Lots of Company!

I claim to be an opinionated old man who rants on about subjects I know little about. I am not alone.

I live in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The name of the city is Spanish, but the translation to English is not precise. There is no problem with "Las", that is the article used to precede nouns of feminine gender, and clearly translates to "the". "Cruces is another matter. It can be the plural of "cruz", which means "Cross", or it can be the plural of "cruce" which means "crossroad". So, Las Cruces, can mean either The Crosses or The Crossroads.

No one knows how the city originally got its name, since it probably came from the Spaniards who traveled north through this area some four hundred years ago.

Geographically, it could have meant crossroads. One can travel east or west, as well as north and south (along the Rio Grande). This is possible because of a break in the mountains to the west, and Baylor Canyon, a pass through the San Andres/Organ mountains to the east.

There is a legend that a group of Spaniard travelers were ambushed and killed by Apaches at this location. The next group that passed through, buried these victims and erected crosses over their graves. This, of course, is the more intriguing story and the one most people believe. Accepting this theory, the city government designed a logo showing three crosses, much like the popular depiction of the crosses of calvary.

Now a group is suing the city, claiming the logo is a Christian symbol.

I am not a Christian, but I could care less about the logo. What bothers me is that many, many Christian citizens are insisting that the crosses represent the ancient graveyards for which the city was named, and are not a Christian symbol.

Well, in the first place, no one really knows why the place was named "Las Cruces". In the second place, if a cross is not a Christian symbol, why would the Spaniards have erected crosses above the graves?

Many people expressing opinions when they have no idea what they are talking about.

I am enjoying the company!