The Lone Ranger: Who Was That Masked Man?
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
From Out of the Past
Created during the Depression, The Lone Ranger answered a need for programming in the still-infant radio medium by combining a classic Old West setting with a stalwart hero who appealed to children. A near-instant success, the Lone Ranger’s exposure widened to encompass other media and merchandising, maintaining a fairly high popularity until the mid-1960’s. Despite a relative dormancy since then, the Lone Ranger may gallop to success once again, thanks to plans for a new film starring Johnny Depp as sidekick Tonto. The Lone Ranger character has a seventy-five year history upon which to rebuild, rebound, and recapture his once enormous acclaim.
In her 1996 book Selling Radio, Susan Smulyan poses a thesis, an arguable foreshadowing of the Internet. When the first radio station began in 1920, no one knew how to make money from broadcasting. Many Americans in the 1920s disagreed with the idea of making money from radio at all.
The American capitalist spirit prevailed, though. Entrepreneurs seeking to leverage radio’s moneymaking potential realized that content is king and rules the medium. George Trendle was such an entrepreneur. A shrewd lawyer turned businessman, Trendle triggered the creation of the Old West’s most mysterious hero, the Lone Ranger.
The Lone Ranger’s existence really begins before its Winter 1933 debut with WXYZ, the flagship radio station of the Michigan Radio Network. On October 10, 1925, Detroit radio station WGHP began broadcasting, the call letters indicating its owner, George Harrison Phelps. Five years later, George Trendle and partners John Kunsky and Harold Pierce bought WGHP for $250,000. They quickly changed the call letters to WXYZ -- the last word in radio.
Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting expanded upon its WXYZ base, adding Grand Rapids stations WASH and WOOD. The expansion continued as the owners formed a regional network -- the Michigan Radio Network. As movie theater owners, Kunsky and Trendle knew the value, challenge, and potential of marketing entertainment to a mass audience. According to Dick Osgood in his 1981 book W*Y*X*I*E Wonderland, a conversation between Pierce and Trendle contained the first glimpse of what would become the network’s breakthrough program and eventual cornerstone. Trendle responded to Pierce’s positive comment about Manhunters, a police drama.
Cops and robbers have always been good box office, Howard. And I’ve been thinking of something else that always did well for us in the theaters. We never did bad business with a good Western. In fact, we did good business with bad Westerns. I’ve got a character in mind...He hasn’t taken definite shape yet but...
The creation of any popular culture icon and the trademark elements therein cause dispute, confusion, and controversy concerning credit. Realistically, a character evolves with no single person responsible for ‘creating’ the character. With the Lone Ranger, this certainly proved to be the case as internal memoranda and key players’ Rashomonian recall reinforce the theory. Lone Ranger historian Dave Holland summarizes in his 1988 book From Out of the Past.
Simply put then, it began with George Trendle. He came up with the idea. He created the program. But -- and here comes the heresy -- someone else named it, someone else created a persona for the Western hero Trendle had vaguely in mind and someone else put him on his feet and made him live. Still, the original idea was Trendle’s.
Holland offers thorough evidence for February 2, 1933 as the first Lone Ranger broadcast date, frequently considered to be January 30, 1933 by WXYZ staffers and the public alike.
Fran Striker, a writer from Buffalo, New York whose services Trendle had previously utilized, supplied the scripts in the character’s formative years. Almost immediately, The Lone Ranger skyrocketed, indicating near-universal appeal.
The Lone Ranger contained elements instantly recognizable -- silver bullets symbolizing his value of life, a mask to protect his identity, partner Tonto who accompanies the Lone Ranger on his travails, wonder horse Silver. These elements can all be found within the stories, but the strongest association may come from a certain piece of music. The William Tell Overture has accompanied the Lone Ranger since the first broadcast. Its link to the Lone Ranger is unmistakable. A quote credited to many sources evidences the connection: An intellectual is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of the Lone Ranger. In fact, the Lone Ranger theme song is just one part of the overture entitled The Storm.
Not all elements were present at the very beginning, however. The familiar call of Hi-Yo-Silver! was created when actor George Seaton couldn’t carry off a convincing signature laugh for the Lone Ranger to emit as he departed.
