Lone Ranger

Known Relatives : Dan Reid (brother, deceased); Linda Reid (sister-in-law, deceased), Dan Reid Jr (nephew); Britt Reid (grand-nephew, a.k.a. the Green Hornet ), extended family through Britt History : John Reid was a young Texas Ranger, serving under his older brother, Captain Dan Reid. After the murderous Butch Cavendish gang committed a number of brutal crimes, John joined Dan, four other Rangers and a scout, Collins, in tracking them down. The treacherous Collins, who was working with Cavendish, led them into an ambush in the canyon known as Bryant's Gap. John was the only survivor, badly wounded and left for dead by the gang. Luckily for John, he was found before he could expire, he was found by Tonto, a member of the Potawatamie tribe who lived in the area, who informed the survivor "others dead, you lone ranger now". To protect his charge from Cavendish and his men, Tonto dug an extra grave when he buried the Rangers, perpetuating the myth that there were no survivors from the ambush. Then he nursed John back to health, a process of several months. As he recovered, Reid vowed to honour his fallen brother's memories by bringing justice to the West, and his new friend Tonto dedicated himself to the same goal. Reid adopted the name Tonto had unwittingly given him, back when he found him in the Gap, becoming the masked gunman known as the Lone Ranger. Early in his new career, he gained his faithful steed Silver, when he came across the horse being gored by a buffalo, and saved its life. A silver mine he had inherited was used to supply the metal for his distinctive trademark, silver bullets manufactured for him by a retired Ranger who knew his secret. After tracking down the Cavendish gang and ending their reign of terror, he continued his crusade of cleaning up the territory. The Lone Ranger became known throughout the west for his dedication in protecting the innocent, his marksmanship and humanity (he never killed anyone, only shooting to wound), and his his unswerving sense of justice. Many a rustler, bank robber or gunslinger came to fear hearing the Lone Ranger's cry "Hi-Yo, Silver, awaaaay!" Comments : Created by George W.Trendle with assistance from Fran Striker. The Lone Ranger debuted on a Detroit radio show in 1933, and went national in under two years. Earle Graser was the first man to play the part, but after he died in a car crash in April 1941, the show survived by having the Ranger ill for several weeks, and unable to do anything but breathe heavily (the same trick was used in the Superman radio show to allow the lead actor a holiday, causing the introduction of Kryptonite into that character's canon), before having Brace Beemer, who had previously been the narrator, take over the part. The show lasted on radio until the 3rd of September, 1954, clocking up a staggering 2,596 episodes. By this time, the Ranger had managed to transfer to other mediums: Books 1936 saw the first Lone Ranger novel. The series, which eventually ran to 18 titles, was originally written by Gaylord Dubois (first book only), then by Fran Striker (a.k.a. Francis Hamilton Striker) thereafter. Striker was eventually named author of the first book in later editions after much editing a re-writing, leading to the misconception that Striker was Dubois' pen-name (a mistake I unknowingly perpetuated until Joe Southern of the Lone Ranger Fan Club corrected me). In 1968, Big Little Books released "The Lone Ranger Outwits Crazy Cougar". Cartoons There have been two Lone Ranger cartoons. In September 1966 CBS launched "The Lone Ranger" starring Michael Rye and Shepard Menken as the two heroes. The show lasted thirty episodes (many split into two or three adventures, so that there were 65 installments in total), and the last episode aired on the 9th of March 1968. CBS tried again, launching "The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger" which debuted as part of the "Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour" in 1981. This time round actor William Conrad (cr