Editing The Masked Marshall (section)

==Birth of the Radio Series==
The first of 2,956 episodes of The Lone Ranger aired on radio on January 30, 1933 on WXYZ-AM radio in Detroit, Michigan and later on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network. The Lone Ranger became one of the most successful properties on radio.

The hero is a Texas Ranger named Reid, who, as the series begins, was pursuing the criminal Butch Cavendish and his gang with a group of other rangers. (Some later radio reference books erroneously claimed Reid's first name was John; however, in fact, the question of the Ranger's first name never came up during the scripting of either radio or TV adventures. Thus, no such name was ever adopted or used on either the radio or television program. The leader of the group of rangers was stated to be Captain Dan Reid, his brother. The name of "John" Reid's nephew, a later character, who became a sort of juvenile sidekick of the Ranger's, was also Dan Reid.) The party finds itself in a murderous ambush arranged by Cavendish and a traitor, Collins, that seemingly leaves every ranger dead. Then Cavendish shoots Collins in the back, reasoning that someone who could betray the rangers could also betray his gang.

Reid's childhood friend, a Native American known as Tonto (his tribe was seldom specified, but some books say he was probably supposed to be an Apache, while the radio programs identified him as a Potawatami), finds the party and finds Reid alive. Tonto takes him to safety and nurses him back to health. Tonto reminds Reid of when they were young, and Reid had rescued Tonto after renegade Indians had murdered his mother and sister and left him for dead. Reid gave him a horse, and Tonto insisted that Reid accept a ring. It is by this ring that Tonto recognizes Reid.

(This is actually a retroactive change to Tonto's origin. As originally presented, in the Dec. 7, 1938 radio broadcast, Reid had already been well-established as the Lone Ranger when he met Tonto. In that episode, "Cactus Pete", a friend of the Lone Ranger tells the story of how the masked man and Tonto first met. According to that tale, Tonto had been caught in the explosion when two men dynamited a gold mine they were working. One of the men wanted to kill the wounded Tonto, but the Lone Ranger arrived on the scene, and made him administer first aid. The man subsequently decided to keep Tonto around, intending to make him the fall guy when he would later murder his partner. The Lone Ranger foiled both the attempted murder and the attempted framing of Tonto. No reason was given in the episode as to why Tonto chose to travel with the Lone Ranger, rather than continue about his business. A reasonable assumption would be that he felt a sense of gratitude to the man).

While Reid recovers, Tonto buries the dead rangers. Reid vows to bring the killers and others like them to justice. So he asks Tonto to make a sixth grave to make people think that he had died as well. But Collins is also still alive, and tries to kill the pair so he can take Tonto's horse, Scout. But he falls to his death while trying to drop a rock on Reid. Thus perished the only other man who knew that Reid survived.

By happenstance, the pair discovers a magnificent white stallion, wounded by a buffalo. Reid and Tonto nurse the stallion back to health, which is then adopted by Reid as his mount, Silver. Whenever the Ranger mounts Silver he shouts, "Hi ho, Silver, away!" which besides sounding dramatic, originally served to tell the radio audience that a riding sequence was about to start.

They also find an old mentor of Reid's, who discovered a lost silver mine some time back. Reid's mentor is the only one besides Tonto who knows the identity of the Lone Ranger. And he is willing to work it and supply Reid and Tonto as much silver as they want! Using material from his brother's old Texas Ranger vest, Reid fashions the mask that will mark him as the Lone Ranger. In addition, the Lone 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 wander the Old American West helping people and fighting injustice where they find it. The Lone Ranger was also a master of disguise, and in particular would often infiltrate an area as the "Old Prospector", an old-time miner with a full beard, so that he can go places where the Lone Ranger would never fit in, usually to gather intelligence about criminal activities.

According to "The Legend of Silver", a radio episode broadcast September 30, 1938, before acquiring Silver the Lone Ranger rode a chestnut mare called Dusty. After Dusty was killed by a criminal that Reid and Tonto were tracking, Reid saved Silver's life from an enraged buffalo, and in gratitude Silver chose to give up his wild life to carry him. Silver's father was called Sylvan, and his mother was Musa. In another episode, the lingering question of Tonto's mode of transport was resolved when the pair found a secluded valley and the Lone Ranger, in an urge of conscience, released Silver back to the wild. The episode ends with Silver returning to the Ranger bringing along a companion who becomes Tonto's horse, Scout.

On radio, the Lone Ranger was played by several actors, including George Seaton (under the name George Stenius) from January 31 to May 9 of 1933; series director James Jewell and an actor known only by the pseudonym "Jack Deeds" (for one episode each), and then by Earle Graser from May 16, 1933 until April 7, 1941. On April 8, Graser died in a car accident, and for five episodes, the Lone Ranger was unable to speak beyond a whisper, with Tonto carrying the action. Finally, on the broadcast of April 18, 1941, deep-voiced performer Brace Beemer, who had been the show's announcer for several years, took over the role and played the part until the end. Tonto was played throughout the run by actor John Todd, and other supporting players were selected from Detroit area actors and studio staff. These included Jay Michael (as various villains, including Butch Cavendish), Paul Sutton (as the Ranger's friend Thunder Martin and as various army colonels and badmen), future movie star John Hodiak, Janka Fasciszewska (under the name Jane Fae), and others. The part of nephew Dan Reid was played by various child actors, including Ernie Winstanley, James Lipton, and Dick Beals.

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

===Green Hornet===
The radio series also inspired a spin-off called the Green Hornet which depicts John Reid's grand nephew, Britt Reid, originally played by Al Hodge, who in contemporary times fights crime with a similar secret identity and sidekick, Kato. However, the properties have been acquired by different interests and the familial link has been downplayed. Not surprisingly, the Lone Ranger-Green Hornet connection is one of the most important parts of the Wold Newton family, which connects disparate fictional characters.