Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who battled outlaws in the American Old West alongside his Native American friend, Tonto. The character is regarded as an enduring icon of American culture.
He debuted in 1933 on a radio show at WXYZ in Detroit, created by station owner George W. Trendle or writer Fran Striker. Test episodes were broadcast earlier on radio station WEBR in Buffalo. The radio series was a success, leading to a series of books (authored mainly by Striker), a highly popular television show that aired from 1949 to 1957, comic books, and several films.
Earle Graser portrayed the Lone Ranger on the radio for about 1,300 episodes. Still, two other actors preceded him, according to The New York Times: one named Deeds, who lasted only a few weeks, and George Stenius (actually George Seaton, according to the Los Angeles Times). After Graser passed away in 1941, Brace Beemer took over the role after serving as the program's narrator. On the radio, Tonto was voiced by John Todd and Roland Parker, among others.
Clayton Moore played the Lone Ranger on television, though he was replaced for a season by John Hart during a contract dispute. Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk from the Six Nations Indian Reserve in Ontario, Canada, was cast as Tonto.
Origin
While although the details may vary, the core story of the Lone Ranger's origin remains consistent across most franchise versions. The Lone Ranger is the sole survivor of a group of six Texas Rangers who were ambushed. A posse of six members from the Texas Ranger Division, led by Captain Dan Reid, pursues a band of outlaws commanded by Bartholomew "Butch" Cavendish. They are betrayed by a civilian guide secretly working with Cavendish, who leads the unsuspecting Rangers into an ambush at a canyon known as Bryant's Gap.
Later, a Native American named Tonto stumbles upon the gruesome scene. He finds Captain Reid's younger brother, John, barely alive and nurses him back to health. In some versions, Tonto recognizes the lone survivor as the boy who saved his life when they were both children. According to the television series, Tonto presents Reid with a ring and the name Kemo Sabe, which he claims means "trusty scout." John Reid then informs Tonto of his intention to hunt down Cavendish and his gang to bring them to justice. To conceal his identity and honor his fallen brother, Reid crafts a black domino mask from cloth taken from his late brother's vest. To aid in the ruse, Tonto digs a sixth grave and places a cross bearing John Reid's name at its head, ensuring that Cavendish and his gang believe all the Rangers have been killed.
In many interpretations, Reid continues his fight for justice as the Lone Ranger, even after capturing the Cavendish gang.
The Lone Ranger
As generally depicted, the Lone Ranger conducts himself by a strict Moral Code based on that put in place by Striker at the inception of the character. It read:
I believe that to have a friend,
a man must be one.
That all men are created equal
and that everyone has within himself
the power to make this a better world.
That God put the firewood there
but that every man
must gather and light it himself.
In being prepared
physically, mentally, and morally
to fight when necessary
for what is right.
That a man should make the most
of what equipment he has.
That 'this government,
of the people, by the people
and for the people'
shall live always.
That men should live by
the rule of what is best
for the greatest number.
That sooner or later...
somewhere...somehow...
we must settle with the world
and make payment for what we have taken.
That all things change but truth,
and that truth alone, lives on forever.
In my Creator, my country, my fellow man.
In addition, Fran Striker and George W. Trendle drew up the following guidelines that embody who and what the Lone Ranger is:
- The Lone Ranger was never seen without his mask or some sort of disguise.
- He was never captured or held for any length of time by lawmen, avoiding his being unmasked.
- He always used perfect grammar and precise speech devoid of slang and colloquialisms.
- Whenever he was forced to use guns, he never shot to kill, but instead tried to disarm his opponent as painlessly as possible.
- He was never put in a hopeless situation; e.g., he was never seen escaping from a barrage of gunfire merely by fleeing toward the horizon.
- He rarely referred to himself as the Lone Ranger. If someone's suspicions were aroused, either the Lone Ranger would present one of his silver bullets to confirm his identity or someone else would attest on his behalf; the latter happened at the end of most episodes when someone would ask, "Who was that masked man?" as the Lone Ranger departed. Tonto inspired his decision to adopt the moniker of Lone Ranger; following the ambush at Bryant's Gap, Tonto observed him to be the only ranger left—in other words, he was the "lone" ranger.
