Rodolfo Gonzales was the youngest of Federico and Indalesia Gonzales’ eight children in Denver, Colorado in 1928. His father had immigrated to Colorado at an early age from Chihuahua, Mexico, even as an immigrant Federico Gonzales taught the histories of Mexico's struggle against Spanish domination and against Porfirio Díaz. Federico Gonzales imparted his knowledge to his son, a struggle that culminated in the Mexican Revolution (1910 -1920). Rodolfo’s mother, Indalesia Gonzales died when Rodolfo was two years old and his father never remarried.