A conversation with famed genealogist Juan Escobar, whose family founded Escobares, Texas.

MCALLEN, Texas – Vietnam veteran, retired county judge and former state legislator Juan Escobar of Kingsville was recently inducted into the RGV Sports Hall of Fame.

The award gave the Rio Grande Guardian a good excuse to interview Escobar, but not only to recap his sporting prowess as student at Roma High School. He is also a famed genealogist with a deep knowledge of South Texas history. 

Guardian editor Steve Taylor enjoys telling this story of Escobar:

Around 15-plus years or so ago, Escobar was a state representative and participating in the Valley Legislative Tour hosted on the Rio Grande Valley Partnership.

The RGVP president at the time was the late, great, Bill Summers and he would always pass the microphone to the nearest local dignitary to tell the story of the town the tour bus was passing through. That way the visiting legislators could learn a bit more about the region.

On the way to a dinner at Quinta Mazatlan, Summers invited the then-president of McAllen Chamber of Commerce, Steve Ahlenius, to tell the story of McAllen. “McAllen was founded in 1909 by John McAllen,” Ahlenius said, or something like that. 

On the way back, Summers asked Escobar to tell the story of McAllen. Escobar told a very different story to Ahlenius. “This region was settled in 1749 when the Spaniards came here,” Escobar said, or something like that. 

Taylor, towards the back of the bus, was sitting next to state Rep. René Oliveira’s legislative aide, Tony Gray. “Now that is the real deal,” he said, speaking of Escobar.

Here is the interview. A heads up. Probably more than four fifths of the conversation is about local history and genealogy and one fifth is about sport.

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