- Though the Lone Ranger offered his aid to individuals or small groups facing powerful adversaries, the ultimate objective of his story always implied that their benefit was only a byproduct of the development of the West or the country.
- Adversaries were rarely other than American, to avoid criticism from minority groups, with some exceptions. He sometimes battled foreign agents, though their nation of origin was generally not named. An exception was his having helped the Mexican Benito Juárez against French troops of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, as occurred in the radio episodes "Supplies for Juarez" (September 18, 1939), "Hunted by Legionnaires" (September 20, 1939), and "Lafitte's Reinforcements" (September 22, 1939).
- The names of unsympathetic characters were carefully chosen so that they never consisted of two names if it could be avoided. More often than not, a single nickname or surname was selected.
- The Lone Ranger never drank or smoked, and saloon scenes were usually shown as cafes, with waiters and food instead of bartenders and liquor.
- Criminals were never shown in enviable positions of wealth or power, and they were never successful or glamorous.
The Lone Ranger's first name
Although the Lone Ranger's last name in the radio shows was given as Reid, but his first name was never specified in any of the radio or television shows. Various radio reference books, starting with Radio's Golden Age (Eastern Valley Press, 1966), identify the Lone Ranger's first name as John. Some cite the 20th-anniversary radio program in 1953 as the source of this name, yet the first name is never mentioned in that episode.
In the final chapter of the 1938 Republic movie serial The Lone Ranger, he is revealed to be Texas Ranger Allen King. In the second serial, The Lone Ranger Rides Again, he identifies himself as Bill Andrews.
The Lone Ranger's first name is also believed to have not been mentioned in contemporary Lone Ranger newspaper comics, comic books, and tie-in premiums. However, some have noted that the name John Reid was depicted in an illustration of a grave marker created by Tonto, which appeared in either a comic-book version of the character's origin story or in a children's record set.
The name John Reid is utilized in the 1981 film The Legend of the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger is also identified as John Reid in Dynamite Entertainment's licensed Lone Ranger comic-book series that began in 2006, and in the 2013 Disney film The Lone Ranger.
The name Luke Hartman was used in the 2003 TV movie/unsold series pilot.
Tonto
See also [ Tonto ]
The character appeared first in the 11th episode of the radio show. Fran Striker informed his son that Tonto was included so the Lone Ranger would have someone to converse with. He was named by James Jewell, who also created the term "Kemosabe" based on the name of a summer camp owned by his father-in-law in upstate Michigan. In the local Native American language, "Tonto" translates to "wild one."
The character spoke in broken English, highlighting that Tonto had learned it as a second language.
Because "tonto" means "stupid" or "ignorant" in Spanish, the character is renamed "Toro" (Spanish for "bull") or "Ponto" in Spanish-speaking countries.
Dan Reid Jr.
Dan Reid was introduced in the radio series in 1942 as a juvenile sidekick to the Masked Man; the character is Captain Reid's son and the Lone Ranger's nephew. When Trendle and Striker later created The Green Hornet in 1936, they made Dan Reid the father of Britt Reid, alias the Green Hornet, thus making the Lone Ranger the Green Hornet's great-uncle. In The Lone Ranger radio series, Dan was portrayed by Ernest Winstanley, Bob Martin, Clarence Weitzel, James Lipton, and Dick Beals.
The Lone Ranger's nephew made his first appearance in "Heading North" (December 14, 1942), under the name Dan Frisby, the grandson of Grandma Frisby. The two lived in an area described as "the high border country of the northwest," near Martinsville near the Canada–US border. This and the following four episodes ("Design for Murder," December 16, 1942; "Rope's End," December 18, 1942; "Law of the Apex," December 21, 1942; and "Dan's Strange Behavior," December 23, 1942) centered around a plot to steal the valuable Martin Copper Mine and Dan's being misled by a Lone Ranger imposter into helping him steal it. The Lone Ranger and the Mounties foiled the plot and captured the imposter and his gang.
