SPEED CASTILLO - THE INDIAN VILLAGE SHERIFF

“SPEED CASTILLO - THE INDIAN VILLAGE SHERIFF”

Speed Castillo (of diverse Spanish, Basque, Portuguese, and Isleta Pueblo descent) is one of many Disneyland Cast Members who made unique and valuable contributions to making Walt’s dream a reality, and whose roles in life have proven as outstanding as his heritage. Speed (has been a school teacher, a basketball referee, and even a cook at the Disneyland Hotel (for one year only). All of this in addition to being a loving husband, and proud father of two children! Not withstanding the latter, some of his fondest secular memories pertain to the years he performed a starring role as a Security Host in Frontierland, as the Indian Village Sheriff.

Speed’s distinguishing Frontierland wardrobe piece - the hat of “Chief Two Feathers.”

“Introducing ‘Chief Two Feathers’”

After news that Disneyland offered not just employment, but careers, Speed remembered: “I had many friends that were school teachers and they said ‘Why don’t you apply for Security? Are you 6’2”?’” This was because Disneyland wasn't hiring any Security Hosts below 6’2” at that time. “Tim Hahne was head of Disneyland Security, and he brought me into his office with Bill Wilkerson.” As a sidelight, Bill Wilkerson was known as Chief Blackhawk, and was in charge of the Indian Village, and also ran the Indian Village Trading Post shop with his wife). “When I was interviewed by them, and Tim said, ‘We’re gonna make you into an Indian.’ I started to laugh, and Tim says, ‘Why are you laughing?’ I said, ‘You’re going to put me in breech cloth.’ Well he said, ‘No. We’re going to make you the Sheriff.’”

“They had other people there, working Security, working as plain cowboys.” Of course, Speed’s Wardrobe would be similar in some respects to the Frontierland Wardrobe. Speed was instructed to bring his own pants and boots. “The rest came from the Park… They designed a shirt for me, a vest, a beaded belt, and a beaded tie…” To top the wardrobe off, was a distinct feature - Speed was issued a hat with two feathers atop, before being given a Character Name. About his Disneyland Character, Speed recalls, “I had an Indian name : Chief Two Feathers. That’s where the name came from. That’s how I came to Disneyland.”

“Speed Responds to Codes 415 & 101”

What was an average day like for the Frontierland Sheriff, who was also a Security Host? “I had a radio with transmission to communicate with Security, back and forth. If they had a problem somewhere, they would say, ‘Indian Village, get over to the Golden Horseshoe’ or ‘Get over to the Shooting Gallery,’ we’ve got a problem going on over here.’… If they had problem in the French Quarter or the Jungle Cruise,… you had to go and help out. Everybody responded like this… The Trading Post had a grass turf roof, and kids used to climb on top, from the back. So I had to get them off… I would also work with the Canoe boys… Do you remember the Gullywhumper? I had one of them sink right in front of me. A guy riding it was named Dick… he was also a schoolteacher. He had a hole in it and full of passengers. All of a sudden the boat started to go down. I said, ‘Dick, your boat is sinking.’”

Speed Castillo in full regalia sets out to keep the peace in the old Western half of Frontierland.

“They’d call you and say, ‘The gunfighters are going to be in your area. Set up the area for them.’ … They would give me a gun to help them shoot the ‘Bad Guy.’” Speed recalled one time, when “they usually would set up by the Haunted Mansion, when it was all shrubs out there. I knew the guys. I knew ‘Doc Holiday.’ I watered it down and made it muddy on purpose. So they came out there and start shooting, and fell into the grass.”

Staying in Character can pose a challenge at times, and occasionally the multitude of guest’s questions could be a little overwhelming, as Speed divulged: “People kept asking me questions : ‘What tribe are you?’, and a lot of other questions, and I would hide behind the buffalo…” But make no mistake, Speed enjoyed the role of “Chief Two Feathers.”

After his role in the Frontierland Indian Village, Speed Castillo proudly wore the “Keystone Kops” Constable Badge and the Disneyland Security Eagle Shield (pictured above). Speed wore the former badge, when he appeared with some 10 to 12 hosts at the premier screening of The Happiest Millionaire in Hollywood.

“All Security goes into ‘blues’ when they need you.” Speed was referring to those “Keystone Kops” uniforms, which were donned for parades at Disneyland and even a few events outside Disneyland. “I did Security for the movie premier [sic] in Hollywood - the Happiest Millionaire. They took about 14 or 15 of us in uniform (Keystone Kops uniform).”

“Speed Protects and Serves Disneyland Audiences”

Now, though the role of Disneyland Security Host was rewarding, the tone wasn't always fun, but could be rather serious in nature, while serving Disneyland guests. This fact is evident from the following tales involving a couple of medical emergencies, pan handlers in the Park, and even a suitcase full of money!

Speed remembered a Code 901-T: “After three and a half years, they took me out of the Indian Village and made me a Supervisor. One evening, I’m working in front of the Parking Lot and I hear, ‘Security 12 - Report to the Train Station.’ A man had fallen off the train and he had had a heart attack. Another man had jumped off the train to help him. They got him into a Disneyland ambulance along with a nurse and a driver. The Doctor got to giving him mouth-to-mouth and I was giving him a heart massage. The man started to throw up and I started gagging, and the doctor says, ‘Don’t you stop on me. If I can do this mouth-to-mouth, you can do what I’m doing.’”

