How did Devil’s Highway get its name?
6 min read
Asked by: Fabulously Campion
Conquistadors, missionaries, prospectors, traders and others traversed it, beginning in 1540, usually heading to or from California. So many perished along the way, in this place that can feel as hot as hell, that it became known as the Devil’s Highway.
What is known as the Devil’s Highway?
Devil’s Highway (Sonora), also called El Camino del Diablo, a prehistoric and colonial trail through the Sonora Desert in Arizona (USA) and Sonora (Mexico) Route A666 in England, nicknamed the “Devil’s Highway” both because of the number 666 and the road’s high accident rate.
Why did Luis Alberto Urrea write The Devil’s Highway?
In writing The Devil’s Highway—originally a project given to him on assignment by an editor—Urrea sought to “bear witness” to the lives and struggles of smugglers, immigrants, and Border Patrol agents alike.
What is the route of 666?
Route 666 rides the rugged eastern seam of Arizona from the Petrified Forest, south, across the Zuni River, through the Apache National Forest, and into the mountain mining towns of Clifton and Morenci.
Who is Jesus in the Devil’s Highway?
The timeline below shows where the character Jesús Antonio Lopez Ramos/“Mendez” appears in The Devil’s Highway.
What is the message of the Devil’s Highway?
Desolation and Desperation
Seeking to escape the poverty and hopelessness that define their lives in Veracruz, the men who would become the Wellton 26 take out loans, leave their families behind, and risk everything to travel to the border.
What people first traveled the trail that would later be called the Devil’s Highway?
It was originally a Native American foot trail and got its name from a Spanish expedition led by Captain Melchor Diaz in 1540. What is this? Accompanied by native guides, Captain Melchor Díaz and his team used this trail to travel to California.
Who are the coyotes in the Devil’s Highway?
“Coyote” has long been the most common term in Mexico for someone who smuggles people across the border, but The Devil’s Highway introduces readers to a new nomenclature, or “border slang.” What most Americans think of as coyotes—the men who smuggle illegal immigrants across the border in cars, vans, or on long desert …
Who are the walkers in the Devil’s Highway?
Walkers, or illegal immigrants crossing the desert by foot, are often throughout the text referred to as “pollos,” or “cooked chicken” in Spanish.
How old was Menendez in the Devil’s Highway?
19-year-old
The experienced guide, or “coyote,” who best knew the smuggling route skipped out, leaving 19-year-old Jesus Lopez Ramos, or “Mendez”, as he was known to the group, to lead the way.
Who were the Yuma 14 in the Devil’s Highway?
This is the story of a group of men who have become known as the Yuma 14. They are the fourteen illegal immigrants who died attempting to cross the Arizona border in May, 2001.
Who is Rita Vargas in the Devil’s Highway?
Vargas, a “no-nonsense consul who brooked no foolishness,” was a tireless and necessary advocate for the survivors as well as the dead. Vargas herself accompanied the bodies of the Yuma 14 to examination and preparation in Phoenix, and then arranged for a cargo jet to take them all back to Mexico.
What was the Wellton 26?
Because of the number of deaths, the tragedy of the Wellton 26 (named for the nearest border station—Wellton, Arizona) garnered the kind of media attention that cases of individuals dying in the desert week after week, year after year, had failed to attract. It also attracted the attention of author Luis Urrea.
What happened in the Devil’s Highway?
The Devil’s Highway relates the 2001 tragedy of 26 men and boys who cross the Mexico / Arizona border led by Coyotes (persons who smuggle illegal immigrants) and lose their way on the stretch of desert known as the Devil’s Highway. This book was a well-deserved finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Who was Nahum Landa in the Devil’s Highway?
One of the surviving Wellton 26, described by Urrea as a “natural leader.” Nahum’s testimony is frequently invoked throughout the pages of The Devil’s Highway, and, as a survivor, he was instrumental in helping officials identify the bodies of the Yuma 14.
How many people died in the Wellton 26?
14 dead men
It turned out to be 14 dead men — though “men” is in many cases a stretch, since some of them were as young as 16 — out of an original party of 26, “the largest death-event in border history.” The media promptly dubbed them “the Yuma 14,” since they spent their dying hours on the eastern edge of the INS’s Yuma sector …
What happens to Mendez in the Devil’s Highway?
In The Devil’s Highway, Mendez is convicted for inadvertently killing 14 walkers and endangering 12 of them. In other words, the U.S. symbolically sacrifices Mendez for the inhumane conditions at the U.S.-Mexican border: not too Christlike.
Where is Yuma 14?
YUMA, Ariz. (Border Report) — Twenty years ago, one of the worst illegal immigration tragedies took place when 14 migrants died after getting lost in the desert southeast of Yuma, Ariz.
Who or what is most to blame for the tragedy Urrea described in this book?
In Urrea’s novel, the Coyotes (aka human smugglers) and the Mexican and United States government are to blame. And unfortunately, everyday people on a desperate quest for financial prosperity were caught in its web.
Who are the Yuma 14 and the Wellton 26?
The Devils Highway by Luís Alberto Urrea who tells the story of the Wellton 26, also referred as the Yuma 14, a group of illegal immigrants from an impoverished southern Mexican state of Veracruz who became lost in the Yuma deserts after a series of fatal mistakes committed by their smuggler.
Where is Devil’s Highway in Arizona?
The 123 miles of pavement between Springerville and Clifton feature 460 curves skirting the eastern edge of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests is called the Devil’s Highway.
When was the Devil’s Highway published?
Published in 2004 to great acclaim, named a “best book of the year” by dozens of publications, and short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, Urrea’s story of the deaths of 14 Mexicans attempting to cross into the United States is as important now as when it was published.
What is the history of Route 666?
Route 666 took its name from its place on the map. It was the sixth branch off Route 66, the fabled Mother Road that was once the path of choice for millions of vacationers, truckers and automobile pilgrims looking for salvation among the motels, diners, tourist traps and expansive beauty that was the West.
