Back in the late 1800s, Ajo Way went by a different name: Robles Road.
Robles Road was a dirt path that went west from Tucson through Robles Pass near Cat Mountain, and led to the Robles Ranch at Robles Junction, also called Three Points. The name likely was never made official by the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
The road was named for Bernabe S. Robles, who was born Aug. 24, 1857 to Bernabe Robles and Rafaela Romo in Baviácora, Sonora. It’s believed that his father came to Tucson in 1863 and set up as a merchant. At some point he apparently left Rafaela and began a second family in Sonora with wife Josefa Romo de Robles.
When the elder Robles died on July 2, 1873, he left all of his real estate and personal property, amounting to nearly $2,500, to his second wife and their children. Nothing was left to his first wife or their children.
As a child, the younger Bernabe helped his family by selling his grandmother’s cookies and pan de huevo on the street corners of Tucson. Later he learned retail clerking.
He took a contract to deliver mail by buckboard wagon from Tucson to Gunsight, Arizona, near Ajo. He eventually set up a stage line that delivered mail and travelers from Tucson to Picacho, Gunsight, another town called Quijotoa, and probably to Ajo.
According to his son Fernando, who was interviewed many years later, it was during this time that his father went looking for a shorter route to Gunsight and discovered the pass that would come to be called Robles Pass.
In 1882 Bernabe had his brother Jesus obtain a homestead of 160 acres at present-day Three Points. A well was dug so water was plentiful and an adobe building or two was built. Jesus lived at the ranch/stage station while Bernabe lived in Tucson and ran the mail route.
On March 5, 1888, Bernabe married Joaquina Suastegui of Hermosillo, Sonora. They had eight children: Maria (called Marie), Bernabe (called Barney), Joaquina, Rafaela, Mercedes (called Mercy), Alfonso, and twins Fernando and Carlos. Daughter Rafaela died at age 15 of Typhoid Fever.
In 1889, Bernabe left his Tucson businesses and moved out to the Robles Ranch. Over time he acquired six ranches: the Lavra Ranch near Tucson; San Joaquin Ranch toward the Tucson Mountains; Las Tortugas Ranch, northwest of the Robles Ranch; Las Granadas Ranch, east of Sahuarita; Rancho del Burro in the Santa Catalina Mountains; and the Tanque Verde Ranch in the Cebadilla District.
At the height of his career he may have controlled as much as 1 million acres between Florence and the U.S.-Mexico border, making him one of the largest ranchers and most prominent people in Southern Arizona. He became a U.S. citizen in 1890.
On May 5, 1890 the Arizona Weekly Citizen reported that, “A very enjoyable dancing party was given by Bernabe Robles at Carrillos’ Garden last evening, at which was seen many of the best people in the city. The pleasant grass, odorous flowers and lively girls made it an enjoyable affair.”
When his children were ready to attend school, the family moved back to Tucson, living at 300 N. Court St., (now part of the parking lot across the street from the current El Charro Restaurant). Their home was on one of three lots Bernabe’s mother had purchased years earlier, all three for less than $10.
Around 1916, Bernabe bought a large, two-story brick house at 157 W. Franklin St. Dorothy Fitzpatrick, a granddaughter who was born in 1922, remembers that he occupied the bottom floor, with his wife and children on the second story.
In March, 1917, a drought left many cattle dead and the expansion of the Tohono O’odham reservation cut the Robles Ranch in half and interfered with the grazing of stock. Robles sold out for $250,000, although he retained some of his other ranches.
Eventually he got involved in the money lending business. According to his granddaughter Dorothy, “He didn’t trust the banks and kept his money in a vault, in his office, at home.
Most of his clientele were poor Mexican-Americans who had trouble obtaining loans from the local banks. During the Great Depression, many people weren’t able to pay back their debts and Robles acquired a lot of property in town, especially along Sabino Alley (formerly Gay Alley), located where the Tucson Convention Center is now at. He fixed many of the houses up and rented them out, becoming a landlord.”
In 1934, in an event that gained nationwide attention, Robles’ six-year-old granddaughter, June Robles, daughter of Fernando and Helen (Mauler) Robles, was kidnapped while walking from Roskruge School to the home of her aunt Joaquina (Robles) Kengla. Nineteen days later she was found alive and in good health.
Bernabe Robles died in 1945. His wife, Joaquina, followed in 1950.
Each of their children received an even portion of the estate. The remaining ranches were sold off, Fernando said, ending the ranching empire their father had built.
Find a list of the source material that went into this story with the online version at tucson.com.