According to James Van Hise’s 1990 book Who Was That Masked Man? The Story of the Lone Ranger, Striker’s earliest scripts were based on an earlier western series Striker wrote -- Covered Wagon Days.
Almost immediately, The Lone Ranger galloped furiously to success. He enjoyed a long, healthy, and prosperous life on radio. The last radio broadcast occurred in 1954.
Here’s a brief retelling of the Lone Ranger’s origin, unveiled in later Lone Ranger episodes. The Lone Ranger’s identity is John Reid, a Texas Ranger left for dead after Butch Cavendish and his Hole-in-the-Wall Gang ambushes Reid’s squad at Bryant Gap. The Lone Ranger moniker results from Reid being the sole survivor. Captain Dan Reid, John’s brother, led the squad in pursuit of the legendary outlaw and fell into a trap set by a double-crossing guide. John miraculously survived the ambush thanks to Tonto, a member of the Potawatomie tribe and a long-lost childhood friend. Tonto nursed John Reid back to health and helped him capture Cavendish, thereby avenging the deaths of the elder Reid and his Ranger brethren.
During the early years, Trendle et. al. applied a strict scrutiny to their newfound franchise. First and foremost, they protected the character’s integrity by establishing tough, inflexible guidelines that writers and contributors followed religiously, not that they really had much of a choice. Creatively, the simple process gave the advantage of knowing what was acceptable and the disadvantage of knowing the same. In short, the limits did not allow for much character development of the Lone Ranger and Tonto.
Notwithstanding Trendle’s original yet vague idea and his staff’s building upon it, the characters’ success benefited from the times. Remember what was going on in 1933. The end of the Depression was nowhere in sight. Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, coincidentally on January 30, 1933, long thought to be the date of the first broadcast of The Lone Ranger. By keeping tight control over the franchise, the Lone Ranger’s owners provided stories through which audiences, especially children, could live vicariously for control in uncertain times. The Lone Ranger offered the simplest of conflicts (good guys vs. bad guys) in a popular setting (Old West).
Freelance writers wishing to submit radio scripts could rely on a detailed outline of the Lone Ranger character, including subjects: fairness, tolerance, sympathy, religion, pure speech, brutality, gore, and sex. When The Lone Ranger television program debuted in 1949 the character outline stayed true to form, although the 1930’s Republic serials took some liberties.
The Lone Ranger debuted on the silver screen in a 1938 Republic serial bearing his name -- The Lone Ranger. It recounted his origin pretty much according to the mythos established by the radio show. Lee Powell played the title role, though Bill Bletcher dubbed over his voice. The look of the Ranger in the serial differs from the public’s perception via comic books, merchandising, and publicity materials. The Lone Ranger’s mask completely covers his face, like a bandana with eye holes.
Republic produced a second serial in 1939 -- The Lone Ranger Rides Again. This version starred Robert Livingston. Bletcher dubbed over his voice as well. Chief Thunder Cloud played Tonto in both serials. Edmund Cobb has a small role in The Lone Ranger and Glenn Strange appears in The Lone Ranger Rides Again. Both actors would make multiple appearances in The Lone Ranger television series (1949-57).
Republic saw the potential of repackaging its product, so it edited the 1938 serial to feature-length and released it as Hi-Yo-Silver (1940). Unfortunately, the only surviving prints of The Lone Ranger and The Lone Ranger Rides Again are Mexican prints with Spanish subtitles.
Trendle et. al. unveiled a sister show of The Lone Ranger almost three years to the day of the Masked Man’s radio debut. The Green Hornet premiered on January 31, 1936. The title character owned a familial link to the Lone Ranger. The Green Hornet is the grandnephew of the Lone Ranger. Instead of fighting graft, corruption, and theft in the Old West, Britt Reid battles villains, thieves, and evildoers in a modern day metropolis as the Green Hornet.
The Green Hornet television series in the mid-1960’s lasted one season on ABC (1966-67). It did not mention the family tie to the Lone Ranger, but the radio program highlighted the connection. Trendle still owned the rights to the Green Hornet during the television show’s run and the rights remain in the Trendle family.
