Highway shrine of Hector Gastelum, south of El Rosario on Highway 1...

When a loved on is killed in an auto accident, it's a Mexican custom for friends and family members to build a roadside shrine to the victim, at the location where the victim was killed. As you drive the highways and byways for Mexico, you'll see small shrines everywhere, which should serve as a sobering reminder to travelers to take precautions while driving. Most shrines are quite modest, and most consist of a small structure that resembles a modest church, and many are decorated with artificial flowers, and sometimes sport a photo of the victim. Actually, it's a nice tradition that seems to be spreading into the U.S., as I've been noticing monuments and shrines sprouting up beside the roads, in my native California.

Photo: Hector's curve, located at km post 118, south of El Rosario. Note Hector's elaboratie shrine to the right of the photo.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007, I was driving south on Mexico Federal Highway 1, about a hundred miles south of El Rosario, in the Valley of the Ciros, when I came upon a most unusual shrine, located just south of kilometer marker, km 118. By the way, I couldn't figure out what system the state uses to mark the highway, as it makes no sense to me. Drive the highway, and you'll see what I mean... Anyway, I crested a small hill, and before me there was an "S-curve" and just past the curve, next to the highway on a small hill, was the most elaborite roadside shrine that I've ever seen. I passed it, but a quarter mile later, when it was safe to make a u-turn, I returned to Hector's shrine, as I just had to check this one out.

Photo: This photo pretty much shows it all, which is the elaborate shrine erected to the memory of Hector Gastelum.

The roadside shirne is dedicated to Hector E. Gastelum, who was killed at that curve on July 17, 2000. Apparently, Hector was a truck driver, as the shrine is a plywood structure built in the shape of a early 1980's Kenworth K-100 cab-over tractor cab, complete with plexiglass windshield and windows, Kenworth emblem, exhaust stacks and mirrors. On the driver's side of the cab, there's a laminated photo of Hector, and on the right-hand side, there is a framed, religious poem titled "Racion El Hofer." It seems that Hector was born on May 17, 1978, and was the son of Rivera Gastelum, and was a resident of La Paz, in the state of Baja California Sur. Hector must have been in an highway accident, as there is twisted wreckage, presumably from his truck, lying in the dirt, adjacent to his shrine. On the hillside in back of the shrine, the word "Hector" is spelled out, in white painted rocks. Next to the shrine, there is a cross, painted red and white, adorned with a "H" on top, and decorated in plastic, artificial flowers. Hector's friends and family have put a lot of work into his shrine, as Hector's shrine is the most elaborite roadside shrine that I have ever seen.

Photo: Junk from Hectors truck. Note the artificial flower to the left of the photo.

Who was Hector E. Gastelum? What kind of man was he? I spent a bit of time on Google, trying to locate Hector, and predictably, came up empty handed. Despite the fact that there is nothing on the internet about Hector, he must have been loved by many people, juding by the elaborite shrine that has been erected in his memory. The shrine itself offers no clues into Hector's life.

Photo: Hector's cross, topped with the letter "H" and the plywood and plexiglass mockup of a Kenworth K-100 cab.

I found Hector's shrine both interesting and touching, and I just had to post an article about his shrine on my web site.

Later in the evening, while I was drinking beer with friends in Bahia de Los Angeles, I told them about Hector's Shrine and we raised our cans of Corona in memory of Hector E. Gastelum.

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