Ernesto Portillo Jr.: She's lived a century of history, talks about it

On May 25th of that year, east of Tucson on a small ranch near Cascabel along the San Pedro River, Estella Vijil Vasquez was born.

Vasquez is that rare Arizonan who has lived through a century of history, modernization and social changes - and can still talk about it.

And talk she did Saturday as family and friends gathered around the small, still-spry Vasquez, whose 100 years were feted and whooped up. She smiled, laughed and gleamed from the good wishes, kisses and abrazos she received at El Parador Restaurant.

"I'm having a wonderful time," she said in Spanish during the lunch. "I'm here with so many family and friends."

Two weeks before her birthday party, I visited Vasquez at her home. She lives alone on the west side but is closely watched and cared for by family and neighbors. Her home is the same one she bought with her late husband, Carlos M. Vasquez, in 1952.

"She still makes tortillas," said her granddaughter, Lucinda Vasquez Abril.

It's an art she learned on the ranch, as well as caring for sick children and hurt vaqueros, harvesting and storing grains and vegetables, and doing everything needed to keep the ranch alive.

Her grandfather, Antonio Campo Soza, a descendant of an 18th-century Tucson Presidio pioneer, founded the ranch in 1880. Soza, who was married to Jesús María Moreno de Soza, homesteaded the land less than 30 years after the Gadsden Purchase brought former Mexican Southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico into the American Union.

The ranch stretched over 160 acres, according to the family's unpublished history, "Dón José María Sosa: Through the Generations," compiled by Hector V. Soza.

Vasquez, said her granddaughter, is the oldest living descendant of José María Sosa, who left the Tubac Presidio in 1776 to construct and maintain the Spanish Presidio de San Agustín de Tucsón, which was founded a year earlier. He spent nearly 30 years as a presidio soldier and died in 1800. His grandson was José María III, who owned the house known today as the Sosa-Carrillo Fremont House, a former museum next to the Tucson Music Hall.

(The spelling of Sosa's name was changed to Soza when Vasquez's grandfather applied for his homestead to the U.S. government.)

Her grandfather built several adobe buildings on the ranch - the main house, several smaller family homes, a storehouse and shops, a school house and teacher's quarters, the family cemetery and a small chapel, La Capilla de San Antonio de Padua de Lisboa.

Her mother, Rosaura Moreno Soza, was born on the ranch and her father, Juan Vijil, was born in California and worked on the Soza ranch as a vaquero.

She lived the hard ranch life, which revolved around family, the giving and unforgiving land, and the ebb and flow of the river.

In 1943, Vasquez and her husband moved to Tucson. The family ranch began dissolving after her grandfather's death in 1915. The Soza homestead today is part of the larger C Spear Ranch.

In Tucson, Vasquez's husband worked as a wrangler on working ranches and boarding schools. He later worked for the state. They had seven children, two of whom died as infants and two who died as adults.

Life in Tucson was not easy for Vasquez. Her husband died in 1954 when she was 43 years old, leaving her to support herself and her three youngest daughters. Her only son, Roy Vasquez, was in the Navy.

Vasquez cleaned homes, including that of Susan and Reynolds Stone and their son Joseph, who attended Saturday's party.

"She's part of our family," said Susan Stone.

Vasquez's family has grown to include 15 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren.

Among the accolades she has received is a letter dated May 5, 2010, thanking her for contributing to her community and country.

It's on White House stationery, from President Obama.

"I am very proud of that letter," she said during our interview. "I never expected this."

Ernesto Portillo Jr. is editor of La Estrella de Tucsón. He can be reached at 573-4187.