This month TV Acres pays homage to
...
"The Lone Ranger"
John Reid a.k.a. "The Lone Ranger" was the
lone survivor of six Texas rangers ambushed at
Bryant's Gap by the notorious Butch Cavendish and his
Hole-in-the-Wall gang in the 19th century. Vowing to
avenge this atrocity, the young ranger donned a mask
and called himself "The Lone Ranger"
eventually capturing the men responsible for his
fellow ranger's deaths. And from that point on with
his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and
resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight
for law and order in the early West.
The Lone Ranger was a friend to
decent people everywhere. To protect them and himself,
he wore two six-shooters specially made for him. He
never shot to kill but wounded if necessary. Silver
bullets were his ammunition of choice; he used the
bullets as a means of identifying himself to local law
enforcement.
The Lone Ranger wore a black mask to disguise his true
identity. After six Texas Rangers were ambushed by the
Butch Cavendish Gang, John Reid was nursed back to
health by an Indian named Tonto When asked what
happened to the other Texas Rangers, Tonto said
"Other Texas Rangers all dead. You only Ranger
left. You lone Ranger now." To conceal his
identity from the outlaws, the Ranger decides to cover
his face with a mask and then seek out Cavendish Gang.
The Ranger fashioned his mask from the black vest of
his dead brother Captain Daniel Reid.
As the surviving Ranger
transformed into this new identity, the voices of
history could be heard saying "There, is a light
that must have burned in the eyes of the knights in
armor. A light that through the ages lifted the souls
of strong men who fought for justice, for God."
Just then Reid proclaims "I'll be the Lone
Ranger" and pledges "For every one of those
men (his fallen Ranger colleagues) I'm going to bring
a hundred lawbreakers to justice. I'll make that
Cavendish Gang, and every criminal that I can find for
that matter, regret the day those Rangers were killed.
Tonto from this moment on I'm going to devote my life
to establishing law and order in this new frontier --
to make the West a decent place to live."
The Lone Ranger always wore his
mask and only removed it when he assumed a disguise.
However, the Lone Ranger once did take off his mask
for a dying woman named Grandma Frisby who had adopted
and raised the Lone Ranger's nephew, Dan Reid.
"Would you take off that mask and show me your
face," asked Grandma Frisby. As the Lone Ranger
does so, the old woman said "It's a good face,
yes, a good face."
The Lone Ranger's trademark silver bullets were made
from the silver ore taken from a mine once owned by
his brother Captain Daniel Reid, who was killed by the
Cavendish Gang. An old retired Ranger named Jim Blane
worked the silver mine (located under an old cabin)
and fashioned the silver ore into the Ranger's
bullets, which he used sparingly. He chose silver as
his medium to emphasize that silver, like life, was
precious and should not be wasted. Tonto advised the
Lone Ranger to use silver bullets because Tribal
chiefs used silver tips on their arrows to make them
fly straighter and longer and because "Silver is
pure...it has been a symbol of justice since the year
of the sun."
The silver bullets became a symbol of justice to
all honest men and a cause of fear to the lawbreakers.
The Ranger’s silver mine would be the basis of the
fortune that built the Reid publishing empire run by
Britt Reid, the crusading editor and publisher of The
Daily Sentinel who donned a similar mask to battle
crime as "The Green Hornet" in the Twentieth
Century.
When the Lone Ranger finished helping those in need he
rode off into the sunset never asking for thanks or
reward. As he galloped away he could be heard shouting
"Hi Yo Silver Away! to his trusty white horse
Silver. Inevitably, some onlooker would pose the
question "Who was that masked man?" and
someone on the scene was glad to tell them "Why
that was...The Lone Ranger."
TV Acres is proud to acknowledge the courage and the
selflessness of the Lone Ranger and hopes that
children in generations to come will take up his cause
for justice to make the world a better place. TV Acres
ranks The Lone Ranger as one of the finest
"Heroes in TV History"
The Lone Ranger's Creed:
"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 that which 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...and my
fellow man."
**********************
The Lone
Ranger character was created by Fran Striker and
George W. Trendle and debuted on WXYZ Detroit radio on
January 30, 1933 and ran until episode No.2596
entitled "Cold Spring Showdown" that aired
on September 3, 1954. The television adaptation ran on
ABC-TV from September 15, 1949 through September 12,
1957. During the 1952-54 season, John Hart played the
role of the Lone Ranger. Clayton Moore played the Lone
Ranger for the majority of the TV series run. Jay
Silverheels played the part of Tonto, The Lone
Ranger's faithful Indian sidekick.
