Smith describes the naming of the park:

Mayor Jaastad's office sought a name for the park. The name chosen came from Spring School [nee Dunbar] principal, Morgan Maxwell because it represented someone that the people in the neighborhood could identify with.

Esteban was a part of the Indian, Spanish as well as the Black experience since he came into the New World with the Spanish explorers and became one himself.

When the lost expection came back to "civilization" [sic] in Mexico, Esteban then joined up with a French priest and went looking for the "fabled cities of gold" which of course never existed.

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Esteban park from a distance.

Esteban Furthered Legend of Cibola at El Paso Community College describes how Esteban got involed with "the Seven Cities of Cibola":

Along the way, the explorers heard tales from the natives of great riches acquired by highly civilized tribes. The explorers were also offered what they thought to be five emeralds made into arrowheads.

When the four men inquired about the origin of the arrowheads, they were told that they had come from lofty mountaintops from the north, where large towns and houses made of gold existed. The men thought they were on the verge of discovering the Seven Cities of Cíbola.

When the four arrived in Mexico City in July 1536, Estebán quickly became a celebrity, in part for his color, but also for the news about the New World he helped discover. Because Estebán was recognized for his contributions as a fluent translator and for knowing the general location of the Seven Cities of Cíbola, the Viceroy of Cities of Cíbola, the Viceroy of Mexico, Antonio de Mendoza, asked all four men to lead an expedition back to the area. Estebán was the only explorer who accepted.

Because Spanish soldiers would resent his authority, a black slave could not be placed in command of an expedition. Fray Marcos de Niza, who had helped conquer the Incas in Peru, was selected to lead the expedition searching for the Seven Cities of Cíbola in 1539. Estebán, although officially only a guide, led the expedition. Members of the expedition included Indians who had traveled with the four men originally to Mexico City and also provided safe passage on their way to the Seven Cities of Cíbola.

By this time, Estebán had acquired various personal possessions, including two greyhounds and four large dinner plates called "Servicio de Mesa," or table service, and medicine rattles that would dramatically change his life. He adorned his legs with clusters of bright feathers and received greater attention by natives than Niza.

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You can't bring your guns here. All the parks in the city have this kind of sign.

Of course, there weren't any cities of gold to find, but there were people living there. The Estevanico Society web site describes how Esteban met his fate:

Estevanico went ahead of the priest [de Niza], sending runners back daily bearing wooden crosses to indicate the promise of the country ahead. The crosses grew larger and larger each day. Estevanico arrived in Northwest New Mexico and saw a large village with buildings constructed of stone several tiers high. This was Hawikuh, a Zuni pueblo, and upon discovering it, Estevanico sent a runner back to Fray Marcos with a huge cross.

Estevanico's arrival in the village was met with distrust by the Zunis. His medicine gourd was trimmed with owl feathers, a bird that symbolized death to the Zuni. Estevanico was housed outside the village while the elders debated his fate. The next morning, Zuni warriors attacked, and Estevanico was killed.

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It's not just humans who use the park.

In the Steps of Esteban, the University of Arizona site describing early African American heritage in Tucson, offers a different account of Esteban's fate:

The group traveled through Guadalajara, Compostela, Culiacan, Topia, Petatlan, Vacapa, and Corazones into what is Arizona today. They followed the San Pedro River Valley north until finally reaching the Zuni city Cibola. Esteban reached the city before the rest of the group, and accounts of his fate vary. Some believe he died there. Other reports say that the Zuni rescued him from slavery by reporting that he had died. They then allowed Esteban to live among them and raise a family.

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Shade tree.

Harry Lawson, in his book The History of African Americans in Tucson, has a delightful rant on the whole matter, which I enjoy so much that I will quote it:

The slaying of Esteban has a ring of familiarity in the annals of Black history, i.e., people of color giving their lives in the serivce of Whites when there is little to gain, at least immediately, for the black person being sacrificed. Though Fray Marcos saw one of the cities in New Mexico, he dared not enter it in light of Esteban's fate. [...]

So it was in search of gold that led the Spaniards to Arizona and started a process that would change the fate of the native Indians. History teaches us that gold was a major factor that led Asians and Europeans to exploit Africa. The similiarity of the treatment of Africans and Indians is astonishing to this writer. There is something about the precious metal that seems to be irresistible to Europeans. I am convinced that if Europeans were to believe that there is gold on Mars, they would soon find a way to colonize that planet.

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Rocks.

We'll close with a little more justified ranting by Harry:

Esteban Park, located in Tucson on Main Avenue, between Second Street and Speedway (not one of the better parks), is the sole monument dedicated to the first non native to enter Arizona and pass near Tucson. Immediately we can see how Black heroes are slighted. What is a name on a board that designates a poor excuse for a park to honor a man who led Spaniards into Arizona two years prior to the arrival of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado whose name embraces a national monument and a forest?

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