Dates: Tuesday, Oct 21st OR Thursday, Oct 23rd

Location: 6200 Flying Leo Carrillo Lane Carlsbad, CA 92009  

Website: https://www.carlsbadca.gov/departments/parks-recreation/parks-community-centers/leo-carrillo-ranch-historic-park

Accessible: Yes - but on crushed gravel pathways (not paved). Wear appropriate shoes!

Walking: There is definitely walking and standing, the vast majority of it outdoors. Please dress for the weather (whatever it will be) and bring necessary sunscreen/hats/etc. You also might want to bring along some water if it gets warm. Our tour will last for about 90 minutes. 

Cost: $5 - Please bring exact change :-) 

This week, we are in for a treat.  We are travelling to Carlsbad to visit the historic, former working ranch.  It was once owned by actor Leo Carrillo.  During the visit, you will tour hand-crafted adobe buildings, see antique windmills, savor a reflecting pool, and view other historic structures which are part of California history.  Make sure and pay attention to the unique entry gate.  It was created specifically for the park through the city’s public art program.

Leo Carrillo Ranch is a designated Historic Landmark.  It was opened to the public in August, 2003.  It is connected to citywide trails via the 4-mile Rancho Carrillo trail.

For orientation, check out this map of the park before our visit:

You can also find it here: https://www.carlsbadca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/4036/637843175837130000

We will be meeting at the Welcome Kiosk in the parking lot. Much of our walking will be on uneven earthen and paved surfaces.  It is recommended you  wear appropriate footwear for the uneven terrain within the historic park and comfortable clothing for being outdoors.  We may be standing and walking for extended periods of time, so please be prepared for that.

The Leo Carrillo Historic Ranch is a community effort.  In 1977, the ranch was received by the city under the Quimby Act, which requires developers to dedicate acreage per capita for parkland.  The citizens asked for an opportunity to see it.  It has been closed for safety reasons, but a Parks Department employee agreed to give them a tour.

Built by Hollywood Actor and Preservationist Leo Carrillo, the citizens recognized the potential of this spot.   By 1989, word had spread and interest developed in the community.  The Carlsbad City Council appointed a volunteer curator to research the history of the property and the owners.  It was then that the story of Rancho de los Quiotes (which is now Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park) began to be told.

In 1990, Carlsbad resident Alan Kindle established a non-profit called the Friends of Carrillo Ranch, with a mission to help the city plan and develop the ranch.  The vision of the group was to include public outreach, education and a program for fourth grade students to learn California history through hands-on art projects.  It also included a working relationship with the city to promote park development and fundraising.  The city was able to pursue Federal, State and County grants, while the Friends could seek smaller funds from individuals, businesses and public sources.  

In the same year the Friends was created, the city established The Carrillo Ranch Trust Fund, which would allow gifts of cash, artifacts and memorabilia to be accepted and put towards the development, operation and maintenance of the ranch.

In 1992, the Friends published a booklet titled, “An Introduction to Leo Carrillo Ranch”, which eventually found its way to the Internet.    If you want a copy, you will find some copies in the Visitor Center at the ranch.

The Friends Board and the city’s volunteer curator, along with members of the community, began to draft a master plan for the Leo Carrillo Ranch Park in 1996.  The Park opened in 2003, and in 2015, the Friends of Carrillo Ranch celebrated more than 25 years of education, outreach and community service.

Or read on to find out more!

The eastern Carlsbad area on which this ranch is built was used for thousands of years by Native Americans prior to the arrival of Spanish explorers.  It was the Luiseño group which were associated with Mission San Luis Rey.  The Luiseño continue to be an active and vital part of the community.

In 1869, Matthew Kelly moved to Carlsbad to homestead property south of a ranch that his brother, Robert Kelly, owned.  They chose this property because it had plenty of water.  The Mission Indians called the valley “the Quiotes”, the name of the spiky yucca plants which grow on the hillside.  The Kelly’s built a two-story adobe home on the land, and continued to refer to the Ranch as “the Kiotes.”  

In 1937, actor Leo Carrillo purchased a portion of the ranch from Kelly descendants.  He used a more accurate Spanish spelling for the yucca and called it the “Rancho del los Quiotes” or “Ranch of the Spanish Daggers.”

When the City of Carlsbad acquired the ranch in 1978, it fulfilled a long time dream of many area residents, and even Carrillo himself.  Over the years, restoration was sporadic and little preservation work was accomplished.  In the 1980s, the city was awarded $90,000 in State grant funding, mainly to stabilize the structures.  In the 1990s, a three-phase effort was begun to restore the ranch and open to the public.  

Part of the reason for restoration was to honor Leo Carrillo.  He served on the California State Beaches and Parks Commission for 18 years.  He was also actively involved in both conservation and preservation, working with the Hearst Family to acquire Hearst Castle for the State of California.  It seems fitting, then, that the Rancho de los Quiotes has been reserved as a park and educational resource. 

Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo was born Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo in Santa Monica, CA.  He would often visit a nearby rancho belonging to his Uncle Machado.  As a child, he loved the thick, sun-dried adobe brick walls, the handmade red tile roofs, the aroma of wood smoke and the sights and sounds of the brightly colored peafowl that roamed the land.  These childhood memories inspired him to create a rancho of his own.  

Leo Carrillo was an actor, playing many different ethnicities.  He was, however, a Castillian Spanish and traced his ancestry to Spain in the year 1260.  His great grandfather was a soldier in the Spanish Portola expedition colonization of Las Californias, arriving in San Diego on July 1, 1781.  In fact, it was none other than Friar Junipero Serra who performed the marriage ceremony for he and his wife and 1781.  Other well-known relatives include his great-grandfather, Carlos Antonio Carrillo, Governor of Alta California, Jose Antonio Carrillo, three time may of Los Angeles, and grandfather Pedro Carrillo who was a writer.  

Carrillo was a university graduate and a newspaper cartoonist for the San Francisco Examiner, until he turned to acting.  He was in more than 90 films, including the Gay Desperado (1936).  His roles were usually supporting or character roles.  However, he is best remembered from the television series, The Cisco Kid.  Beginning at the age of 70, he played Pancho while Duncan Renaldo starred as the Cisco Kid.  The show ran from 1950 until 1956, and it was the first TV series filmed in color.  

Because of his work with the California Beach and Parks Commission for 18 years, a 1.5-mile beach is named Leo Carrillo State Park in his honor.  There is an elementary school in Westminster, CA named after him.  He was active in politics, and was a lifelong Republican.  In 1944, he performed a “Wild West” act at a rally organized by David O. Selznick in the Los Angeles coliseum in support of the Dewey-Bricker ticket, as well as Governor Earl Warren of California, who would become Dewey’s running mate in 1948 (and would later be the Chief Justice of the United States).  The event was a huge success, drawing 93,000 people.

He was married to Edith Shakespeare Haeselbarth in 1913, and they were together until her death in 1953.  They had one child, a daughter.  He died of cancer in 1961 at the age of 81.

To get us really ready, let’s review some of the things you might hear about on our walking tour!

About the friends. (2012, January). Retrieved from carrillo-ranch.org/about: http://carrillo-ranch.org/about/

Contributors, W. (2016, June 15). Leo Carrillo. Retrieved from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leo_Carrillo&oldid=725478371

Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park California History and Art Program Education Guide. (2010, January). Retrieved from carlsbadca.gov: http://www.carlsbadca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=26324