The Stelae of Miguel Hidalgo

Recently my friend Benjamín Arredondo ("El Bable") asked me to locate the two "Cabezas de Águila" in Irapuato because he is preparing a blog on Mexico's Bicentenario which he will publish very soon. The cabezas de águila (eagles' heads) that he was referring to are markers called "estelas" in Spanish from the Latin "stelae" meaning "marker". Stelae are upright stone slabs or columns that mark roads or boundaries. In this case they mark the route of Padre Miguel Hidalgo, the Father of Mexican Independence from where the fight for Mexican Independence began in Dolores Hidalgo on September 16, 1810, to the place where Padre Hidalgo was executed in front of a Spanish firing squad in Chihuahua, Chihuahua on July 30, 1811. The estelas are made from a column of brick or stone and are topped by the sculpture of an eagle's head. The eagle has a banner streaming from his beak declaring "Libertad".

In the year 1960 the president of Mexico, Adolfo López Mateos, invited the populace to suggest an appropriate manner to mark the route of Padre Hidalgo in celebration of 150 years of Mexican independence from Spain. As a result, the estelas were adopted and the eagles heads were sculpted by Tomás y José Chávez Morado at the School of Fine Arts of the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Originally there were 260 of these estelas made and they were placed along the route in ten states. In addition to being topped by the head of an eagle the estelas are marked with a plaque that says "Ruta de Hidalgo 1810 -1811". Most of the estelas are still in place but some have been moved and some have been vandalized. Many have been lovingly cared for but others have been mostly ignored. Irapuato is honored to have two estelas because Padre Hidlago came here twice. Since I am into sketching right now I made a sketch of one of the Irapuato estelas which you can see below. This estela can be found on Avenue Guerrero near the Centro de Salud. I also included a map that shows the locations of both Irapuato estelas. It is interesting to note that when the estelas were placed they were at the very edge of town at the northern and southern terminus. The city has grown tremendously since then and so now they are more or less rather centrally located.

Note: I sign my sketches "BOGI" which is what my wife Gina calls me. She pronounces it BOH-jee. It stands for "Bob & Gina". (Click on images to enlarge)