Television
Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels starred as the title character and Tonto respectively in the television incarnation. Moore and Silverheels appeared in two films together outside their characters -- The Cowboy and the Indians (1949) and The Black Dakota (1954). Without question, Moore became the definitive Lone Ranger, a perception practically etched in stone by the public, though John Hart played the character for two seasons.
On September 15, 1949, The Lone Ranger debuted on ABC with the first episode of a trilogy introducing the title character’s back story where he teams with Tonto to track down Cavendish and avenge the slaughter of his squad members -- Enter the Lone Ranger, The Lone Ranger Fights On, The Lone Ranger’s Triumph. The trilogy generally matches the character’s origin as presented on the radio program.
The first version of the origin story appeared in the 1938 serial. The serial shows the Rangers on their way to deal with a crooked politician’s power grab when the politicians minions ambush them. The radio show’s first version appeared in 1941.
The origin story would be modified before becoming canonical.
In the opening episode trilogy, the origin story expands somewhat. Incredibly, but barely, John Reid makes his way towards a stream and shade. Tonto discovers him and calls on Indian lore to minister the stricken Reid back to health. With Reid needing a disguise to track down Cavendish and his gang, Tonto also makes a mask from Reid’s vest. To complete the deception that no Rangers survived the ambush, Tonto digs six graves.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto then visit Blane, a retired Texas Ranger, with a proposition. The Lone Ranger wants Blane to monitor a silver mine he once discovered long ago with brother Dan. In addition, the Lone Ranger instructs Blane to fashion silver bullets so he can use them as a symbol of good. The Lone Ranger will also use the sliver mined by Blane to cover expenses. With the help of El Dorado County Sheriff ‘Two-Gun’ Taylor and Doc Drummond, the Lone Ranger and Tonto succeed in capturing the Cavendish gang.
Variety reviewed The Lone Ranger for its September 14, 1949 issue.
Technically, the acting is good and the editing fast-paced. Fact that the LR doesn’t shoot to kill, but only to capture, tones down the element of violence, and characterization of Tonto as an Indian Dr. Watson is acceptable.
In addition, Variety noted the advertising agency (Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample) and its major client, the sponsor of the radio show at the time -- General Mills. Holland provides some background on the General Mills connection.
Trendle went first to General Mills, still the radio sponsor everywhere but the deep South and offered them the same kind of arrangement they had on radio: they foot the bill but the actual production of programs and their creative content would be strictly up to The Lone Ranger, Inc. (Trendle). There wasn’t much for General Mills to think out. The Lone Ranger was more popular than ever.
Although Trendle receives the credit for launching The Lone Ranger in the relatively unexplored arena of television in the late 1940’s, Holland details Trendle’s business acuity, creative instinct, and programming sense in making the television incarnation the latest in a string of Lone Ranger successes.
George Trendle had always been a man to get in on the ground floor. He had done it with motion picture theaters, he had done it with radio drama and now he was doing it with television. In 1948, he had his eye on the rooftops of America. He saw those funny-looking antennas beginning to pop up here and there and he knew what that meant.
America was embracing a new entertainment medium, one -- like radio before it -- they didn’t have to leave home to enjoy. William Boyd realized this, too and sold everything he could get his hands on to buy up all the rights to his old Hopalong Cassidy movies. And once Hoppy got on TV, America went cowboy crazy.
Within four years, Boyd was grossing 70 million dollars annually. Trendle foresaw this and knew there was room for more than one fiery horse in that cloud of merchandising dust. It was time for the Lone Ranger to ride the West again.
Adding to the Lone Ranger legend, lore, and history is Holland’s account of selecting the right actor for the role for which the audience would undoubtedly have preconceived notions. That actor was Clayton Moore.
When George Trendle and Fran Striker came out to the Coast in 1949 to select their television Lone Ranger, Moore told me the two men deliberated long, then finally sat him down in a room and Trendle asked, ‘Mr. Moore, how would you like to be the Lone Ranger?’ And Moore said quietly, ‘Mr. Trendle, I am the Lone Ranger. Trendle loved it. Here was a man after his own heart. Filming began June 21.
Clayton Moore is synonymous with the Lone Ranger. Of that there is no question. Moore will be forever linked to the character and vice versa, no matter how many versions, interpretations, and incarnations may be produced. Indeed, Moore set the Lone Ranger standard.
