Tonto: Tales of the Lone Ranger

Originally Aired: June 6, 1938
The Lone Ranger #836, "The Silver Spur," centers on Sandy Tyndale, a young man who has served two years in prison for shooting a crooked gambler in self-defense. The Lone Ranger, who originally brought Sandy in to face justice, promised to meet him when he was released and believes the young man has learned his lesson. However, when the stagecoach arrives in Pendleton, Sandy is nowhere to be found. Instead, the driver Abe Carter lies dead, five thousand dollars meant for banker Pottle's bank has been stolen, and one of Sandy's distinctive silver spurs is discovered caught...

Originally Aired: June 3, 1938
The Lone Ranger #835, "Woman In Hacksaw A," finds two irresponsible Civil War veterans, Hacksaw Hastings and Bolivar Bates, in trouble once again. Hacksaw boasts about the fortune he and Bolivar earned collecting taxes in Las Palmas County while sitting in Pete Greer's Acme Restaurant in Bensonville. His bragging catches the attention of waitress Aggie McGuire and Bart Sidney, and when Pete Greer slaps Aggie for chatting with customers instead of working, Hacksaw rushes to her defense. The confrontation quickly escalates into a violent brawl that leaves the restaurant wrecked.
The Lone Ranger intervenes just in...

Originally Aired: June 1, 1938
The Lone Ranger #834, "Oil Lease Swindle," takes listeners to the booming Texas oil fields, where tensions run high between old-world ranchers and opportunistic speculators. Stonewall Gregory, a stubborn horse breeder, fiercely refuses to lease any portion of his Box G Ranch, particularly the north hundred acres, despite offers reaching $10,000. When two eastern oil men arrive at his door, Stonewall greets them with a shotgun, convinced that oil development will ruin his prized grazing land and the special creek water that makes his colts the finest in the southwest. His wife Martha tries to reason with him...

Originally Aired: May 30, 1938
The Lone Ranger #833, "The Rosalinda Mine," the Masked Rider and Tonto encounter Abe Chetwick on the plains after he's been forced to shoot his injured horse. Abe is traveling to Medicine Flats to hire gunmen who can force Ned Flavin to confess to murdering Dave Carter and stealing his gold claim, the Rosalinda Mine. Dave's widow, Molly, is Abe's daughter, and both believe Flavin either killed Dave himself or had him murdered after jumping his rightful claim. Though Abe offers to hire the Lone Ranger's guns, the masked man refuses, insisting that justice cannot be carried...

Originally Aired: May 27, 1938
The Lone Ranger #832, "Border Rustlers," the masked rider and Tonto find themselves investigating a ruthless rustling operation that has plagued Black Hawk Valley for three years. Rancher Clay Remsen is losing hundreds of cattle to thieves who drive stolen herds through the rocky canyons of the hills, where the hardened lava floors leave no trail to follow. After rustlers strike again, stealing 400 head from Remsen's range, Sheriff Dave and the local ranchers find themselves helpless to track the criminals. Frustrated by the lawmen's failures, Remsen declares he will fight the rustlers alone and begins buying out...

Originally Aired: May 25, 1938
The Lone Ranger #831, "The Word Of A Soldier," retired Colonel Marberry welcomes Lieutenant Bart Benson to his ranch as the son of an old army friend. The smooth-talking Benson quickly ingratiates himself with the aging, wounded Colonel, taking over ranch operations and systematically removing anyone who might stand in his way. When foreman Lem questions Benson's authority, the schemer plants seeds of doubt with the Colonel, falsely suggesting romantic entanglements and disloyalty. The Colonel, placing blind faith in "the word of a soldier," sides with Benson against both Lem and his own daughter Betty.
As...

Originally Aired: May 23, 1938
The Lone Ranger #830, "Cottonwood Dam,"
A wagon train led by old Peter Ridley faces internal strife as it approaches the fork where the Oregon Trail and Santa Fe Trail divide. Ridley's former friend Amos Carver has grown increasingly antagonistic, encouraged by scout Sam Dougal's subtle manipulation. When Ridley forbids the senseless killing of buffalo for sport, Carver openly defies him and declares that half the party will follow his leadership instead. The two men agree to split the wagon train at the fork, with each group choosing a different trail. Unknown to both leaders, their...

