"Happy Trails..." - At the conclusion of each episode of western series THE ROY ROGERS SHOW/NBC/1951-57, Roy Rogers "The King of the Cowboys" and Dale Evans "The Queen of the West" sang their trademark sign-off duet of "Happy Trails To You" (written by Dale Evans Rogers). The song lyrics intoned:

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.

Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.

Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.

"Hi-Yo, Silver Away!" - Rousing command giving to Silver the white horse during each episode of the western adventure THE LONE RANGER/ABC/1949-57.

When the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) finished helping settlers in the Old West, he mounted his horse and rode away but not before mouthing the classic signature signoff "Hi-Yo Silver Away!"

According to the book "Who Was That Masked Man?" by David Rothel, the phrase "Hi-Yo, Silver Away!" went through a series of revision before its original debut on radio on January 30, 1933.

Examples of earlier versions written by Fran Striker included:

• "Hi-Yi, Yippy, Silver away,"
• "Come along, Silver! that's the boy...Hi-Yi (hearty laugh)...Now cut loose and awa-a-y."

According to director Jim Jewell, the actor George Seaton who was playing the role of the Lone Ranger in the original episodes didn't make a convincing laugh as scripted. So, in an effort to help the actor out, the writer's experimented with other phrase like "Hi-Yi!" and "Yippee" among others.

Finally according to Jewell he recommended the English saying "Heigh-Ho" and with a slight change "Hi-Yo, Silver Away!" was born.

A whistle originally followed the "Hi-Yo, Silver Away" phrase but was later deleted from the script when Jim Jewell left radio station WXYZ (he was the whistle).

Two songs entitled "Hi-Yo Silver" were produced for the Lone Ranger films. The first was produced for the 1938 Lone Ranger movie serial; and the second one (written by Les Baxter and Lenny Adelson) appeared during the opening credits of the feature film The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958) starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels.

TRIVIA NOTE: According to historian Irving Settel, the phrase "Hi-Yo Silver" was used as a password by American troops entering Algiers during World War II.

 

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