Moore’s films prior to his work on The Lone Ranger series sometimes revolved around well-known fictional characters and real-life people -- Jesse James Rides Again, The Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, Ghost of Zorro. According to Moore’s own account, Trendle’s screening of Ghost of Zorro convinced him of the circus aerialist-turned-actor’s suitability for the role of the Lone Ranger. Moore’s connection to the Lone Ranger character supersedes any other role in his body of work.
Unlike many actors who dislike permanent identification with a single role, Moore always embraced the connection between himself and the Lone Ranger, as evidenced by Moore’s account in his 1998 autobiography, I Was That Masked Man. He relates his feelings immediately following the aforementioned meeting with Trendle.
As I drove home, instead of playing the radio, I was whistling the William Tell Overture. I started blasting the car horn pretty good when I got to the corner of Greenbush and Laurel Canyon, and kept banging it until I pulled up into our driveway. Sally ran to the door.
‘What is it?’ she asked.
‘I got it! I got it! I shouted, feeling like a kid, ‘I’m the Lone Ranger!’
Moore inaugurated the Lone Ranger television portrayal and continued in the role through the second season after which he departed, only to return a few years later to finish the series. Speculation as to the exact reason or reasons for Moore’s departure continues today. Some reports indicate a salary dispute while others cite poor treatment. Whatever the reason, Moore left the door wide open for another actor to take over the role, potentially a make-or-break situation for the Lone Ranger team.
In the void created by Moore’s egress, John Hart took over the role. Fans of the television series may recall Hart’s guest roles in the 1950 episodes Rifles and Renegades and Sheriff of Gunstock.
They knew I could ride and they knew I could handle dialogue, and I think it was a big, big point. Of course, a lot of other guys had done it, too. I kind of looked like the [Lone Ranger] comic strip, the All-American, square-jawed guy or something.
The public’s memory, sentiment, and attachment to The Lone Ranger television series frequently excludes Hart, even though he played the title role for fifty-two episodes. Hart’s link to the Lone Ranger goes beyond the television series, though.
He appeared as the Lone Ranger in the Hi Yo, Fonzie Away episode of Happy Days. The episode centers on Fonzie’s birthday where the King of Cool’s friends arrange the ultimate birthday gift -- a visit from the Lone Ranger. He is Fonzie’s personal hero, idol, and role model.
Fonzie references his reverence for the Lone Ranger in the episode The Muckrakers. Fonzie’s best friend, sounding board, and budding journalist Richie Cunningham investigates the cafeteria operations at Jefferson High School and consequently discovers Fonzie’s weakness -- liver. Richie wants to exploit his scoop while Fonzie insists that his severe aversion to liver remain a secret. Fonzie illustrates to Richie that a lot of people tried to take off the mask of the Lone Ranger, but Tonto never tried.
Another television character revealed his idol worship of the Lone Ranger in the 1990’s. In the premiere episode of Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-2001), Jimmy Trivette tells Walker that watching the Lone Ranger as a kid on television in Baltimore ghetto inspired him to become a Texas Ranger. Clarence Gilyard played Trivette and Chuck Norris played Walker.
Following his Happy Days cameo, John Hart again appeared as the Lone Ranger in the episode My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys of The Greatest American Hero.
The Lone Ranger enjoyed a great run on television with 221 episodes, an outstanding number in any era. When oilman Jack Wrather purchased the character rights in 1954, he ordered that the show be filmed in color. The episode inventory consists of 182 black and white episodes and 39 color episodes.
Years after The Lone Ranger ceased production in 1956, Wrather repackaged the color episodes into 13 TV-movies under the banner Adventures of the Lone Ranger with each TV-movie containing three episodes. In reality, this was a marketing gimmick as the episodes consisted of self-contained stories; they were not TV-movies in the technical sense of the word.
The Lone Ranger television series also spun off two feature films -- The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).
The guest star roster on The Lone Ranger boasted numerous television and movie performers, then relatively unknown: Lee Van Cleef, DeForest Kelley, Dennis Weaver, Jack Elam, Sheb Wooley, Russell Johnson, Slim Pickens, Stacey Keach. These actors often made repeat appearances on the show. Perhaps some of these actors’ familiarity in the western genre owes a debt to the program.
