Riding again with The Lone Ranger and Tonto

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.

If you’re old enough to recall that phrase, you’re probably qualified for AARP and most likely Social Security and Medicare.

“A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver!”

Those words announced each morning on my television set by a man who would later become my friend sent my spirits soaring in anticipation of 30 minutes of action and adventure.

“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 hoofs of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!”

Although the radio program, television series, two movie serials, and two major motion pictures had come and gone before I was born, The Lone Ranger lived in syndication and trailblazed across my living room television set for much of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

It came on each weekday morning and I watched religiously with my Lone Ranger and Tonto action figures (please don’t call them dolls) mounted on their trusty steeds on the coffee table while I sat on the couch and scarfed down my breakfast cereal.

After school, my passion would switch to “Star Trek,” but my mornings belonged to the masked man and his faithful Indian companion. As I moved into my teen years, I outgrew the legendary Texas Ranger, as did much of America. In the early 1980s there was a lot of uproar as actor Clayton Moore was stripped of his mask as Hollywood was attempting to revive the Ranger with a new movie, “The Legend of the Lone Ranger.”

I liked the movie well enough, but it bombed at the box office. For the next several years I maintained an interest in “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” and let my interest in The Lone Ranger become a ghost of my past. That ghost, however, kept haunting me in the back of my mind.

In the late 1990s I decided I wanted to write a book. I wanted something that was still popular, but not in a saturated market like my sci-fi favorites. That’s when the masked man rode gallantly back into the picture. I knew he was still popular enough to make a book a good seller, but nobody was doing anything with the character so the marketplace wasn’t crowded.

I began by doing research into the character and made a botched attempt to contact Clayton Moore by phone. I did get an autographed photo, however, and I treasure it. Eventually I came across a quarterly newsletter published by Terry Klepey called The Silver Bullet. I subscribed just about the time Moore passed away in 1999.

A few issues into my subscription, Kelpey announced he was ready to pass the torch. I took it up and began publishing the newsletter. At this time the WB network was attempting to revive The Lone Ranger and made a pilot episode that ran one time as a movie of the week. It was horrible, but it did help revive interest in the character. I also started to hear from longtime subscribers wishes for a club or organization they could be a part of like they did when they were kids. That gave me the bright idea to start The Lone Ranger Fan Club and to make The Silver Bullet the club’s newsletter.

I threw myself into the fan club to the tune that I was ignoring my new family. All my spare time was spent researching, writing, and staying connected online to other fans. I got to know Fred Foy, the legendary announcer whose voice started my heart racing each weekday morning of my childhood. I also got to know John Hart, who replaced Moore for one season, via numerous phone conversations.

I was at the center of the Lone Ranger universe, but not at the center of my family. It took me nine years of doing this to figure out how lopsided my priorities had become. In 2012, with Disney making a new, $250 million Lone Ranger movie that I could see was going to be a monumental success or major bomb (it bombed) and with the passing of Foy and Hart, I came to the realization that my family had to come first. So I passed the fan club on to someone else.

Not long after that the new owner and I had a huge falling out. I distanced myself from the fan club and let the masked man slip back into the pages of my history. Other than staying involved in a few Lone Ranger groups on Facebook, I let him go.

Then a couple months ago I got a phone call from one of my former members. He was taking over ownership of the club and wanted to pick my mind for information. We spoke for a long time. I hadn’t realized that 10 years had passed and that 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the fan club.

It felt great to relive those thrilling days of yesteryear. By the time we hung up, I was committed to returning to the club and contributing to the newsletter. My kids are adults now and I can contribute without obsessing over it. It feels great to be back in the saddle again.

Hi-yo Silver, away!

Joe Southern is the managing editor of the Wharton Journal-Spectator and the East Bernard Express. He can be reached at news@journal-spectator.com.