Yet another 901-T & possible 484: “A month later, I was coming back on duty and I get a call from Coke Corner, that a dancer had fallen down and had a heart attack. We got him, and put him in the ambulance, and they took him to the hospital. He was okay when he got there. I had two days off, and when I got back, I got a call from my supervisor Al Niemeyer. He says, ‘Speed, I want to talk to you. The guy had $1000 in his pocket.’ I said, ‘I don’t know anything about it.’ He said, ‘somebody took the $1000.’ I said, ‘You’ve got the wrong guy. Did you check the nurse, or check the driver?’ They found out who did it.”

Speed’s Identification Card and Security Host Badge during the Tim Hahne years.

Speed remembered another serious experience which further proved the required moral integrity of Disneyland Security Hosts - a Code 475: “I was in ‘plain clothes’… in the morning, in the winter. I hear: ‘Security, Report to Ticket Booth 18,’ so I go to Ticket Booth 18, and Security says, ‘Speed, this is a counterfeit $20.’ I said, ‘Where did you get it?’ [They respond:] ‘That couple going through the turnstile.’ They had a little boy [with them] about five years old. The couple went across to the Emporium and they bought a doll with a $20 bill. [The Emporium Clerk] put the $20 bill on the counter. I told the cashier, ‘I need that $20 bill,’ and I put it in my pocket. They went around the corner, and bought another doll with a $20 bill. I put it in my pocket. They went out the door to the Magic Shop and bought something else for $2 with another $20 [bill]. I showed the clerk (Steve Martin) my badge and asked him for that $20 and he finally gave it to me. The couple finally goes into Tomorrowland (and I had to ‘turn them loose’), and I radio Tomorrowland: ‘Tomorrowland, you’ve got this couple coming into your area. Pick them up. This is what they’ve done.’ In the meantime, I called Security and let them know that I need help. In the meantime, they went into Tomorrowland and spent some money in there too. On the way back, we stopped them in front of Hills Bros. Coffee (me and Dale Hughes). He said to them: ‘We’re Security and we want to talk to you.’ The lady squeezed the boy’s hand and started crying. We took them [Backstage] behind the scenes. As we walked in, behind the counter, there was Anaheim P.D., [Disneyland] Security, and the F.B.I.' There were seven $20s on the counter. The man says: ‘I want a lawyer.’ We turned the lady and the kid loose, and that night in the Parking Lot we find a car with an Oklahoma license plate and one suitcase inside with $250,000 worth of $20s.”

Speed recalled another time he was in plain clothes - a Code 647-c within Disneyland. “I get a call that says: ‘Would you report to Guest Relations? In front of City Hall, there are a couple of kids panhandling tickets… [from] people, leaving the Park with extra tickets for rides’ So I go over and watch them for about ten minutes. They were about 11 and 12 [years old]. I finally asked them, ‘What are you doing?’ They said, ‘We’re asking for tickets.’ I said, ‘It’s against the law. Come with me.’ I took the bundle [of tickets], about that big.’” Speed gestured to describe a stack of approximately 6-7 inches with his hands, and continued: “I took them over to Guest Relations, and said, ‘Sir, these guys have been panhandling tickets and here’s the contraband.’ He said, ‘You kids aren’t supposed to be doing this. Where are your parents? Go find them. If I catch you doing this again, I’m going to put you in jail.’ And they took off.”

“Speed Remembers the People of Disneyland”

“I got to meet Walt… I got to know a lot of the people that work behind the scenes, the guy that took pictures, the guys that ran the parades, the guys in costumes and the Characters.” And as for celebrities, Speed recalls, “I got to meet a lot of actors and entertainers…Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Lucille Ball, Pearl Bailey, “Satchmo” Armstrong… the Mustangs, Charro when she came out playing her flamenco guitar. So many people like that, that I got to meet… I didn’t carry a conversation with many of them.”

However, many of Speed’s memories revolve around the Disneyland Indian Village Cast he was most fond of. “I got to know the ‘Canoe’ guys really well. Inside the Trading Post was a lady by the name of Blanchard, and she had a son named Dale that was also a Canoe Operator…Bill Wilkerson [sic] (Chief Blackhawk) and I had become friends,” he recalled. “I had it pretty good with Bill Wilkerson who ran the Village.” In fact, Speed looks back on one particular time (at 5:00pm when they would close up the Village and close up the tunnels), and both Bill and Edna Wilkerson invited him to dinner at Casa de Fritos. “I also got to know many of the dancers.”

As Speed operated the Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland, he was inducted into the prestigious, exclusive (and unsanctioned) Order of the Red Handkerchief.

When asked about his favorite memories at Disneyland, Speed quickly responded, “They’re all my favorite! They’re all good! I had a good time at the Park.”

Speed was an administrative school teacher for 35 years and also remembers having the great pleasure of refereeing games in which both Lewis Alcindor Jr. (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Bill Walton participated. A kindly gentleman working for Jostens (Michael Westra) designed a special ring for Speed, which he proudly wears.