one year old bachelor, was on his way to pick up a date one Friday evening in January. He was in a protected left turn lane when his car was hit broadside by a drunk driver traveling at an estimated speed of over fifty miles an hour through a red light at the busy city intersection. Although Larry left no offspring, he was a role model for his three younger brothers and a mainstay of his family. When the funeral procession passed through the intersection where Larry was killed, his father had the feeling that he wanted to do something to mark the spot and a cross sprang into his mind. A Catholic and native Texan from Beaumont, Poole says that he was completely unaware of the Mexican - American custom of the descanso.

     In March of 1983, the Pooles traveled to the Philippines on business where they paid a repeat visit to the U.S. War Memorial. With his wife's small sewing ruler, Poole measured the dimensions of one of the beautiful marble crosses. On his return, he gave the dimensions to his father, a wood craftsman, who fabricated a wood over steel cross laminated with heart cypress. A neighbor and two of Larry's brothers helped Bryan cement the cross in place on Memorial Day in the presence of his family, including grandchildren. A brass plaque centered on the cross held the dedication, dates, and the words "killed at this location on 1/21/83 by a drunk driver."

     The cross idea was met with a great amount of enthusiasm from other families of victims to the DWI menace. Working initially through the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and later with the Harris County Commissioners Court, Poole has made and installed sixty of the small white crosses in Harris County. The others in the county are made of steel and have been placed by the Commissioners Court. The plaques have been donated by a Texas Highway Patrolman and by the owner of an engraving company who also lost a child to a drunk driving accident. The requests for the crosses from other states continue to be filled by Poole who charges only the amount for the materials used and the postage to mail them.

     Opposition to the erection of the crosses in Texas was countered by a state representative who carried a bill to allow Harris county to install the crosses there. In 1985, another law was passed to extend the privilege state wide and the Texas Highway Department now assists in their erection.

     To counter the opposition that saw the cross as only a Christian symbol, Poole argued successfully that the cross was a universal symbol of death. In his classic book on death thought and customs, The Hour of Our Death, Philip Aries upholds this theory, stating that even among nonbelievers the cross, more or less detached from its historical Christian meaning, is vaguely recognized as a symbol of hope and protection, and has, in the past two centuries, become the universal symbol of death. A cross in front of a name means that the person is deceased. People worldwide are attached to this symbol without knowing why.

     The modern day descansos serve a triple purpose. They help the grieving families and friends of the beloved dead express their pain; they serve as a reminder to the community of a life whose journey was abruptly interrupted. Most of all, they silently beckon the viewer traveling along our modern, hectic road of life to stop, rest, pray, and consider the promise of the Resurrection. •

To see more of Ann's photos of descansos, click here.