On the backs of Silleteros
The enduring legacy and labor of Andean porters
La versión en español
The Colombian territory of Nueva Granada, specifically southwest of Bogotá, encompassed the caminos del sur road network, which was strategic in the military campaigns to liberate the region from Spanish rule. Similar to the Cassini era of French cartography, which mapped vital routes and resources, the caminos del sur served as crucial assets in the geography of war [2]. One of the major thoroughfares of this network was the Camino Real, or Royal Road, which, aside from being its own network of roads that stretched from Caracas to Lima, preexisted the fight for independence. A part of both was the Quindío Pass, crucial for travel and trade.
High up in the central Andean mountain range, the Quindío Pass connected the central region of Colombia (then, still Nueva Granada) with the Cauca River valley on the western side since pre-Hispanic times. The Spaniards gradually opened up the route between 1551 and 1691, reportedly using pre-existing indigenous trails to decide where best to cross.
Many travelers needing to reach Quito from Bogotá traversed the treacherous crossing point between Toche (near Ibagué) and Boquia (near Salento), continuing through Cartago, Buga, Cali, and Popayán as they made their way towards modern-day Ecuador. Simón Bolívar himself toured the pass in 1830, saying the success of the region for the purposes of "agriculture, industry and trade" would lead to a prosperous nation [3].
While difficult to cross its steep mountains and dense forests, with torrential rain, fog and cold temperatures, it became a popular trip for international chroniclers, scientists, and researchers in the 18th and 19th centuries on account of its beauty and diversity of flora and fauna due to the different climate zones. Among the noted sightings were jaguars, bears, deer, tapirs, monkeys, opossums, snakes, and a wide variety of birds and butterflies [4]. More specifically, there are 270 species of flora, 327 species of fauna and 23 mammal species in Quindío [5].
Those brave enough to make the trip through the Quindío Pass had nowhere to stop, rest, or pick up more supplies. Even when the worst was behind them and they had reached flat land again, the closest town would have been Salento or Filandia, though they weren’t founded til 1865 and 1878, respectively. However, there were rudimentary places called rancherías, contaderos or tambos, that acted as shelters and rest stops, primarily on either side of the pass. The closest town in any real sense, then, was Cartago which gained its importance precisely because it served as a major waypoint for those coming from Ibagué.
To make the trip more comfortable, travelers sought the services of silleteros, also known as silleros (or cargueros when carrying cargo), who were most often mestizo or indigenous men with bamboo chairs strapped to their backs at 60 degree angles. Colombian diplomat Manuel María Mallarino described them as “burly mestizos with tanned backs and muscular legs” [6]. On end-to-end journeys of 12-20 days, passengers of between 50 and 90 kilos were leisurely hauled through the mountain passes of Quindío where mules couldn’t go due to non-existent roads and mudslides. However, oxen were often used and were able to carry all kinds of cargo, from pianos to beds, and even coffins.
For those eager to return to creature comforts like their own beds, the journey sometimes ended in a deeper, more permanent sleep. There are accounts of demanding passengers who, in their impatience, used the spurs on their boots to urge their porters to quicken the pace - driving the weary carriers to the edge of endurance. Unconfirmed reports even tell of porters who, faced with particularly difficult riders, cast them into the depths below. To give a sense of such depths, the highest point, known as La Línea, is at 3,378 meters above sea level. Noting the harsh toll of the job, British Navy Captain Charles Cochrane reported that 300 silleteros in Ibagué rarely survived past age 40, dying of burst blood vessels and respiratory complications.
The typical silla, or seat, was made of bamboo and held together with vines, with two thick straps for the rider to hold onto. The porter secured the chair to himself with three strong straps - two that crisscrossed his chest and one over his forehead [6]. The only point of comfort for the porter was a wool pillow placed between his back and the chair. Whether the seat itself was commercialized, it’s not known, but provisions and materials for passengers were available for sale. Heavier, richer clients had their own seats that included overhead protection from the sun.
Ignacio & “Alejandro”
One prominent family that sold all manner of supplies for travelers crossing the mountain pass was that of Lieutenant Governor of Ibagué Ignacio Buenaventura, who had hopes of making the crossing doable on horseback in just 4-5 days. As part of that plan, he presented the Nueva Granada government with a document titled La Medida [8] in 1778. In it, he described potential economic activities and public works, as well as detailed measurements of the distances between specific points along the route, travel times based on the type of animal used, and notable topographical features [9]. He actually succeeded in his plans and brought improvements to various aspects of the journey but a popular revolt at the time caused the commoners to destroy his progress.
Not all was lost. In the early 2000s, American historian Larry Vito Larrichio was able to identify 34 of the original 86 segments of the full route, including the location of a section known as La Trocha which no longer exists [10].
Another way in which Buenaventura’s work was carried forward, in a sense, was through another explorer and eventual acquaintance. Alexander von Humboldt, a German geographer, astronomer and naturalist was one of Colombia’s most notable foreign chroniclers who, in 1801, traversed all 86 segments of the mountain pass, and beyond. His meticulous journals - partially based on Buenaventura’s maps - miraculously survived the ages and are highly prized documents held in Berlin’s Academy of Sciences and Humanities. During Humbolt’s travels, he was constantly making sketches of the things he saw. Once back in Europe, more experienced artists reworked them in a more polished manner, with the following image of the mountain pass as example.
