A Descanso is a Spanish word meaning rest or resting place. This word today is used to describe the memorial marker found along most high ways in the US. A Descanso is usually erected at the site of tragic accident in which some ones life was cut short.

Where do Descansos come from? It is not known where the ritual of erecting a cross where some one has died really comes from. There is documented evidence of Descansos being erected in Greece, Egypt, Germany and Australia. Mexico and the US also have a high percentage of Descansos along the mostly rural highways and interstates.

The practice of placing a cross may come from the crusades in Old Europe, where soldiers who died on the march were buried and had a simple cross to mark to site of his/her death In the Americas, the practice probably came over with the Spanish conquistadors who cris-crossed the Southwest US in search of the fabled cities of gold. As the soldiers were killed or died due to exposure they were quickly buried and a cross set to mark the spot where the body lay.

In a brief interview with Dr. Sheila Pozorski, I asked her if she knew of Descansos in her travels to South America. She replied that they are not called Descansos but could not remember what the local people called them. She did say that there a lot of crosses in South America, many used in homes to keep evil away. Roadside memorials were seen but she was not sure why they were erected or by whom.

Most of what has been written so far on Descansos has been of New Mexico. Rodolfo Anaya, co-wrote a book entitled "Descansos: Au Interrupted Journey" in which he briefly describes what a Descanso is, and some black and white photographs in the book. The problem is that Descansos are not only limited to New Mexico. You can see markers in every state Texas. California, Maryland, Michigan etc.

One explanation for the wide spread use of Descansos may the old migrant trials. There used to be a vast movement of farm laborers who moved every year between states as certain crops came into harvest. As the workers moved back and forth over the US in search of work it is conceivable that more than one family lost a member to death on the way to or coming back from the work sites, hence the evidence of Descansos in migrant rich states like Michigan, Florida, California, Washington, Idaho and so on. For these people a Descanso is truly an interrupted journey never completed.

There is no way of knowing who erected a Descanso, and we have no way of knowing where they were bound for or from unless we speak to the families of those who have perished. In the video "Gone but Not Forgotten", the people who lost a loved one speak of why they erected a Descanso and what they hope others will gain from their painful loss. In most cases there was drinking involved and it is hoped that others will see the cross as a warning of what can happen when you drink and drive.

MADD(Mothers against Drunk Drivers) in Texas have managed to get support from some judges in what they consider to be just punishment for someone who taken a life. if so ordered by the judge, the driver of the car that caused a death must put up a Descanso to the person who lost their life. MADD is also working to get other states to co-operate m the same program. I must admit that of all the Descansos which I photographed none seemed to have been put up by MADD.

The Descansos themselves vary in size and color and the amount of different artifacts found around them. Some are made very simply of plastic coronas to steel crosses and cement foundations. In the research which was done many of the photos showed some every elaborate sites for Descansos, I did not happen across any such sites in South Texas, except for the Alton site, which will covered later.

The first of the sites which I discovered was fled to a barbed wire fence just outside of San Isidro, Texas.

The grass in front of the coronas was cut low, though you could not see it from the road. There was also evidence( old flowers) that this site is kept up on a regular basis, possibly some family members. It is widely believed that the spot where the soul left the body is vital to the success of the soul to enter heaven. By erecting a cross on the spot the soul has a better chance of entering the realm of heaven.

As I proceeded west-northwest I eventually came across some more descansos by the side of the road.

Both of the following crosses were found on the same curve road about 25 feet apart. Both sites had aloe vera growing in the cleaned area. And both had fresh bottles of water at the base of the crosses. While the name was clear on one of the crosses the other did not have a name.

Without a doubt the saddest moments were those in which the loved one lost was named not by "DAD" and not just his given birth name. At this site, there pieces of the wreck, a piece of tire, plastic glass from the taillights, and the date in which he left this plane, 1998.

This site was well kept and apparently looked after often by those he left behind.

This site was located south of Hebbronville, Texas on a curve in the road.

This is another example of how simple a Descanso can be, a small array of purple flowers and white cross tied to a barbed wire fence.

The one above used to have a cross of stone but it is now almost all gone. This site is made on a slab of granite that is coming out of the ground. Only the dates remained born 6-27-72 died on 11-11-89. From the evidence on the ground around it this site is visited on a frequent basis.

The above site is located just outside of Benavides,Texas on Highway 44. This site has two stone monuments that have been erected. The one in the foreground is the oldest of the two, and simply states DOB and death. The second one, in the background was placed their by his parents. This one on the right was found between Premont and Ben Bolt, Texas. At this site were two unopened beer bottles(Budweiser) and a Dallas Cowboys ball cap.

Both the one on the right and the one below were found to be about 500 feet apart of each other. Both crosses were made of the same material, and both had a good section of the grass mowed down for easy access to the crosses. The dates on the crosses were not the same, so it could not have been of the same family. The sites were dated 3 years apart so there was no apparent relation between the two other that having died close to one another.

Just as get close to Falfurrias, Texas, there is this Descanso, devoted to three girls who lost their lives at the same time. There is an Oak Tree in the background that was planted there as part of the Descanso. The site is shaped as a heart covered with white stones, and each cross bears the name of a girl.

The state of Texas has a law on the books that governs height, and distance from the road a Descanso can be. This site on 1Oth street in McAllen, Texas was the only one to be found that was put up by the state to honor the memory of a DPS Trooper who lost his life in the line of duty February 27,1983, Ernesto Alanis.

This Descanso was almost overlooked. It lies on north 23rd St. in McAllen. This was well cared for and the area around the site was clean.

The above site is no the corner of Taylor Rd and Two Mile line. Before the picture was taken the cross stood 3 foot tall. As you can see a few days before this picture was taken someone drove over the cross for no apparent reason. On the cross is plague with a poem on it entitled "You are a friend r will cherish forever" by Laurie Winkleman.

The images on page 12 of this paper are perhaps the most sorrowful ever to be encountered. This is the biggest Descanso in the state of Texas, and probably the whole US. At this site in 1989, 21 school children lost their young lives when the school bus which was taken them to school, collided with another tuck and plunged 20 + feet into a pit.

The community of Alton, and several other organizations keep this a very place. At the time of the photo, the school had just played their homecoming and every one of the 21 crosses had a mum tied to it.

The Descanso come in all shapes and colors, some are very simple and still others are not. The choice belongs to the family of the loved one who lost his/her life. The common belief among the few people I spoke with is that it is very important to place a cross at the site where the soul left the body. Asked when they first heard of it, no one knew for sure, most probably from an aunt or grandmother.

Descansos, we really don't know where they come from. And there is no real work being done by anyone at this time. Perhaps in the near future someone can take this subject to another level, in the mean time small papers like this one will have to suffice. Descansos are not going away either, two weeks after my road trip to take photos, I found that three more new ones had been erected.

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