Yeah, I know: most people say “The Lone Ranger and Tonto” rather than the other way around, but to me the Native American always comes first. I got to thinking about them recently for an obvious reason: the recently released Disney film, The Lone Ranger. No Tonto in the title here, but at least the top-billed star, Johnny Depp, is playing the role (in war paint and everything), and from what I understand, the story is told from his point of view. This will make my bride immensely happy, as she loves Johnny Depp and his quirky roles. (Although I still can’t get her to see Sleepy Hollow.)
Jay Silverheels and Clayton Moore
Being an…uh, older person I grew up with the Lone Ranger and Tonto in the TV series, which ran from 1952 to 1954. (Years earlier it had been a radio program.) Loved the show! Clayton Moore played the Lone Ranger, and Tonto was portrayed by Jay Silverheels, a Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor. A deep-voiced announcer, Fred Foy, recited the classic opening to the show:
“A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver! The Lone Ranger! With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, 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!”
In my Native American-themed ghost story, The Burning Ground, I have a scene where a number of people are telling humorous stories. (Can’t tell you why; it’s a key plot point. Guess you’ll just have to read it.) I found an awesome Tonto/Lone Ranger
story on a Native American website and used it in the scene. Here it is:
Tonto and the Lone Ranger go camping in the foothills. They set up a tent and go to sleep. Hours later Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and asks him to look up, tell him what he sees. “A lot of stars,” he says, and Tonto says, “What does that tell you?” The Lone Ranger says, “That there are millions of galaxies and maybe billions of planets, and that we are just one small and insignificant speck in the cosmos. What does it tell you, Tonto?” And Tonto says, “It tells me, Kemo Sabe, that you are an idiot. It tells me that someone has stolen our tent.”
FACEBOOK UPDATE: one week on Facebook, and believe it or not, I’m starting to get the hang of it. You’re welcome to join me there.
ONE OF THE BEST: I’m saddened by the recent passing of Richard Matheson, one of 
my favorite writers. An icon, he wrote THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, I AM LEGEND, HELL HOUSE (among my favorite horror stories), SOMEWHERE IN TIME (one of my favorite stories, period; originally titled, BID TIME RETURN), and quite a few of the original TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, among many other works. I met him some years back, and he was a class act. He will be missed.
Your Lone Ranger and Tonto story is hilarious! I loved it the first time I read it and it still makes me laugh, especially imagining Jay Silverheels saying that.
Being a slightly less older person, I wasn’t on this Earth until after the TV show ended its first run. Fortunately, it lived on in syndication. Tonto was always my favorite character, as was Mingo in “Daniel Boone”. And, yes, I know Ed Ames is Jewish, not Native American, but the “Indians” were still the ones that caught my attention.
Johnny Depp as Tonto, especially in that get-up, with the bird on his head? If nothing else, it should prove interesting, to say the least.
Sorry to hear of Richard Matheson’s passing. It’s a sad thing (especially for us, I suppose) that people don’t always think of the original writers behind the stories we love, especially if we saw the movie versions, rather than reading the books. Very few authors are media personalities themselves.
However, in certain cases where they are, I’m not convinced it’s a good thing. 🙂
You are correct. My goal has always been to be “anonymously famous.” 🙂