In the final episode of the arc, "A Nephew Is Found" (December 25, 1942), a dying Grandma Frisby reveals to the Lone Ranger Dan's true identity and how he came to be with her. Fifteen years earlier, Grandma Frisby had been part of a wagon train traveling to Fort Laramie. Also on that wagon train were Linda Reid, the wife of Texas Ranger Captain Dan Reid, and her six-month-old son, Dan Jr., who were traveling from their home in Virginia to join her husband. Before the wagon train could reach Fort Laramie, Indians attacked, and Linda Reid was among those killed. Grandma Frisby took charge of and cared for Dan Jr., but upon reaching Fort Laramie, she found two messages waiting: one stating that Captain Reid (voiced in this story by Al Hodge) had been killed in an ambush at Bryant's Gap, and the other that her own husband had been killed in an explosion. Taking Dan and certain belongings concerning his identity (including a small gold locket containing pictures of Dan's parents and Captain Reid's brother), Grandma Frisby traveled to Martinsville and raised Dan as her grandson.
Upon hearing this story, the Lone Ranger reveals his true identity and his own story to Grandma Frisby, promising that he will care for Dan like his own son. Before Grandma Frisby dies, the Lone Ranger removes his mask and lets her see his face. Her last words are, "Ride on, Lone Ranger ... ride on forever ... with Danny at your side." The Lone Ranger takes the grieving Dan outside the cabin, gives him the locket, and reveals their true relationship. Dan Reid Jr. went on to be a recurring character throughout the remainder of the series, riding with the Lone Ranger and Tonto on his own horse, Victor.
Eventually, Dan Reid Jr. was sent East to gain an education, making infrequent appearances in the series whenever Fran Striker wanted to remind the audience of the family connection, and later became part of The Green Hornet radio series, first appearing on October 22, 1936, establishing the connection between the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet in the episode "Too Hot to Handle" (November 11, 1947) and being portrayed throughout the series by John Todd, who also played Tonto on The Lone Ranger radio series.
Their horses
Their horses According to the episode "The Legend of Silver" (September 30, 1938), before acquiring Silver, the Lone Ranger rode a chestnut mare called Dusty. The Lone Ranger saved Silver's life from an enraged buffalo, and in gratitude, Silver gave up his wild life to carry him.
The origin of Tonto's horse, Scout, is less clear. For a long time, Tonto rode a white horse called White Feller. In "Four Day Ride" (August 5, 1938), Tonto is given a paint horse by his friend Chief Thundercloud, who then takes White Feller. Tonto rides this horse and refers to him simply as "Paint Horse" for several episodes. The horse is finally named Scout in "Border Dope Smuggling" (September 2, 1938). In another episode, however, the Lone Ranger, in a surge of conscience, releases Silver back to the wild. The episode ends with Silver returning, bringing along a companion that becomes Tonto's horse, Scout.
Echoing the Lone Ranger's line, Tonto frequently says, "Git-um up, Scout!" The phrase became so well embedded in the Lone Ranger mythos that International Harvester used it as an advertising tagline to promote their Scout utility vehicle in the 1970s. In the Format Films animated cartoon, which ran from 1966 to 1968, Tonto also had an eagle he called Taka, and installments that focused exclusively on him or had him team up with the Lone Ranger ended with him saying, "Fly, Taka! On, Scout!" (Episodes with the Lone Ranger concluded with the Ranger following this up with the customary "Hi-yo, Silver! Away!")
A Personal Note from Robin
- Going to the Pasadena Rose Parade was something I looked forward to every year. Leo Carillo, Hopalong Cassidy, and many other "cowboy heroes" would ride their horses in the Parade
- Growing up, a running joke was, "The Lone Ranger killed Tonto. He found out what Kemosabe meant."
External links
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Lone_Ranger ]
- The Lone Ranger Radio Series 1938–1956 (downloadable MP3 files)
- The Lone Ranger Rides (1941) at Project Gutenberg and LibriVox
- Lone Ranger at DreamWorks Classics
- Death of the Lone Ranger at Snopes.com
- Masked Men: A Chronology of the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet
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