Running east of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is a street named after a longtime ranching family.
In 1880 or a few years before, three sons of Ramon and Petra (or Pietra) Escalante — Trinidad, Miguel (born 1862) and Manuel (born 1863) — left Sonora, Mexico, with some affluent ranchers and their wagons and livestock. Settling in the Rincon Valley, at the base of the Rincon Mountains on Tucson’s far southeast side, the three ranch hands rounded up cattle and worked the farms of other landowners.
Trinidad Escalante wed Maria Miranda sometime before 1886 and had a least one child, Jose Trinidad Escalante. Trinidad died in 1937.
Miguel Escalante married Soledad Gonzales in 1894. He died in 1911 and, in 1914, his widow homesteaded land at what is now Escalante and Harrison Roads.
Manuel Escalante wed Dolores Lauterio, and they had 25 children, many of whom would go on to work the lime kilns as their father had. The men would dig a hole and fill it with rocks and wood. The wood would burn for a day or two to make lime.
Manuel Sr. died in 1910 and Dolores in 1934.
Their son Manuel Escalante Jr., born in 1885, married Florentina Moreno in 1912. Several years later he homesteaded land in the area between what is now Irvington and Escalante roads, west of Houghton Road. They grew corn, lentils, beans, chiles and tobacco. They also harvested saguaro fruit to make jam and kept bees for honey. They brought water from a well four miles away.
A son, Frank Escalante, at 10 years old would wake up at 4 a.m. and drive a wagon load of wood into town. If all went well, he would get $1.75 a load and return home at 8 p.m.
Frank served in World War II and met his wife, Stephanie, in Austria. He returned home in 1947 to his father’s land and worked for a few years at Davis-Monthan as an airplane mechanic. He later spent 14 years working on county roads.
Manuel Jr. died in 1967, leaving each child 20 acres of land. Frank built a ranch-style house and rodeo grounds on his 20 acres. He died in 1989, and his ranch was sold earlier this year.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors established Escalante Road ,or Road No. 1169, on May 21, 1962.
Milmar Road, south of Escalante Road and east of Harrison Road, gets its name from the first names of Mil-ton and Mar-garet Graf, who owned the land. Graf Lane, just north of Milmar Road, get its name from them also.
Special thanks to reader and descendant Jenna Escalante for suggesting this street.
Interview with Miguel “Mike” Escalante and Frank Escalante Jr.
Bonnie Henry, “How 3 brothers from Sonora built a legacy in Rincon Valley,” Arizona Daily Star, Oct. 28, 2005.
Charles Bowden, “The Escalante era: 1880-198? (sic).,” Tucson Citizen, Jan. 9, 1982.
Patricia Preciado Martin, “Images and Conversations: Mexican Americans Recall a Southwestern Past,” The University of Arizona Press, 1996.
Homestead Records — U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Office of Vital Records — Birth and Death Certificates.
Milmar Road info obtained from Frank Escalante Jr.
Curious about a street name?
Each week Street Smarts tells the stories behind Tucson street names. If you have streets to suggest or stories to share, contact writer David Leighton at streetsmarts@azstarnet.com
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