The main characters did not veer off the track set by Trendle. Besides the All-American character traits, other hallmarks persisted. For example, no one saw the Lone Ranger without his mask or a disguise to trap the villains. Simply, the new owners saw no reason to change a winning formula.
On February 1, 1958, CBS aired a one-hour special in honor of the Lone Ranger’s 25th anniversary -- Origins of the Lone Ranger Legend. Rival network ABC reran the final episode of the show to mark the anniversary on the following day.
In 1959, Moore donned the Lone Ranger costume in a classic corporate cross-promotion. Wrather Corporation also owned Lassie at this time. Moore appeared on the Lassie episode appropriately titled Peace Patrol focusing on Timmy (Jon Provost) being his school’s Peace Patrol leader. Lassie gets inducted into the Peace Patrol, thereby becoming the only animal besides Silver to earn such a distinction.
The United States Treasury Department founded the Peace Patrol in 1958 and tapped the Lone Ranger as its leader. The Peace Patrol encouraged boys and girls to buy United States Savings Bonds and Stamps. The Lone Ranger’s likeness adorned the stamps.
Ten years after the television series ended with its 221st episode, Outlaws in Greasepaint, the Lone Ranger found a new generation of fans. On September 10, 1966, CBS premiered an animated version of the Lone Ranger for its Saturday morning lineup. Like other entertainment property owners, Wrather sought to capitalize on the mid-1960’s superhero craze started by Batman, a live-action parody. Consequently, The Lone Ranger had many competitors for attention in the Super Saturday arena, e.g., Super President, Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles, Batfink.
Each episode consisted of three self-contained stories. Holland describes the animated Lone Ranger as ‘unusually square-jawed.’
In an apparent effort to make the Ranger relevant, sci-fi was the name and fantasy his game. Trendle was right this time, too. ‘Downright ridiculous,’ he said. His opinion notwithstanding, the program was on CBS until 1969, ‘once again proving the enduring popularity of the character. [quoted from David Rothel’s 1976 book Who Was That Masked Man?] no matter how far it drifted from the established concept.
Toon magazine ran a two-part story exploring the history of the mid-1960’s cartoon in its Fall 1993 and Winter 1994 issues. Michael Swanigan explains the animation process utilized by Format Films, the show’s animation house.
The inventive graphic’s approach of executive producer, Herb Klynn, using three different animation houses in three different countries, used impressionistic techniques with colored paper-collages for backgrounds and a mixture of artistic styles, such as grease-pencil on top of the cells for its unique look. This basic concept was encouraged by CBS daytime programming chief Fred Silverman who ordered, programmed, and slotted, six animated fantasy adventures back-to-back-to-back on the 1966-67 Saturday morning schedule. These were shows like Filmation’s The New Adventures of Superman and Hanna-Barbera’s Space Ghost, which helped launch the superhero glut of the late sixties.
Another Saturday morning cartoon effort followed in the early 1980’s. CBS unveiled The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger on September 13, 1980. Filmation’s foray into animating the Lone Ranger brought back Dan Reid and Jim Blane. It also used real people, e.g. Ulysses S. Grant, Nellie Bly, Mark Twain. They added a historical authenticity to the Old West stories. The stories also featured a history or sociology lesson in the show’s tag.
In 1981, the Lone Ranger returned to the silver screen in The Legend of the Lone Ranger. Even with familiar elements and a new character angle where John Reid is a romantic, sexy, and more vulnerable character, The Legend of the Lone Ranger encountered problems, obstacles, and challenges seemingly insurmountable.
Building around the origin story of the ambush at Bryant’s Gap, the rather silly plot deals with Butch Cavendish kidnapping President Grant. The producers tried to inject some back story, sometimes with inside jokes, but to no avail. For example, John Reid has a love interest in the early part of the movie, though the story never fully resolves the relationship. Her name? Amy Striker. Her vocation: Journalist. John Hart played her boss/uncle, Lucas Striker, Editor of The Del Rio Dispatch.
Additionally, Klinton Spilsbury’s disengaging performance as John Reid / Lone Ranger undermined the effectiveness of the film. Ultimately, the producers used actor James Keach to dub over Spilsbury’s voice!
