Descansos

("Introduction/Dios da y Dios quita", from "Descansos: An Interrupted Journey", by Rudolfo Anaya)"

I remember very well the impact of the car on the people of the llano and the villages of my river valley.

I remember because I had a glimpse of the old way, the way of my grandfather,

and as a child I saw the entry of the automobile."

"Time has transformed the way we die, but time cannot transform the shadow of death." Rudolfo Anaya

A large early 70's sedan barrels down a two lane road, the passengers are all teenage boys, the driver is under the influence of horsepower and drugs, seduced by this new found power, he opens up the big V-8. Death rises from slumber upon hearing the roar of the engine, it's time to attend to matters at hand. The driver, his reflexes dulled by marijuana and alcohol and for reasons known only to him and God, suddenly swerves off the path. The heavy machine hits the raised bed of a rail spur, it goes airborne for maybe 3 seconds, before it slams head-on into the trunk of a large cottonwood tree. The fourteen year old front seat passenger is flung headfirst into the windshield, his neck is broken and he dies instantly. Death, ever so ruthless and efficient has taken another soul, in a matter of days a cross will go up to mark the place where the young man paid his toll.  

 New Mexico has a long legacy of such tales and its roadsides are dotted by crosses and memorials. Although, the tradition dates back to the days of the first Spanish colonists, with the coming of the automotive age it took on a new meaning.  New Mexico author Rudolfo Anaya explains: "One word describes the change for me: violence. The cuentos of the people became filled with tales of car wrecks, someone burned by gasoline while cleaning a carburetor, someone crippled for life in an accident. The crosses along the country roads increased. Violent death had come with the new age. Yes, there was utility, the ease of transportation, but at a price. Pause and look at the cross on the side of the road, dear traveler, and remember the price we pay".  ("Introduction/Dios da y Dios quita", from "Descansos: An Interrupted Journey", by Rudolfo Anaya)

The word descanso comes from the Spanish word meaning "rest."  The tradition of descansos in New Mexico has been traced back to the early 1700's. Originally they were meant to mark the places where pallbearers stopped to rest as they carried a casket to the nearest cemetery. The memorials range from simple wooden crosses to elaborate wrought-iron creations set in concrete. Often, handwritten notes, stones, toys, rosaries and photographs of the victims are placed beside them.  Over the years, the modern practice of descansos has evolved into memorials that mark the spot of a person's last moments of life. Besides fatal car accidents, similar memorials have sprung up to honor the victims of shootings, industrial accidents or drownings. The highway memorials, apart from their personal significance, serve as a warning to other road users of the dangers of driving. For years the Arizona State Highway Patrol would post white crosses to mark the site of fatal car accidents, a practice that has since been taken up by the public. The practice of "ghost bikes" is a newer variation of the practice, bicycles are painted white and left at the site where someone was killed in an accident involving a bicycle.  Roadside memorials have become a worldwide phenomena, in Australia it is estimated that one in five road deaths is marked by a memorial.

 The memorials are not without controversy, some people see them as an intrusion on their personal beliefs. The 10th. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "A reasonable observer would conclude that the state of Utah and the Utah Highway Patrol were endorsing Christianity by allowing and maintaining cross memorials."  In New Mexico the descansos are recognized as rooted in folk traditions and therefore generally outside of the control or jurisdiction of state or local authorities. Nonetheless, in 2007 the Legislature of New Mexico passed and former Gov. Richardson signed a law making it illegal to desecrate descansos. Though state highway crews are not required to preserve the memorials, by custom, road workers work around them during construction projects. New Mexico DOT spokesperson Phil Gallegos said they do it as a courtesy "We find them on the front end of the project and know what we are going to do with them," Gallegos said. "I've seen it on project notes specifically telling a contractor you will protect these." "Crews have to maneuver around these memorials often because they are so common in New Mexico", he added. Those who feel the need to memorialize their loved ones near the roadways where they died will continue to do so, regardless of legislation and other attempts at control.

"We say that the hour of death is uncertain, but when we say this we think of that hour as situated in an obscure and distant future. It does not occur to us that it can have any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon."
Marcel Proust, In Search Of Lost Time