Originally Aired: May 20, 1938
The Lone Ranger #829, "Confederate Money," finds two ragged Confederate veterans, Bolivar Bates and Hacksaw Hawkins, down on their luck after the Civil War with nothing but worthless Confederate paper money and empty stomachs. When the Lone Ranger and Tonto encounter the hungry soldiers on the trail, they share a meal and suggest the men apply for a dangerous job: collecting federal taxes in Las Palmas County, where previous collectors have met violent ends. The ranchers, bitter Confederate sympathizers, refuse to pay the hated Yankee government.
The Lone Ranger devises a clever plan to help the...

Originally Aired: May 18, 1938
The Lone Ranger #828, "The Man Least Suspected," the masked rider arrives in Green Tree to investigate a series of mysterious thefts plaguing the town. Young Cole Williams, a twenty-year-old bank employee, finds himself under suspicion despite his protests of innocence to his worried mother. His employer, banker Jason Rudd, claims suspicion falls on Cole because the robbery victims all withdrew cash from the bank recently, and only Cole would know their identities. However, Cole points out that others would have that knowledge too, including Rudd himself and former sheriff Baldy Bronson, whose porch overlooks the bank.<...

Originally Aired: May 16, 1938
The Lone Ranger #827, "No Worse Enemy," a wagon train on the western frontier faces a crisis as internal conflict threatens to tear the party apart. Peter Ridley, the wagon master, and his longtime friend Amos Carver have become bitter enemies, quarreling over leadership and decisions. Scout Sam Dougal secretly fans the flames of discord between the two men, pushing them toward a final confrontation. When the dispute over buffalo hunting reaches a boiling point, Carver announces that he and half the wagon train will split off at the fork where the Oregon and Santa Fe trails...

Originally Aired: May 13, 1938
The Lone Ranger #826, "New Fangled Justice," opens with a heated confrontation between Sheriff Steve Tucker and U.S. Marshal Dan Callaway over the changing nature of frontier justice. Tucker is furious that smooth-talking Slim Carter has escaped prosecution for the murder of Bart Jones and the robbery of Pete Frisbee's savings, claiming the new requirement for solid proof lets criminals go free. Callaway insists that the old vigilante methods must give way to proper legal proceedings where a man is innocent until proven guilty. Tucker threatens to bring wealthy mine owner Zeke Merrill to confirm Carter's...

Originally Aired: May 11, 1938
The Lone Ranger #825, "Framed For Murder," the Masked Man and Tonto arrive in the town of Potsdam to find the streets deserted. Everyone has gathered at the courthouse for the trial of young Bob McAllister, accused of murdering Joe Findlay and robbing him of valuable bonds. Only old Lem Purvis remains outside, and he's convinced that Bob has been framed by someone in town. Despite damning evidence—including the murder knife found in Bob's desk at the express office and his lack of an alibi—Lem insists the young man is innocent based on his years of j...

Originally Aired: May 9, 1938
The Lone Ranger #824, "Ammunition For The Indians," the Lone Ranger and Tonto discover an abandoned stagecoach that was carrying ammunition to Fort Pearson. When they encounter stage driver Mort Leeds fleeing from Indians, he spins a dramatic tale of being attacked by Chief White Bear's braves, claiming they killed his guard and stole the weapons. However, the Lone Ranger notices several suspicious details: the stagecoach bears no bullet holes, Leeds wears a suspiciously full money belt, and his story doesn't add up.
As the masked man and Tonto decide to investigate further, Leeds returns to...

Originally Aired: May 6, 1938
The Lone Ranger #823, "Kidnapped Boy," opens with Black Jack Martin and his gang of outlaws desperately needing money after being driven from their last hideout. Martin hatches a scheme to kidnap seven-year-old Billy Garrett, son of wealthy rancher Steve Garrett, and hold him for ransom. When Sheriff Wilson warns Steve about Black Jack's presence in the area and advises him to watch his son closely, the rancher dismisses the threat, confident that his twenty skilled ranch hands can protect him. However, young Billy has a mind of his own and keeps wandering off despite his father's...

Originally Aired: May 4, 1938
The Lone Ranger #822, "Bart Colt Gang,"
The masked rider of the plains and his faithful companion Tonto pursue the notorious Bart Colt gang after the outlaws raid the ranch of old Zach Andrews, making off with a thousand dollars in cash and two thousand dollars worth of cattle. But Colt has an even more ambitious scheme in mind. The cunning outlaw deliberately lets Dave Sanders, foreman at the Andrews ranch, overhear false information about a planned bank robbery in Silver Springs. Colt knows that Dave will rush to warn his brother Andy, the county sheriff...

