with a young lady named Concepción.
When they married he decided they
needed to live in town. He left the
ranch and moved to Sanderson. With
the cooking skills he had learned at the
Downies, he and Concepción eventu-
ally operated three restaurants togeth-
er over the course of the years. In the
interim he also worked as a cook at
other restaurants and hotels.
About 1920, Castillo began a push-
cart tamale operation in Sanderson. Of
course, he made the tamales himself
and sold them on the streets and at the
train depot. He sold two dozen tamales
for 25¢; hungry train passengers made
it a land office business. That allowed
Pedro to open a restaurant while con-
tinuing to sell tamales.
The June 2, 1923, edition of the
Sanderson Times featured an ad on the
front page for The San Pedro Café,
listing Pedro Castillo as the owner and
featuring Mexican and American dish-
es, short orders, ice cream, and soda
water. “Everything clean and sani-
tary.”
Dining cars were not instituted on
the Sunset Lines until the latter '20s
and if passengers wanted to eat, they
had to leave the train and go into the
depot cafe, The Beanery, and risk
missing their connection. Tamales
were an exotic finger food that could
be paid for and passed up through the
open train window, the diner never
having to leave the train.
With the addition of dining service
to the trains, Castillo’s business at the
depot began to slow. By the late 1930s
he was selling on Oak Street and at the
local cafes, running his operation from
a small white pushcart and wearing a
crisp, white waiter's jacket. It was in
this format that Pedro Castillo became
an iconic fixture in Sanderson. He
acquired the name “Tamale Pete,”
probably because of a Western Swing
tune popular at the time, “Hot Tamale
Pete,” that was sweeping the nation:
If you wanna get something good to eat,
served with a great big smile,
Two blocks down and turn to the right at
Hot Tamale Pete's.
(Bob Skyles and His Skyrockets, 1936)
The song accurately sums up
Pedro's operation and his personality
through the years.
It was also in the 1920s that Castillo
applied for U.S. citizenship, but, sadly,
he never finished the paperwork. It was
always a great regret of his, as he loved
and appreciated the United States and
the opportunities he had here, but it
did not stop him from being successful.
In 1933, tragedy struck the little
man whose life had always been hard.
His beloved Concepción died, leaving
no children to comfort and console
him. The next 14 years were lonely for
Pedro as he adjusted to life without
Concepción.
However, in 1947, at the age of 68,
he met Maria Aguilar, a woman from
Mexico, and found love once again.
They were married and he spent the
remainder of his life with her.
Together they adopted two small chil-
dren, her relatives from Mexico, and
he now had the family he had always
wanted.
By 1952 Castillo's tamale operation
had slowed down. He sold only three
days a week to local housewives and
cafes. The rising cost of ingredients
forced him to raise his price to 35¢ per
dozen, but the townsfolk agreed it was
still a bargain.
To augment his income, he also dis-
tributed La Prensa, a Spanish-language
daily newspaper from San Antonio.
He would meet the train every day to
pick up his papers, distributing them
on the way home. He continued this
until his last few years.
In November of 1959, at the age of
80 and with some health issues,
Castillo went by himself to the doctor
in Del Rio for medical attention. Early
on the morning of Nov. 3, 1959, his
body was discovered in a drainage
ditch. He had drowned in less than six
inches of standing water.
At the coroner's inquest the Justice
of the Peace noted that there was no
sign of foul play. He theorized that
Castillo had accidently stumbled into
the ditch and was knocked uncon-
scious by the fall. Not able to raise his
head above the water, he drowned. It
was a cruel fate for a man who always
held his head high.
By physical aspect, Pedro Castillo y
Olivares was a small man, bent by dis-
ability, yet modest and unassuming.
He certainly would not have stood out
in a crowd. But by his actions and his
spirit, he was a giant. Unafraid of work,
faithful supporter of his church, proud
owner of his own home and loving
family man, he never sought assistance
because of his handicap or used it as an
excuse to gain sympathy. Totally self-
reliant, he took care of his family to the
best of his ability. His least effort was
greater than many men's best. It is safe
to say that we need more men and
women like “Tamale Pete.”
Cenizo
First Quarter 2016
9