Descansos: New Mexico's Roadside Memorials

History in Santa Fe

The roadside crosses found along New Mexico byways and highways mark the spot where a life has ended tragically. This practice of placing crosses, laying stones or creating a devotional homage to the deceased is practiced by cultures around the world. With the increase of random acts of violence filling the nightly news with images of terror around the world this practice has morphed into a universal tradition, spontaneously marking the spot as a memorial with flowers, photos and candles for the dead.

In New Mexico these death markers are known as descansos from the Spanish tense decansar (to rest). The tradition of the descanso began with the 16th century confraternity, La Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno, also known as Los Hermanos Penitentes (the Brotherhood of the Repentant). The Penitentes placed crosses, or laid stones to mark the place of death for their fellow Spaniards who died along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Camino Real). These remembrances were erected for the colonists that died of exposure or were killed by Indians along the treacherous 1,500 mile trade route that began in Mexico City and ended in San Gabriel in northern New Mexico. The descanso was a remembrance to the anima (soul) of the deceased. Las Cruces, the state’s largest city to the south, got its name from the crosses that were erected for the dead along that journey.

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