Journey's End

Journey's End. . About 60 miles southeast of town, the trail began to gently slope up toward the mountains, following an old route into Santa Fe. The closer the wagons got to town, the greater everyone's anticipation. Excitement built as the huge wagons, filled with clothing, bulk cloth and sundries, rumbled slowly down the last half-mile of the trail to the plaza. The air was filled with sharp pops - like Fourth of July firecrackers. For the occasion, the wagoneers had tied new "poppers" to the end of their whips, and competed with each other to make the most noise. Crowds lined the dusty thoroughfare and added to the bustle by shouting, "Los carros! La entrada be caravana!", (right panel:), Creating a large-scale bronze monument such as "Journey's End" is labor intensive and requires numerous steps. They including sculpting full-size clay models of each piece (upper left), welding many bronze pieces together to form a single figure (upper right), and placing the bronzes on the site (center). , Journey's End, a sculpture by Reynaldo "Sonny" Rivera in collaboration with landscape architect Richard Borkovetz, captures a scene made familiar by repetition over a period of almost 60 years. In the sculpture, six weary mules struggle to pull a heavy wagon up a rise. One of the mules has stumbled. The muleskinner leans down to help the animal as it struggles to regain its footing. Passing the trail, a Puebloan woman looks on, while a young boy waves at the lead wagon - he and his dog have run out from town to greet them. In the same moment, the trail boss points toward the end of the trail on the Santa Fe Plaza. Soon, they will enter the plaza, marking the end of a long and difficult journey.