The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.
He first appeared in 1933 in a radio show on WXYZ (Detroit), conceived either by station owner George W. Trendle or by Fran Striker, the show's writer.His Typewriter Grew Spurs, 1983WYXIE Wonderland, Dick Osgood, 1981 Test episodes aired earlier on radio station WEBR in Buffalo. The radio series proved to be a hit, and spawned a series of books (largely written by Striker), an equally popular television show that ran from 1949 to 1957, comic books, and several films.
The title character was played on the radio show by Earle Graser for some 1,300 episodes, but two others preceded him, according to The New York Times: "...a man named Deeds, who lasted only a few weeks; a George Stenius..." After Graser died in 1941, Brace Beemer assumed the role after serving as the program's narrator. On the radio, Tonto was played by John Todd and Roland Parker, among others.
Clayton Moore portrayed the Lone Ranger on television, although during a contract dispute, Moore was replaced for a season by John Hart. Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk from the Six Nations Indian Reserve in Ontario, Canada, was cast as Tonto.
Origin While details differ, the basic story of the Lone Ranger's origin is consistent in most versions of the franchise. The Lone Ranger is the sole survivor of a group of six ambushed Texas Rangers. A posse of six members of the Texas Ranger Division, led by Captain Dan Reid, pursue a band of outlaws led by Bartholomew "Butch" Cavendish but are betrayed by a civilian guide who was secretly working with Cavendish, and who led the unsuspecting rangers into an ambush at a canyon known as Bryant's Gap.
Later, a Native American named Tonto stumbles onto the grisly scene. He discovers one of the rangers, Captain Reid's younger brother John, barely alive, and he nurses the man to health. In some versions, Tonto recognizes the lone survivor as the man who had saved his life when they both were children. According to the television series, Tonto gave Reid a ring and the name Kemo Sabe, which he said means "trusty scout".The Lone Ranger, "Pilot Episode" John Reid then tells Tonto that he intends to hunt down Cavendish and his men and to bring them to justice. To conceal his identity and honor his fallen brother, Reid fashions a black domino mask using cloth from his late brother's vest. To aid in the deception Tonto digs a sixth grave and places at its head a cross bearing John Reid's name so that Cavendish and his gang will believe that all the Rangers have been killed.
In many versions, Reid continues fighting for justice as the Lone Ranger even after the Cavendish gang is captured.
Characters
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:
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. His decision to adopt the moniker of Lone Ranger was inspired by Tonto; 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, 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 surname in the radio shows was given as Reid, his first name was never specified in any of the radio or television shows. Various radio reference books, beginning with Radio's Golden Age (Eastern Valley Press, 1966), give the Lone Ranger's first name as John. Some cite the 20th-anniversary radio program in 1953 as the source of the name, but the Lone Ranger's first name is never mentioned in that episode.
In the final chapter of the 1938 Republic The Lone Ranger movie serial, 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 thought to have not been mentioned in contemporary Lone Ranger newspaper comics, comic books, and tie-in premiums, though some have stated that the name John Reid was used in an illustration of the grave marker made 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 used in the 1981 film The Legend of the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger is also named 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 is used in the 2003 TV-movie/unsold series pilot.
Tonto
Tonto made his initial appearance in the 11th episode of the radio show. Fran Striker told his son that Tonto was added so the Lone Ranger would have someone to talk to. He was named by James Jewell, who also came up with 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" meant "wild one".
The character spoke in broken English that emphasized Tonto had learned it as a second language.
Because means "stupid" or "ignorant" in Spanish, the character is renamed "" (Spanish for "bull") or "" in Spanish-speaking countries.
Dan Reid Jr. Dan Reid was introduced on 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 this Dan Reid the father of Britt Reid, alias the Green Hornet, thereby making the Lone Ranger the Green Hornet's great-uncle. In The Lone Ranger radio series, Dan was played 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 the town of Martinsville close to 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 on a plot to steal the valuable Martin Copper Mine and Dan's being fooled by a Lone Ranger impostor into helping him steal it. The Lone Ranger and the Mounties foil the plot and capture the impostor and his gang.
In the final episode of the arc, "A Nephew Is Found" (December 25, 1942), dying Grandma Frisby reveals to the Lone Ranger Dan's true identity and how he came to be with her. Fifteen years previously, Grandma Frisby had been part of a wagon train travelling to Fort Laramie. Also on that wagon train had been Linda Reid, wife of Texas Ranger Captain Dan Reid, and her six-month-old son, Dan Jr., who were travelling from their home in Virginia to join her husband. Before the wagon train could reach Fort Laramie, Indians attacked it and Linda Reid was among those killed. Grandma Frisby took charge and care of Dan Jr., but upon reaching Fort Laramie, found two messages waiting, one 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 items concerning his identity (including a small gold locket containing a picture of Dan's parents and a picture of Captain Reid's brother), Grandma Frisby travelled to Martinsville and raised Dan as her grandson.
On hearing this story, the Lone Ranger reveals his true identity and his own story to Grandma Frisby, and promises 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 on 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 played throughout the series by John Todd, who played Tonto on The Lone Ranger radio series.
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 saves Silver's life from an enraged buffalo, and in gratitude, Silver chooses to give up his wild life to carry him.
The origin of Tonto's horse, Scout, is less clear. For a long time, Tonto rides 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.