He was the son of Josè Miguel Maria del Refugio Sabas Muzquiz Gonzalez, who was captured by the Mescalero as a boy at what is now Melchor Múzquiz in Coahuila, Mexico, and raised among them, and his Indian wife. When he came of age and proved himself, Alsate became the leader of a Mescalero band. They ranged through the Limpia Mountains (later rebaptized Davis Mountains by Anglo-American newcomers), Chisos Mountains and Chinati Mountains in the Big Bend area of Texas, the Sierra del Carmen of Coahuila and the Sierra Alamos in Chihuahua north of the Bolsón de Mapimí.