Originally Aired: May 2, 1938
The Lone Ranger #821, "Mine Claim Scheme," a suspicious land deal in the mining town of Bixby threatens to defraud honest prospectors of their fortunes. When miner Lem Purvis celebrates selling his supposedly worthless claim to eastern businessman Carter Dodson for two hundred dollars, the disguised Lone Ranger recognizes something is amiss. Assay clerk Tom Gordon suddenly announces he made a terrible mistake, revealing that Purvis's mine is actually worth twenty-five dollars a ton while another miner's claim is worthless. An enraged Purvis nearly shoots Gordon before the Lone Ranger intervenes, but suspicions run deep that Gordon...

Originally Aired: April 29, 1938
The Lone Ranger #820, "Train Wreck Plot," danger comes to the quiet railroad town of Broken Bow when the sinister outlaw Snake Laughlin puts a deadly scheme into motion. Mike Murphy, the engineer of a westbound train stopped overnight in town, finds himself confronted at gunpoint by Snake and his gang. The outlaws demand that Mike pull his train west on the single track before the eastbound arrives in the morning, ensuring a catastrophic collision in the desert. To force his cooperation, they claim to have kidnapped Betty Calkins, the daughter of the town's telegraph operator and...

Originally Aired: April 27, 1938
The Lone Ranger #819, "Trap For A Gambler," the masked rider arrives in Mud Flat, a lawless town controlled by crooked gamblers and criminals. The central conflict ignites when fifteen-year-old Tommy Goodwin falls victim to gambler Harve Riggs, who cunningly lures the boy into his establishment and swindles him out of fifty dollars—money desperately needed to pay the family's store bill. When Tommy's father Bart confronts Riggs to recover the stolen money, the situation escalates into violence, with Riggs prepared to kill Goodwin over the confrontation about his marked cards.
The Lone Ranger intervenes just in...

Originally Aired: April 25, 1938
The Lone Ranger #818, "Toll In Cattle A,"
When rancher Clem Peabody arrives at Eagle Pass with his herd of two thousand longhorns, he discovers that notorious outlaw Big Bill Lawson has taken over Pop Carter's general store and erected bars across the pass. The elderly Pop Carter explains he was forced to sell his land or face death, and now Lawson demands an outrageous toll: two bits per head of cattle, or one quarter of each rancher's herd. With no other route to market, Peabody has no choice but to sign a note for five...

Originally Aired: April 22, 1938
The Lone Ranger #817, "Murder Of Pony Express Rider," finds the masked rider investigating a brutal outlaw gang terrorizing the town of Greenville from their hideout in the nearby hills. Colonel Dawson, commander of the cavalry garrison, faces mounting anger from townspeople and his own daughter Sally after yet another deadly raid claims multiple lives. Despite the pleas of Sheriff and citizens alike, the Colonel insists he cannot act without official orders from Washington. The outlaws continue their attacks with impunity, but their success isn't just luck - their leader Wolf reveals he has spies feeding him...

Originally Aired: April 20, 1938
The Lone Ranger #816, "The Price Of Wool," tensions boil over between cattlemen and sheep herders fighting for control of precious rangeland. At the center of the conflict stands Maggie Morton, a tough-minded woman who leads the sheep herders with an iron hand and keeps the fragile peace from erupting into open warfare. When cattleman Pete Prindle visits her ranch, Maggie runs him off before he can speak his mind, though her foreman Jim Potter notices him leaving and suspects the cattlemen are plotting something dangerous.
Potter's concerns prove well-founded when he learns that Prindle has...

Originally Aired: April 18, 1938
The Lone Ranger #815, "King Of The Country," finds the masked rider heading to San Cruz County, where Zeke Parsons has consolidated power as sheriff, postmaster, and storekeeper. Zeke discovers a legal loophole allowing him to force able-bodied citizens to work on county roads without pay in lieu of taxes. What begins as legitimate government work quickly transforms into something far more corrupt. Zeke grows overconfident and begins using the conscripted labor to improve his private property, building roads on his own land while threatening resisters with jail time or worse.
When townspeople like Lige Cummins...

Originally Aired: April 13, 1938
The Lone Ranger #813, "Reward Money," finds longtime partners Jake Caldwell and Lim Purdy facing a midnight intruder who steals their life savings and wounds Lim in the struggle. The wily Lim had anticipated the robbery that's been plaguing the area, cleverly spreading flour on their porch to capture a clear footprint. The distinctive boot print, unusually large, points to only two or three men in town who could wear such a size. Sheriff arrives to investigate and suspects Big Wally Burke, a lazy but good-natured man known more for drinking than honest work.
The tension...

