NRR Project: The Lone Ranger -- 'The Osage Bank Robbery' (Dec. 17, 1937)

 

Earle Graser, the first great impersonator of the Masked Rider of the Plains.

NRR Project: The Lone Ranger – “The Osage Bank Robbery”

Written by Fran Striker

Directed by James Jewell

Broadcast Dec. 17, 1937

“He is simply the best-known hero of the West ever created,” writes radio historian John Dunning, and of course he is right. It is a fact that the one character dramatic radio produced that survived its heyday, and that remains known throughout the culture, is the one and only Lone Ranger.

His creator George W. Trendle referred to him as “the embodiment of answered prayer.” He was the most upright of heroes, a vigilante lawman of the Old West who went masked and never stopped to receive thanks from those he saved from the clutches of evil. He did not drink, or smoke, or curse. According to Fran Striker, the man whose prolific writing brought him to life, the Lone Ranger even had a creed – 

“1. I believe that to have a friend, a man must be one.

2. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.

3. That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.

4. In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.

5. That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.

6. That ‘this government, of the people, by the people, and for the people,’ shall live always.

7. That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.

8. That sooner or later... somewhere... somehow... we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.

9. That all things change, but the truth, and the truth alone lives on forever.

10. I believe in my Creator, my country, my fellow man.”

He was incorruptible, honest, utterly and unswervingly dependable. He never had romantic doings with women, that we knew of. He spoke correct English, and never misused it. He fired his pistols expertly, only to disarm, never to wound or kill. He was a saint in cowboy gear.

As the best-known opening narration of the show stated so eloquently:

“With his faithful Indian companion, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early Western United States. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!”

His origin story is mythic. He is one of six Texas Rangers who were ambushed at Bryant’s Gap by the outlaw Butch Cavendish and his gang. Surrounded and outgunned, all the Rangers were killed – save one, John Reid who was mortally wounded and left for dead. Reid is found and nursed back to health by a childhood friend, the Native American, Tonto, who also digs six graves so that no one will know he survived. Reid swears to avenge the death of his fellow Rangers by upholding the principles of truth and justice. He is ready to take on a new identity.

“You lone Ranger now,” comments Tonto. And the man is born.

He was born on Jan. 31, 1933, via station WXYZ in Detroit. The station’s owner, the aforementioned Trendle, left his association with the CBS network, losing access to its shows. He determined to operate independently, and starting searching for a show that would be a hit.

He settled on the idea of a Western series, and then he and several others, some of whom also complained that they were all least partly responsible for the creation of the character, hashed out the details of the show. The outline was then passed on to hack writer extraordinaire, Fran Striker, who is said to have crushed out 60,000 words a WEEK for for various radio shows, magazines, books, and the like. It was Striker who developed and refined the character.

The show was an immediate hit. Promotions that were advertised on the air resulted in thousands of responses. Soon WXYZ could syndicate the show to other stations, eventually creating what came to be known as the Mutual Broadcasting System, which wound up bigger than only NBC and CBS. The Lone Ranger founded a financial dynasty.

The show is still instantly recognizable, as the closing strains of Rossini’s (public domain) overture to his 1829 opera William Tell rang out, ever to be identified as the Lone Ranger’s theme. (It can only be speculated what Rossini might have thought of this.) After the stirring opening narration, each self-contained episode would begin.

There was trouble at the bank, or with ranchers vs. farmers, or bandits, rustlers, crooked sheriffs, and on and on. The conflict was quickly established, as the good and bad characters interacted for the first half of the episode, setting up a confrontation. Then the Lone Ranger would swoop in (frequently Tonto clued him in to what was going on), and through words of wisdom and, if necessary, gunplay, he would put the situation to right.

“The Osage Bank Robbery” is a typical Ranger story. Two grizzled, kindly old prospectors have run out of money and face starvation. Two bandits, merciless killers, hide after a robbery in the abandoned mine the two prospectors had worked. The Ranger brings the prospectors out to the mine under the impression that there was more silver to be mined from it. There they set off a charge that closes the mouth of the mine, leaving the bandits helpless inside. The Ranger lets the prospectors capture them and get the reward, saving their bacon, so to speak. And, of course, before he can be thanked, it’s “Hi-yo, Silver! Awaaay!” And off he and Tonto go.

Director James Jewell had been with the project since the beginning, having already created a repertory acting company for the station, and blessed with a talented and resourceful sound effects department. Upwards of a dozen actors could be called on for a single episode. The Ranger was played primarily by Earle Graser until his tragic death in 1941 – after that, Brace Beemer filled the role. John Todd played Tonto the whole way. Taken all together, this small mob of collaborators created shows that still stand up to a good listening.

Of course, the show was not woke and had its problematic aspects, first of all in the character of Tonto. Although he is portrayed as intelligent and possessed of a will of his own, he speaks in monosyllables that render him frequently as though he were simple-minded. Still, the show avoided ethnic stereotypes – there were no comic Chinese, Black, or Mexican characters, a rarity for the time.

The show had a religious group of fans, and the show persisted through 1954, a 21-year run unmatched in the industry. He was the idol of children and, as they grew up, adults as well. The Ranger was impossibly perfect, but if you’re going to have a hero, why not insist on the best? At his best, the Lone Ranger affirmed that right and wrong existed, and that right can win out over wrong. Not a bad creed to live by.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: The Wisconsin Folksong Collection.