Roskruge was born on April 10, 1845,[a] near Helston, Cornwall, England, where he began working at age 15 as a messenger for a law office.

[3] He emigrated to the United States in 1870, arriving in New York and then traveling for five days with only cheese, crackers, and bread to eat,[4] to Denver, Colorado, where he lived and worked for two years.

After camping at Volunteer Springs (near present-day Bellemont, Arizona), he walked three and one-half days alone from there to Prescott in June 1872, as his companions were too sick and weak to continue.

[5] He relocated to Tucson, arriving on July 22, 1874[1][5] where he prepared maps and field notes and then became chief draftsman for John Wasson, Surveyor General of Arizona.

[5] Roskruge produced a hand-drawn detailed topographical map of Pima County, officially adopted on July 22, 1883.

[d] The map measured 4 by 8 feet (1.2 m × 2.4 m) and showed "every stream, arroya, road, town, river, and mountain range" in the county.

Selim M. Franklin, a former Territorial Representative credited with securing the University of Arizona for Tucson was the counsel and William "Billy" Breakenridge, who later popularized the Gunfight at the O.K.

[13] The company planned to construct a series of dams, reservoirs, and a 70-mile (110 km) canal to divert the Santa Cruz River to irrigate 75,000 to 300,000 acres (30,000 to 121,000 ha)[14] of land and add "millions to the wealth of Pima County."

[15] Roskruge felt that the teachers' action violated their "duty to provide mental and moral guidance for their students at all times".

His Masonic brothers rescued his stranded traveling companions and helped him find work in Prescott.

[2][b][c] After relocating to Tucson, Roskruge was instrumental in founding lodges there and eventually became Grand Secretary of the Royal Arch Masons of Arizona.

[3] In 1998, the Tucson/Pima Arts Council awarded Steve Farley $171,000 to create tile murals for the walls of the underpass of Broadway Boulevard at the Aviation Parkway in downtown Tucson.

[21] At the time, it was one of the "most modern small hotels in Arizona" with each room having hot and cold running water and a shower.

[24] He was buried at the Masonic Cemetery in Tucson, and an endowment fund was created to pay for a perpetual memorial wreath to be placed each year on May 9, the anniversary of the day Roskruge received his thirty-second degree.

In 1910, he accompanied five young men from the Tucson Rifle club attempting to qualify as marksmen in the National Guard.