Perhaps the most curious aspect of The Legend of the Lone Ranger is the misuse of the emotion-inducing Lone Ranger trademark -- the William Tell Overture. It does not even accompany the film’s opening credits! The familiar score appears about one hour into the film. In a pivotal scene, John Reid prays at his brother’s grave and vows to avenge his death as he dons the mask for the first time. The William Tell Overture accompanies a montage featuring the newly masked man and Tonto galloping across the plains.
Considering its potential, The Legend of the Lone Ranger is a pretty lackluster affair. Its box office failure compounded from the uproar resulting from then Lone Ranger owner Wrather Corporation legally preventing Moore from capitalizing on the resurgent attention to the character by making personal appearances in Lone Ranger garb. Wrather’s actions prompted a massive debacle as Moore outpaced Hart again as the ‘official’ Lone Ranger in a public relations disaster for Wrather.
A nasty legal battle ensued with Wrather’s protection of its rights against Moore’s appearances. Wrather wanted to cut ties with the starchy, pure, virginal Lone Ranger of the 1950’s television show and insure a new era belonging to a sexier, edgier, and younger Lone Ranger.
Although the courts initially agreed that Wrather was within its rights to legally prevent Moore from trading on the Lone Ranger, Wrather management underestimated the mass appeal, affection, and popularity surrounding Moore. Letters streamed in to the Wrather offices declaring the management’s treatment of Moore as unfair, unjust, and unwarranted. These qualities are quite the opposite of those espoused by the Lone Ranger.
The public negated any legal weight on Wrather’s side as Moore represented -- in the hearts and minds of generations of Lone Ranger fans -- the only valid personification of the character. In turn, the Wrather group suffered bad publicity in the court of public opinion. Despite any legal justification on Wrather’s behalf, the fuss only helped Moore further reinforce his image as the one and only Lone Ranger.
The two sides eventually settled their differences, but the result proved too little too late as the controversy caused seemingly irreparable harm to the good will, credibility, and health of the Lone Ranger enterprise. Undoubtedly, a more profitable, likely, and viable scenario would have been to utilize Moore’s status to promote the movie and concurrent redistribution of the television series. Perhaps the film’s creative team could have written a cameo for Moore like the one enjoyed by John Hart.
Fans may have wondered if Hart’s stepping into the role and reprising it in later years resulted in any ill will between the two television Lone Rangers.
Oh, no. We’ve always been very friendly. We weren’t real close friends, but the relationship was always quite friendly, and as a matter of fact, when he got a chance to do a couple of shows that he didn’t want to do, he’d say, ‘Call John Hart. He’ll do it.’ So there was nothing between us at all.
In fact, the last time I saw him was for that big Vanity Fair picture of all the old cowboys. I came as Hawkeye. I hadn’t seen him for awhile. He greeted me like an old, long lost brother. He was a not too demonstrative kind of a guy, but there’s never been anything but friendship between us.
Similar to the way in which Moore began and ended the series, so too did the Lone Ranger’s mask undergo changes. At first, the mask was the familiar figure-eight style, but as the series progressed, a larger mask that also covered the nose replaced it. Hart wore this larger mask throughout his stint, but in the last years of the series, Moore returned to the original design.
Arguably the first major minority character on television, Jay Silverheels’ Tonto holds a distinct place in popular culture with questions arising in discussions of the Lone Ranger show, other incarnations, and characters. Was this earliest of minority characters in popular culture portrayed fairly? What sect of Indian was Tonto? What does the phrase ‘kemo sabe’ mean?
The portrayal of Tonto by Silverheels (born Harold J. Smith) stands as one of integrity, dignity, and depth, particularly in light of the timing. Television programming in the so-called Golden Era of the 1950’s did not exactly hold minorities on a pedestal.
Sociologically, The Legend of the Lone Ranger enjoys the distinction of being the first Lone Ranger story to really humanize Tonto. When the Lone Ranger’s faithful Indian companion first appeared on the radio program, he embodied savage traits and broken English. Holland reveals that the early radio shows depicted Tonto as a small, aged half-breed with the non-Indian half (Mexican, Caucasian, or whatever) left to the listener’s imagination: In those days, ‘Half-breed’ was a term almost exclusive to outcasts or outlaws and with Tonto fast becoming more partner than mere helper, he needed to become legitimate. He needed to become a full-blooded Indian. On the show broadcast May 4, 1936, Tonto became a full-fledged Indian, presumably younger, and a true counterpart to the Lone Ranger.
