The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger was an early, long-running radio and television show. The basic premise is about a masked cowboy in the Old West who gallops about righting injustices, usually having the aid of a laconic, clever American Indian called "Tonto". The first of 2,956 episodes of The Lone Ranger aired on the radio for the first time on January 30, 1933 on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network.

The origin of the hero is of John Reid, a Texas Ranger, was pursuing the criminal Butch Cavendich with a group of other rangers. However, the party found themselves in a murderous ambush arranged by Cavendich which left seemingly every ranger dead. Soon after, Reid's childhood friend, a Comanche brave known as Tonto, finds the party and discovers Reid to be alive. Tonto takes him to safety and nurses him back to health.

When John recovers, he and Tonto return to bury the dead rangers and vows to bring the killers and others like them to justice. By happenstance, the pair soon discovers a magnificent white stallion who Reid adopts as his mount, Silver. Furthermore, they also discover a lost silver mine and a prospector who is willing to work it and supply Reid and Tonto as much silver as they want. Taking a piece of cloth which happens to have bullet holes positioned perfectly to allow for the eyes, Reid fashions a mask that would mark him as the Lone Ranger. In addition, The Ranger decides to use only silver bullets as a reminder of his vows to fight for justice and never to shoot to kill. Together, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, who rides his own mount, Scout wander the Old American West helping people and fighting injustice where they find it.

This property became one of the most successful properties on radio, starting at station WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. The series also inspired numerous comic books, movie serials, books and television series, a live action best known for staring Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. Later adaptations are notable for the efforts to remove the stereotypical elements about the Tonto character like his broken English and change him into a proud and articulate warrior who is treated by the Ranger as an equal partner.

The radio series also created as a spin-off called the Green Hornet which depicts John Reid's grand nephew, Britt Reid who in contemporary times, fights crime with a similar secret identity and sidekick. However, nowadays the properties have been acquired by different interests and the familial link has been downplayed.

The catch phrase is "The Lone Ranger Rides Again!" and the theme music was Rossini's William Tell Overture (da-da-dump da-da-dump da-da dum dum dum!)

The last new radio episode of the Lone Ranger was aired on September 3, 1954.