Pancho’s Beloved Horse Stirs Up Grave Concern

Conquistador was only a horse, but Leo Carrillo, the television and movie star who once owned a 1,600-acre ranch in North County, loved him.

When Carrillo’s beloved palomino died, the steed was buried in a place of honor on a secluded knoll to the east of Carrillo’s ranch in what is now La Costa.

Man and horse had ridden together in numerous Rose Parades and movies and in the 1950s television series, “The Cisco Kid,” in which Carrillo played the ever-faithful sidekick Pancho.

“The tall cross on the hill at my rancho marks the resting place of my greatly beloved Palomino horse, Conquistador,” Carrillo wrote in his autobiography. “I do not consider it strange that I thus hallow the grave of a horse.”

Carrillo died in 1961 at the age of 81, and his daughter, to whom he had willed the ranch, died in 1979. Developers are now preparing to carve up the ranch where Carrillo entertained many of his Hollywood friends like Carole Lombard and Clark Gable (who tried to buy Conquistador).

One proposed road--an extension of Melrose Avenue between Alga and Palomar Airport roads--would either cover Conquistador’s grave or skirt perilously close, depending on the number of lanes.

Joan Kindle thinks that’s a shame and has vowed to stop it.

Last week, she persuaded Carlsbad’s Historic Preservation Commission to add the grave to its list of sites that may later be designated as historic. That wouldn’t block the proposed road, but it may make it more difficult to build by requiring additional environmental study.

Kindle, who retired to La Costa three years ago with her husband, Alan, a retired advertising and public relations exec with a division of U.S. Steel, will continue fighting to save the grave. She also wants the Carlsbad council to turn the city’s 10-acre parcel of the Carrillo ranch into an arboretum.

“I don’t care what kind of grave it is--human or animal--a grave should be a hallowed place and should not be disturbed,” Kindle said.

Kindle is backed by Rod Miller, a bread salesman from San Marcos, the grave’s unofficial caretaker. When a winter storm blew down the 15-foot wooden cross, Miller restored it and built a concrete supporting base.

“We’ve got to protect North County’s historic places rather than pave them all over with asphalt,” said Miller, a North County resident since 1942. “They are becoming extinct--like our canyons, which are being covered with homes.”

Michael Who?

One of the hardest--often impossible--lessons for politicians and would-be politicians to learn is that they toil in anonymity. Even after months of headlines and buckets of money spent on advertising, a candidate often continues to register zero on the name-identification meter.

Take the case of San Diego lawyer Michael Aguirre, who lost a high-voltage, high-profile race for City Council last fall to Bob Filner.

Still smarting from his loss, Aguirre filed suit against the district election method of selecting council members and against Filner and Sheriff John Duffy for alleged dirty politicking. Aguirre has long jousted with Duffy and has been a litigator in the J. David & Co. bankruptcy mess.

A guy like that, everybody knows him, right?

We take you now to the court of San Diego Superior Court Judge Barbara Gamer, where Aguirre’s brother, Gary, was representing homeowners in a civil lawsuit against a developer.

The trial was in the voir dire stage--jury selection--and prospective jurors were being asked whether they knew anybody connected to the case.

Gary Aguirre: “I have a younger brother, Michael Aguirre, who sometimes has been involved in politics within the city, who has taken some strong positions on this or that issue. Do any of you have any knowledge or any familiarity with his political positions?”

Jury Pool: Silence.

Gary Aguirre, incredulous: “No one?”

Jury Pool: Silence.

Judge Gamer: “Michael would be very disappointed.”

Gary Aguirre: “Yeah, I think he would. He’d be very unhappy.”

Jury Pool: Silence.

Judge Gamer, ruling on the issue: “It is irrelevant that Mr. Aguirre has a younger brother involved in politics.”

The younger Aguirre, however, is philosophical about his lack of staying power with the public.

“That’s not the most distressing news I’ve ever heard about myself,” he said. “Nothing is forgotten more quickly than yesterday’s political candidate, particularly when you lose.”

How About Magenta?

Former Miss America pageant impresario Bert Parks will be allowed to have his new home included in the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant boundaries as long as he knows who’s boss.

The RSF Assn. board of directors voted to annex Parks’ home on Paseo Delicias as long as the shutters and front door are repainted. The color must be submitted for approval to the Art Jury, the official arbiter of good taste on the ranch.

Directors want to guard against the house getting any pinker. The house is pink with blue trim, and enough is enough, they reasoned.

“I don’t like pink houses, and frankly I don’t think they belong here,” director Peggy O’Driscoll told the Rancho Santa Fe Review.