Lone Ranger FAQ
What is Tonto's horse's name?
Tonto's horse is named "Scout." He's a spotted palamino or "paint."
Originally, Tonto rode double with the Lone Ranger on Silver.  After a publicity photo was taken of the Lone Ranger and Tonto this way, WXYZ wisely decided to give Tonto his own steed.
Scout was originally supposed to be solid white like Silver, but when they made the movie serials they realized that it would make Silver less impressive that way, so Scout was changed.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Scout was always named Scout.
The Lone Ranger's nephew, Dan Reid rode the son of Silver, Victor.
Correction: Hunter Hampton (HHamp5246@aol.com) mailed me to say that Scout is actually a Pinto (bay and white.)
Correction#2: It appears that Scout *did* have another name, well sort of. According to Wes Tom (Wwtom@aol.com), Scout was called "White Feller" in the early Lone Ranger novels. You can decide whether or not that counts.
Is Kemosabe a real word? What does it really mean?
Kemosabe (or any of the other various spellings) *is* a real word. It's from the language of the Potowatomie Indians. The Potowatomie Indians lived in and around Michigan. (The Lone Ranger originated at WXYZ in Detroit.) One of the shows' producers, Jim Jewell, had a father-in-law who ran a boy's camp named "Camp Kee-mo-sah-bee."
Kemosabe means "faithful friend" or "trusty scout."
Isn't it true that Tonto means "fool" in Spanish?
This *is* true, but it was not that meaning that was intended by the producers of the show.
There are two versions of the story.
Fran Striker told the Saturday Evening Post that he invented Tonto's name and that it was picked by merely alterring the consanants in the name Bobo. (This was a caveman character Striker had created in another radio program.)
Jim Jewell says that Striker was remembering wrong. Tonto, he said, is another Potowatomie word.
There were a few Indians who would come to the camp to tell stories to the children.
One of the Indians apparently had a penchant for drinking after the children had gone to sleep. Sometimes he would get rowdy and the other Indians would call him "tonto." This meant "wild one."
Jewell remembered the word, liked it, and gave the name to the Lone Ranger's Indian companion.
What is the Lone Ranger's real name?
This is another question that can be answered in two ways.
We know that the Ranger's last name is "Reid," because his brother who was killed in the ambush by the Cavendish Gang was named Dan Reid. (This is also the name of the Lone Ranger's nephew, although we do not know what his true first name was. His mother was killed in an Indian attack and the kindly woman who raised him got the name Dan from a locket that Dan's mother had worn.)
No first name was given to the Lone Ranger during the radio and television program.
Somehow, though, the name "John" appeared in the liner notes of a Lone Ranger record. (Wes Tom fills in this part: "The name John first appeared in the book Radio's Golden Age by Frank Buxton and Bill Owen in 1966 published by Easton Valley Press.")
The name was used in the 1981 "Legend of the Lone Ranger" movie.
Many, however, refuse to accept that name as the Ranger's true name. This is debatable.
Britt Reid is the name of the alter-ego of the Green Hornet. He is the Lone Ranger's nephew's grandson. (Or son, depending on whether you're talking about the radio Green Hornet or the television Green Hornet.)
Why was Clayton Moore removed for awhile as the Lone Ranger and replaced by John Hart?
We will probably never know.
The rumor at the time was that Clayton Moore had demanded a salary increase and was fired by the owner of the Ranger property, George W. Trendle.
However, Moore says in his autobiography that he didn't make any such request and that it was clear that Trendle intended to replace him at least a year prior to the dismissal, since Trendle had ordered that the mask be made larger to cover more of Moore's face. Moore says he was given no reason when he was fired. Nor was he given any reason when they asked him to return.
Moore speculates that Trendle disliked the fact that his property was becoming more identified with Moore than with Trendle. Moore thinks that Trendle didn't want any actor *being* the Lone Ranger in the public's mind.
Moore's return to the show was just before the selling of the property to the Wrather Corporation. It's possible that Trendle realized that Hart's Ranger wasn't as popular and thought the property would be worth more with Moore back in place.
This is all speculation, though.
UPDATE! Glen Hawkins (Hawkman@webtv.net) wrote me to say:
I spent a lot of time with George W. Trendle during the filming of the Green Hornet TV series. He told me he objected to Moore doing other roles and thought John Hart was a younger Brace Beemer.