Van Hise surmises further about Tonto. Tonto joined around the fourth show as it was difficult writing a story in which the main character could only communicate twists in the story by telling his horse.
The role of Tonto was played throughout the radio series by John Todd. Additional story exposition was handled by the narrator, Brace Beemer. Beemer took over the role of the Lone Ranger in 1941 following the death of Lone Ranger #2, Earle W. Graser. Lone Ranger #1, George Seaton, had since left radio to become a movie director. Seaton directed the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
Van Hise explains that the Lone Ranger’s intent to wound enemies instead of killing them was a character trait later developed. An early Striker script states, Few men had dared to defy this Lone Ranger, and those that had were found dead.
Tonto
Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk Indian, earned high praise for his portrayal of Tonto on the 1950’s television series. Tonto’s duties included those associated with a second string character, e.g., messenger boy. Also, keep in mind that minorities were not exactly blanketing the television screen in the Eisenhower era. Silverheels’ dignified portrayal won awards, attention, and kudos moreso because it towed the line rather than changing perception, attitude, or role. Silverheels recognized the reality of the situation. In his 1995 book Riding the Video Range, Gary A. Yoggy highlights Silverheels by citing an article by James C. Jewell in the magazine Under Western Skies (January 1981). Jewell was WXYZ’s Dramatic Director during the Lone Ranger’s radio heyday.
Although the character of Tonto was beloved by the viewing public, Silverheels once confessed that he never felt truly comfortable playing the Lone Ranger’s sidekick. Silverheels felt that it was contradictory that Indians in films were habitually trapped and tricked from behind even though the Indians’ sense of hearing has long been known to be extremely acute...
The films, according to Silverheels, consistently portrayed Tonto as subservient to the Lone Ranger, who would rescue his Indian cohort from being outsmarted by mutual foes. Silverheels always viewed his work as Tonto realistically, however, recognizing that he had to play the role as written and directed to gain recognition as an actor. This, in turn, would allow him to bring about favorable changes in Indian portrayal.
Michael Horse’s Tonto in The Legend of the Lone Ranger extends Silverheels’ version in this regard. Yoggy presents a thoughtful view commending the Tonto depiction in The Lone Ranger as one of quality if not great depth.
And stilted dialogue notwithstanding, Tonto always displayed those qualities of character -- honesty, integrity, courage, honor, pride, loyalty and kindness -- that made him a positive role model for any race. His devotion to justice, his respect for law and order and his reverence for human life were in no way inferior to those of his white co-hero.
Certainly, Tonto never experienced the degrading status of many sidekicks in B and juvenile Westerns who were little better than buffoons injected into the stories to provide comedy relief and make the hero appear braver and more intelligent by comparison.
Yoggy regards Silverheels’ breakthrough as occurring immediately before his Tonto role. His first notable role was Coatle in Captain from Castille (1947). It was Key Largo (1948), which starred such Hollywood greats as Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and Lionel Barrymore, that gave him his most important early role as one of the Osceola brothers.
In 1969, Silverheels appeared as Tonto on The Tonight Show in a sketch depicting Tonto on a job interview. Silverheels also appeared on The Brady Braves, the second episode of the trilogy story opening the 1971-72 season of The Brady Bunch. The trilogy story line depicted America’s favorite family traveling to one of the country’s greatest wonders -- Grand Canyon. Silverheels played Chief Dan Eagle Cloud, grandfather to an Indian brave named Jimmy Pakaya. Bobby and Cindy befriend Jimmy when the step-siblings get lost.
For all intents and purposes, Tonto belongs to the Potawatomie [sic] tribe, though Silverheels himself was a Mohawk. Potwatomie as Tonto’s Indian heritage proves logically improbable because the tribe is indigenous to Michigan while Lone Ranger stories take place in the southwestern United States in the late 19th century. However, when one considers that the Lone Ranger property’s initial corporate home base was Detroit, real-life logic replaces story logic. We can safely presume that the Lone Ranger creative staff in the early days chose a familiar tribe in its local/regional geography. We need not know how Tonto got to the Southwest, we can imagine our own version of his migration.
