Andrea McKenna • July 15, 2026
Leo Carrillo's A Salute to Borrego Valley | Historic Borrego Sun
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Leo Carrillo’s A Salute to Borrego Valley
A Salute to Borrego Valley is a small booklet published in 1960 by actor Leo Carrillo, best known for playing Pancho on The Cisco Kid.
Carrillo was a well-known supporter of Borrego Springs. He was named honorary mayor in 1949 and served as master of ceremonies for the dedication of the Borrego Springs Airport on May 1 of that year.
The booklet states that Carrillo composed the verse years earlier while he and Will Rogers shared a $1-a-day room at the Summerset Hotel in New York City as they pursued careers in show business.
In the poem, Carrillo contrasts crowded city life with the peace of Borrego Valley, celebrating its sagebrush, desert sand, open skies, mountains and wildlife.
A Salute to Borrego Valley
By Leo Carrillo
I long for the smell of the sagebrush land,
For the tumble weed and the desert sand—
I think and I think and it gets my goat,
And tears of loneliness begin to float—
I put out the lights in a New York hotel
And I grope in the dark for what you'd call -- well,
To be frank,
Kinda tired of people and their prattle.
Of the things they'd do if they had the chance.
They don't know our true desert dance.
They never dance to nature's tune,
For they get no kick from the stars or moon.
They press a button night and day,
And their wish is served on a silver tray.
I want to go back where there ain't no crowds,
Where my mountains kiss the hanging clouds,
Where the blue sky bends to a turquoise sea
And the buzzard sails and you flirt with death.
Where the rattler coils in the cactus shade,
And you go to sleep to its serenade.
Where each day has a little more short of breath,
And the coyote howls his hungry woes.
Where the moon has no one to put on airs.
Well, you can keep your streets and buildings grand,
But I'll take my cactus and sagebrush land—
Borrego, where the blues, the pinks, and the purples blend.
Here I'll wait for God and the angels to go...
Here I'll have food and rest.
© 1960 Leo Carrillo
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These documents are part of the Borrego Sun materials acquired by Ram Media Foundation. The Borrego Sun archives are being preserved by the San Diego History Center, ensuring that decades of Borrego Springs history will be preserved for future generations.
To support the future of local media and preserve the past, please contact Andrea at andrea@rammediafoundation.org
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