September 15, 1949: “The Lone Ranger” Comes to TV

Clayton Moore

September 15, 1949: The Lone Ranger debuts on ABC. It runs for 8 seasons, the last of which is in color. John Hart (1917-2009) played the Ranger in seasons 3 and 4, and played himself in costume in an episode of Happy Days. Clayton Moore (1914-1999) played him in the other seasons.

Harold Jay Smith (1912-1980), grandson of a Canadian Mohawk chief, who acted under the name Jay Silverheels, played Tonto. "Tonto" means "wild one" in the language of the Potawatomi tribe. But in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, it means "stupid," so he became "Toro," or "bull," in versions for the countries of those languages.

Tonto called the Lone Ranger "Kemosabe," another Potawatomi word, derived from "gimoozaabi," which means "he/she looks out in secret." It has been occasionally translated as "trusty scout" or "faithful friend." The word was suggested by the characters' co-creator, James Jewell, whose father-in-law owned a summer camp with that name. The Ranger's horse was named Silver, and Tonto's was named Scout.

Jewell was a director at Detroit radio station WXYZ, on which the Lone Ranger debuted in 1933. The character was John Reid, the only survivor of 6 Texas Rangers who were ambushed. The leader was his brother, Dan Reid.

In 1936, WXYZ created another crimefighter, the Green Hornet, a.k.a. Britt Reid, the son of Dan, and the beneficiary of the silver mine that not only named his uncle's horse, but funded the Daily Sentinel newspaper that Britt ran. In the 1966 TV version, Britt was the grandson of the Lone Ranger's brother.

The disastrous 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger starred Klinton Spilsbury as the Ranger and Michael Horse as Tonto. The 2013 version had Armie Hammer as the Ranger and Johnny Depp as Tonto, proving 2 things: Disney should never reboot another classic character, and it was possible to make a character more of a racist stereotype in the 2010s than it was in the 1950s.

The TV show's theme song is the overture to Gioachino Rossini's 1829 opera William Tell. Comedian Orson Bean once said, "An intellectual is someone who can hear The William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger." Ironically, there are no horses in the Rossini opera.

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September 15, 1949 was a Thursday. There was only one score on this historic day, but it was a significant one in baseball: The Cleveland Indians beat the New York Yankees, 10-6 at Yankee Stadium. Bob Lemon outpitched former teammate Allie Reynolds. Larry Doby hit a home run for the Tribe, while Yogi Berra and Cliff Mapes hit them for the Yanks. Joe DiMaggio went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Yankees had led the American League for most of the way, but their many injuries were catching up with them. They would end up blowing a 12-game lead over the Boston Red Sox, and would have to sweep the Sox in the last 2 games of the regular season to win the Pennant. They did.