In 1994, Topps Comics reinvented the Lone Ranger with a four-part story, The Lone Ranger and Tonto: It Crawls! The comic book story literally pulls no punches in depicting the Lone Ranger / Tonto relationship as fragile, volatile, and resilient. The impact is immediate as the first panel shows Tonto slugging the Lone Ranger, an inconceivable thought. It gives the reader pause to reexamine the partnership through the story and the characters’ conflict with each other. Coincidentally, a 1993 collection of short stories by Sherman Alexie is entitled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. The cover depicts a similar scene, though the stories’ connection to the famous duo is minimal at best.
In It Crawls!, the Lone Ranger and Tonto split but later reach reconciliation, or at the very least, an understanding.
It Crawls! highlights Tonto’s struggles with the popular perception of Indians, an especially difficult task reinforced by a new element: Ned Buntline dime novel stories featuring the Lone Ranger and his sidekick, sarcastically self-described as ‘heap big faithful Indian companion. The tension exhibits in an exchange between the Lone Ranger and Tonto as a sheriff exclaims, You and your Indian sure done good, feller.
Tonto explains, I’m not his Indian. I’m not anyone’s Indian.
His frustration is evident. You know, it’d be nice if one time you didn’t leave it to me to explain I’m not your Indian.
The Lone Ranger’s reply that Tonto fends for himself ‘quite well’ on his own allows Tonto to eloquently, directly, and succinctly reveal the core of the tension. I’m not sure I ought to have to do it alone.
It Crawls! features science fiction elements, a mainstay for comic book fans. The Lone Ranger and Tonto track down an alien inadvertently let loose during a robbery by the Wind Wagon Gang. The gang members mistake the alien for a mummy. During an encounter, Tonto realizes the alien’s Achilles Heel -- salt. As the alien puts it, the bleached whiteness of the sea. This bold attempt to gain today’s audience brings another interpretation to the Lone Ranger, combining the historical and traditional aspects with those of science fiction and fantasy.
Timothy Truman and Joe R. Lansdale guided the comic book story with particular emphasis on Tonto. In Comics Scene #47 (November 1994), Truman explained the team’s thought process. We wanted to show that he had a mind of his own. We never though of him as working for the Lone Ranger, but as being an equal partner. But due to these dime novels and it’s early in their careers and they’re establishing their own egos and jockeying for position, the Lone Ranger sometimes forgets their equality and inadvertently views Tonto as the Tonto of the dime novels. Tonto is a hero, instead of just a subservient lackey who goes into town to get the horses.
In Comics Buyer’s Guide #1095 (November 11, 1994), Truman answered Cat Yronwode’s critique of the team’s decision regarding Tonto’s syntax. [We decided] to have Tonto speak more than passable English, rather than the ignorant-savage pidgin-speak that our generation grew up with. While most of us became used to Tonto speaking this way via our exposure to the character on TV and radio, the fact remains that the character has been talking in proper English for many years now. I refer readers to the movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger and to the splendid comic strip by writer Cary Bates and artist Russ Heath, which appeared in newspapers at about the same time.
Truman also puts forth the history of the Potawatomi tribe, its origin in the Great Lakes area, and logical nexus to Tonto settling in the Southwest.
As a Potawatomi, Tonto’s parents and grandparents would have been part of the infamous ‘Trail of Death -- a forced march from Indiana to Kansas conducted by the U.S. government in 1938 which was similar to the more famous Cherokee ‘Trail of Tears.’ From Kansas, certain Potawatomi groups migrated to Texas’ next-door neighbor, Oklahoma.
Tonto’s phrase ‘kemo sabe’ strongly connects to the Lone Ranger. In the lexicon of the Lone Ranger story, the phrase means ‘trusty scout’ or ‘faithful friend.’ Holland offers the most authoritative origin for the phrase, noting that James Jewell’s father-in-law ran a boys camp in Michigan called ‘Kee-mo Sah-bee.’
In 2006, Dynamite Entertainment brought the Lone Ranger back to the comic book arena. Recent press announcements indicate a new Lone Ranger movie is in the works starring Johnny Depp as Tonto.
So the question now is: Who will be that masked man?