Humboldt met Buenaventura and sought refuge in his home while in Ibagué during a smallpox epidemic. A curious but not altogether unexpected anecdote is that the German explorer gets all the praise and attention for his findings when his Colombian counterpart preceded him, in a sense, by 20 years. However, it’s Humboldt’s writings that took center stage.
At their heart, the journals tell the story of a pioneering and fearless adventurer who often risked his life to record notes on everything from zoology and indigenous peoples to history, plants and the stars. The books endured extreme tropical humidity, freezing temperatures and earthquakes. They even survived a shipwreck on the Orinoco River. [11]
The diaries of his travels through Quindío (specifically, those titled American Travel Journal, Vol. VII a and b) aren’t ready on the offical site [12]. However, the immaculate online volumes of a series of tomes titled Humboldtiana neogranadina bring together comments, illustrations and unpublished studies regarding Humboldt's travels, including through the mountains.
One such passage is as follows:
The Quindiu mountain is considered the most difficult pass in the Andes. It is a dense, completely uninhabited forest, which, in the best season, can only be crossed in ten or twelve days. There are no huts or means of subsistence; at all times of the year, travelers supply themselves with food for a month, as it often happens that, due to the melting of the snow and the sudden rise of the torrents, they find themselves isolated so that they cannot descend either from the Cartago side or from the Ibagué side [13].
Regarding his views on the silleteros he saw everywhere in Ibagué and who made up a large portion of the population, his comments were those of shock and sadness:
It is almost impossible to imagine a more miserable and penniless life than that of the porters. Alternating the highest heat with the cold of the moor, exposed to the humidity of tremendous stormy rains, reduced to true pack animals, frequently with injured backs, with the risk of being abandoned in the mountains, alone and without help when they become ill from fainting. […] The porter earns barely 10 to 12 pesos in a month, of which he has already spent half before starting the trip. In a country where there are so many beasts of burden and where human labour is so scarce, the government should reduce this occupation, in order to give a more profitable focus to human energy [14].
One hundred years passed before a more positive spin could be attributed to the silletero tradition, one where flowers replaced people (which, if splitting hairs, technically makes them “cargueros”, especially since no seats are used).
Silleteros Now
In modern times, the term silletero has come to be culturally associated with flowers, both for Colombians and tourists. This connection began to take root in the early 20th century, with the first references to flower carriers sprouting up between 1918 and 1925. Flower grower Braulio Ochoa is often credited as the trend-setter, transporting flowers on his back from Santa Elena to Medellín.
It was from around this period that silleta began to be used as the general term for the wooden contraption that carries flowers, eventually being carried in arrangements that were pleasing to the eye. Silletero also became synonymous with flower sellers on the streets of Medellín.
But why flowers, one might wonder? As the capital of Antioquia, Medellín is at the center of Colombia's second-largest economy, with the department ranking as the country’s second-largest flower producer, behind only Cundinamarca. Colombia itself is a global leader in flower exports, routinely holding second place with about 15% of the market.
Today’s silletero is directly linked parade portion of the Flower Festival of Medellín, although the denomination reaches far back into the very development of the country itself, via the Colonization of Antioquia (a topic for a future article).
The very first parade, with only 40 flower carriers, dates back to 1957, although the festival today has over 500 carriers, and multiple events such as an antique car show, a bike ride, and concerts. In terms of audience, in 2023 during the 10-day festival, the city attracted 50,000 foreign visitors and a total of two million people [16]. The parade is also a competition, with a strict traditional dress code and a prize given for best floral arrangements.
Conclusion
The silletero tradition, once an example of hard labor in difficult and often dangerous circumstances, transformed into a way to celebrate the beauty of Colombian flora. By transitioning from carrying people to carrying a cultural emblem, porters connect the country’s roots to its modern identity.
From the mountain trails of Quindío to the streets of Medellín, the mostly mestizo silleteros contributed to creating political unity in a newly independent nation via the camino del sur road network. Through their resilience, they facilitated the transfer of supplies, soldiers and explorers, expanding the pathways of a nation still in the process of defining its collective identity.
Sources
1 - Painting of a silletero, 1840
2 - Los caminos de la guerra durante el siglo XIX
3 - Paso del Quindío
4 - Una travesía por la historia y la naturaleza del Camino del Quindío
5 - Camino del Quindío (pdf)
6 - La tradición en eterna primavera
7 - Silleros y Cargueros: Microhistorias del territorio
8 - Transcripción del documento "La medida" de Nicolás Buenaventura
9 - Ignacio Buenaventura y su medición del Camino del Quindío, de Ibagué a Cartago
10 - El camino Quindío en el centro occidente de Colombia. La ruta, la retórica del paisaje y los proyectos de poblamiento
11 - The curious journey of Humboldt's travel journals
12 - The American Journey (1799–1804)
13 - Humboldtiana neogranadina: Tomo III, Scientia, pg 217
14 - La visita de Humboldt a Ibagué
15 - Desfile de Silleteros, Feria de las Flores 2011
16 - La Feria de las Flores 2023 rompió todos los récords