7 Things You May Not Know About ‘The Lone Ranger’
Among the first Western series to appear on TV, The Lone Ranger premiered on ABC in 1949, taking viewers by storm and lasting an impressive eight seasons. With Clayton Moore playing the masked hero for most of its run and Jay Silverheels as his loyal companion Tonto, The Lone Ranger delivered frontier action and justice, plus a clean-cut cowboy hero the whole family could enjoy. The Lone Ranger may have gotten his start in comic books and as a radio serial, but the TV series had viewers of all ages hollering “Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!” and made the legendary pop culture figure an entertainment icon that endures decades later.
Think you’re an expert in all things The Lone Ranger? Here are a few fun facts you may not know.
1 There were two Lone Rangers … but not if you ask most fans
Jesse James Rides Again star Clayton Moore was cast as the series’ original Lone Ranger and unabashedly loved the role — not just while he filmed, but for the rest of his life. Nonetheless, he was replaced in the show’s third season by movie actor John Hart, possibly over a contract dispute. In an interview with the South Bend Tribune, Moore’s daughter Dawn suggested that producers may have incorrectly believed that Moore wanted a cut of the merchandise earnings from the show, but no official reason has ever been pinned down.
In any case, viewers did not appreciate the switch, and Moore was rehired for Seasons 4 and 5, which were the last of The Lone Ranger’s 8 seasons to feature new episodes. In keeping with his devotion to his character’s strict code of moral conduct, Moore never talked publicly about the situation.
Hart would go on to play The Lone Ranger on the TV series Happy Days and The Greatest American Hero, and in the 1970 film The Phynx. He died in 2009.
2 Clayton Moore handpicked the horse who played Silver
Everett Collection
Silver was played by a snowy Morab-Tennessee Walking Horse mix named White Cloud. At the time, White Cloud was owned by Bill Ward, a horse wrangler who also served as Moore’s stuntman and stand-in. The handsome horse was 12 years old and stood an impressive 17 hands (that’s about 5’8”) tall. Moore admired White Cloud’s calm nature and indifference at carrying a rider wearing a mask. The pair developed a strong and trusting relationship that carried over onto the screen.
3 The Lone Ranger’s battle cry is “Hi-yo!” not “Hi-ho!” (and he may not have been the first to say it)
Plenty of folks — even diehard Lone Ranger fans — think his famous battle cry is “Hi-ho, Silver!” It’s actually “Hi-yo, Silver!”
And that’s not all: another early Western star claimed that both the catchphrase and a horse named Silver belonged to him first. In 1939, Buck Jones, who’d worked as a cowboy before he turned to playing one on the radio and in films, took Republic Pictures to court, intending to reclaim both. Both the court and the media were perplexed by how to even punctuate the phrase, not even Jones seemed to whether he said ho or yo, and the case was tossed out in short order.
Moore was free to holler “Hi-yo!” to Silver to his heart’s content.
4 ‘The Lone Ranger’ theme song serves as a tongue-in-cheek IQ test
Though composer Gioachino Rossini wrote his “William Tell Overture” in 1829, most folks know the galloping piece best as The Lone Ranger theme song. A quote that has been attributed to everyone from Denver Post scribe Jack Guin to newsman-turned-pundit Dan Rather to British journalist David Frost asserts that the definition of an intellectual is “a man who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of The Lone Ranger.”
5 Moore vowed to live by The Lone Ranger’s strict code of conduct — even after the series ended
Clayton Moore, ca. 1980s
The Lone Ranger‘s creators George W. Trendle and Fran Striker wanted to create a cowboy hero who was brave and exciting, but also honorable to his core. The pair were so concerned that the character and his adventures remain consistent that they crafted a Lone Ranger code of conduct to ensure that even the youngest Western fans had someone to look up to. The Lone Ranger never drank alcohol, smoked or cursed, and fiercely defended order and fair play.
In a 1979 interview, Moore told The New York Times that he found that a fine way to go about life — and one not easily accomplished in Hollywood. After the television series ended, he said, “I had a decision to make about what to do — whether to go back into motion pictures as an actor, which is what I did before, or spend the rest of my life appearing as Clayton Moore, who portrayed the Lone Ranger.”
He chose the latter.
6 In later life, Moore had to fight for his right to wear his mask
Everett Collection
In the series’ fifth season, rights to the Lone Ranger character had been sold to Texas oilman-turned-TV producer Jack Wrather.
Some 20 years later — a time when Moore had been appearing as The Lone Ranger at hospitals, fan fairs and charity events for three decades without incident — Wrather went after the former actor, attempting to force him to stop wearing the Ranger’s mask. Intending to make a more modernized movie version of The Lone Ranger story, Wrather believed that the sixty-something actor did not fit the current image his company was trying to craft for their hero.
Moore battled back hard. When he lost the right to wear a mask, he found himself a pair of Foster Grant wraparound sunglasses to take their place, but — like The Lone Ranger himself — kept up the fight for justice. In 1984, he won a countersuit allowing him to resume wearing his costume, and to keep bringing their TV hero to his still faithful fans.
Further proof that justice was served: Wrather’s 1981 film, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, bombed, largely because of the negative publicity from the lawsuit and Wrather’s poor treatment of Moore.
7 The Lone Ranger never killed a soul
Though he was known for his fancy silver bullets, The Lone Ranger only ever used them to wound the bad guys and convince them to change their ways. At the time, silver was rare and valuable, helping to remind the Ranger and others that life was precious, too. And since he never used his real name, he also used those bullets to announce his arrival, no name required.
Remind