The Salazar Family

The journey from Aguascalientes, Mexico was a long one.

The journey from Aguascalientes, Mexico was a long one. Fortunately, Ylario, his wife Micaela (1889-1981), and son Manuel boarded a train in 1910 and headed north for a better life. They arrived in Kansas City, Missouri. As a young man, Manuel continued on to Valley Junction, Iowa. He grew to like the small town. It was a land full of job opportunities. Manual work for the railroad paid well and eventually, Manuel bought a house at 124 10th St. So, he sent for his father and stepmother to join him.

A Family Held Together by Love

Josephine Ramos also lived in Valley Junction. She and Manuel fell in love and started their own family. They had two children Albert Manuel (1935-2004) and Josephine Marie (Mary Jo) (1938-2009) three years later. In addition to Manuel’s children, his brothers and sisters were also born in Valley Junction. The four siblings Ylario Jr., Tomasa, Juanita, and Frances. In 1947 homemaking became a one woman job. Dear Josephine caught ill with TB Tuberculosis and passed away. Manuel was now a widower and supporting a large family. So, his parents raised his children while he worked on the railroad. Albert was about 11 years old at the time.

In addition to the Salazar sibilings and Manuel’s two children, death brought more children to the loving Salazar home. Micaela’s sister passed away. They lived away in Ft. Dodge. The Salazars welcomed their orphaned nieces and nephews Victor, Teresa, and Richard De La Torre into their homes as their own. They needed a bigger home and soon moved south of the tracks to a house on Washington Street. Although the land was prone to flooding often, the children enjoyed their new home.

A New Generation of Salazars

Soon Albert graduated from Valley High School and fell in love with a Meskwaki woman from the Sac & Fox Nation, Frances Wanatee (1935-2016). Frances grew up on the settlement owned by the Nation in Tama, Iowa. She attended nursing school in Marshalltown, Iowa. The Salazar family valued caring for one another so she joined a family with kindred spirits. They wed on July 3, 1959. Frances was a successful nurse at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines.

Albert and Frances began to grow their family with six children: Johnny, Anita, Jeanne, Paul, Darrell, and Marlena Albert and Frances moved thier family across the street from the originally family home.

The journey from Aguascalientes, Mexico was a long one.