Shrines along the Highway — Roadside
Memorials
By Story and Photos by July McClure
Last updated on Thursday, July 17, 2003
Travelers on NM
Highway 11 between
Deming and Columbus have no doubt seen the shrines that dot
the sometimes lonely stretch of road along the way. Several of these shrines are
quite elaborate, embellished with flowers, icons and carvings, while others - a
wooden cross with a hand-lettered name and dates of birth and death written on
it - are stark in their simplicity. All are reminders of the tragedies which
took place there.
The memorials mark the spot where a fatal motor-vehicle accident took
place. Many of the victims of these crashes on Highway 11 died at the scene;
others died later in hospitals. For many years it's been a custom among Mexicans
and other Latin Americans to place a cross where a family member was killed,
either in a motor-vehicle accident or act of violence.
"Anyone who's traveled in Mexico and Central America has seen
these crosses. When I was in Honduras, we were warned on the Day of the Dead
(Nov. 2) to be careful driving because people would be out putting flowers on
the crosses," said Father Joe Anderson, pastor of Holy Family Catholic
Church in Deming. Anderson spent nearly 10 years in Latin America from the
mid-1980s to mid-1990s. "These shrines are a commemoration for the families
and to remind others to drive carefully and pray for those who died. The
Catholic Church doesn't require them; the people put them up of their own
devotion," Anderson said.
Highway shrines commemorate victims of motor-vehicle crashes. The
Mexican and Latin American custom also serves as warning to drive carefully and
pray for those who died on Luna County's highways.