"Until he put on the mask," Trendle said. "Then he became very stiff and wooden.  Clayton Moore was just the opposite."
Hart told me and has said many times that his and Moore's differences with Trendle were always over money.
"That was the cheapest outfit I ever worked for,'" said Hart.
Jay Michaels, who essayed a lot of goodguy/badguy roles for  the Ranger's radio show, told a story about John Hodiak going "upstairs" to ask for a five dollar raise and being turned down.
"Hodiak quit, went to Hollywood, and became a big movie star!" said Michaels.
Trendle loved Moore and appreciated Moore's dedication to the spirit of the character. Trendle told me that a number of times.
What was the Lone Ranger's mask made of?
Story-wise, it was made from the fabric of the Ranger's brother's (Dan Reid) black vest. The one he was wearing when he was killed along with the other Rangers.
According to Clayton Moore's autobiography, the actual masks used in the series were made from plaster with felt on the top of them. In the black and white episodes, purple felt was used! Black felt was used in the color productions.
Is there going to be a new Lone Ranger television series or movie?
Yes. Well, at least it's being talked about again. :)
Lone Ranger Returns In Updated Movie
By Michael Fleming
NEW YORK (Variety) - "The Lone Ranger" is returning to the big screen in a movie that will attempt to emphasize the campy elements in the story of the masked man and his Native American sidekick.
The family films division of 20th Century Fox has hired P.J. Pesce, who helmed the acclaimed TNT movie "The Desperate Trail," to direct the project from a script by Steve Maeda (Sandblast).
"P.J. and Steve's work is fresh and stylish, and we feel they're the perfect pair to reinvent the Lone Ranger," said Ben Myron, who's producing with David Helpern.
The Desperate Trail starred Sam Elliott and Linda Fiorentino. Pesce was named best director when the film showed at the Hamptons Film Festival.
Looks like production is being pushed back some...
P.J. PESCE starts "Dusk" prequel
P.J. Pesce, who was expected to next direct "The Lone Ranger" at Fox Family Films, will make the masked gunman wait. He'll instead begin work immediately directing "Hangman's Daughter," the prequel to "From Dusk Till Dawn."
The prequel, which starts shooting Oct. 15, was scripted by Robert and Alvaro Rodriguez, and traces the evolution of the character Santanica Pandemonium, who was portrayed memorably in the original by Salma Hayek. She won't reprise the role, since they're looking for someone even younger.
Pesce, who made his mark with the Western "The Desperate Trail," is repped by UTA's David Kanter and managed by 3 Arts.
Miramax's Dimension Films division plans to drain every drop of blood from the vampire franchise. As soon as Pesce completes production on the prequel, Scott Spiegel will start work on the sequel, "Texas Blood Money." The sequel, based on a story by "Dusk" scribe Quentin Tarantino, Spiegel and Boaz Yakim, was scripted by Spiegel and Duane Whitaker.
Pesce will then go back and do "Lone Ranger," and move on to "The Battle of Ono," a Western about Chinese immigrants working on the railroads in the 1870s. John Woo produces and Chow Yun-Fat will star, with several studios in talks to acquire the rights.
Pesce wrote the "Battle" script with Tom Abrams and David Henry Hwang.
UPDATE! Word has come to me that actor George Lazenby (best known for his portrayal of James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service") is really interested in the new movie and is hoping the producers will let him in! I've no idea what role Mr. Lazenby's interested in, but if you're connected to the movie, Mr. Lazenby is waiting for a call!
Why does the Lone Ranger use Silver Bullets?
If you read the Saturday Evening Post article on this site, you'll see that Striker borrowed it from a Robin Hood radio program he'd written where Robin used silver arrowheads to identify himself. Later, a more philosophical reason was given. Silver bullets reminded the Ranger how expensive firing a gun at a man was. Not that this seemed to sway him from firing his gun an awful lot. :)  Just not to kill anyone.
Okay, so where did he get all of these bullets?
The Lone Ranger had a silver mine that he and his brother, Dan, had planned on using for their retirement. A retired Texas Ranger (who knew the Ranger's secret) agreed to work it for him and make the silver bullets. The Lone Ranger and Tonto would periodically visit the old Ranger and stock up on bullets and silver to use to buy goods. (This mine would be the basis of the fortune that built the Reid publishing empire in the Green Hornet.)
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