Originally Aired: April 11, 1938
The Lone Ranger #812, "The Raiders," a mysterious band of outlaws terrorizes the Southwest, burning ranches, stealing cattle, and leaving no survivors. When the Lone Ranger and Tonto spot flames rising from the Box X Ranch, they race to the scene and discover two badly wounded men: ranch owner Tom Holstead and Sheriff Burns. The lawmen are shocked to see a masked man and an Indian, fearing at first they're part of the outlaw gang, but the Lone Ranger quickly proves his intentions are noble. As he tends to their wounds, he reveals a disturbing pattern: this...

Originally Aired: April 6, 1938
The Lone Ranger #810, "Red Part 1," the Lone Ranger and Tonto arrive at the town of Fargo only to be confronted by armed deputies Kurt and Jim, who suspect the masked man might be a mysterious outlaw known as "The Red." This enigmatic thief has been robbing from the wealthy and helping the desperate, most notably stealing five hundred dollars from banker Sims to secretly pay off the mortgage of an elderly, bedridden rancher named Jones and his wife. When the deputies demand that the Lone Ranger remove his mask, tensions escalate into a shootout. The masked...

Originally Aired: March 30, 1938
The Lone Ranger #807, "Night Stage To Dalton," presents a treacherous plot against a new stagecoach line's inaugural run. When the night stage departs Paso Doble carrying gold and passengers, including Betty Stevens, danger lurks ahead. The driver is Buck, a reformed man whom the Lone Ranger previously helped, now given a second chance at an honest life. Unknown to Buck, his guard Butch Larson is part of Black Mike's outlaw gang, and they've devised a cunning scheme. The criminals alter a signpost to redirect the stage toward Salter's Creek, where quicksand lies beneath the water.
...

Originally Aired: March 28, 1938
The Lone Ranger #806, "Faked Bank Robbery," opens with the despised moneylender Jed Kramer working late in his bank when a masked thief holds him up at gunpoint and steals ten thousand dollars. The robber reveals he's one of the many men Kramer has swindled through predatory lending practices, but his identity remains a mystery. When the alarm is raised, a townsman named Abe Turner claims to have seen someone running toward the livery stable carrying a box. The Lone Ranger and Tonto, suspecting Abe himself may be the culprit, secretly follow him home.
Their suspicions...

Originally Aired: March 25, 1938
The Lone Ranger #805, "Revenge For Mendoza," a mysterious band of hooded outlaws on swift black horses terrorizes Greenville, Texas, robbing elderly citizens of their life savings. After the raiders strike the home of Hank and Maggie Crumpart, the Lone Ranger arrives to investigate and discovers a chilling pattern: every victim served on the jury that condemned a half-breed named Manuel Mendoza to hang for murder. The outlaws never kill their victims, maintaining a strict code against bloodshed, but when word spreads that a man named Zeke Lucas has been shot dead during the latest raid, tensions...

Originally Aired: March 23, 1938
The Lone Ranger #804, "Coming Of Age," the Lone Ranger and Tonto come upon a burning house near Osage and attempt to help, only to be met by rifle-wielding Zeke Saunders, who claims to be the owner and insists he wants the house to burn. When Zeke threatens to shoot, the masked rider and Tonto subdue and rope him while they investigate the suspicious fire. Meanwhile, in town, Zeke's ward Nancy Randall visits with Dick Stevens and his mother, unaware of the destruction at home. As Nancy approaches her coming of age—when she'll inherit her father's mo...

Originally Aired: March 21, 1938
The Lone Ranger #803, "Pitfall Trap," finds the masked rider and Tonto investigating a ruthless protection racket in the Southwest. Jim Burton has made himself absolute master of the territory, forcing ranchers and townspeople to pay him tribute or suffer devastating consequences. When rancher Tyler refuses to pay, Burton callously shoots his prized bull as a warning. Those who defy Burton face poisoned cattle, burned homes, and even murder at the hands of his gang of outlaws and hired gunmen. The law remains helpless against Burton's iron grip on the region.
After answering what he believes...

Originally Aired: March 16, 1938
The Lone Ranger #801, "Amos Franklyn Sheepherder," the classic conflict between cattlemen and sheep ranchers threatens to explode into violence. Amos Franklin, a sheepherder in Mariposa, faces mounting pressure from local cattlemen who claim his flocks are ruining the range and fouling the watering holes. When a cowman named Vince Bennett arrives at Franklin's door in the middle of the night, he delivers a grim warning: Franklin's herder has been hog-tied, his dog killed, and his sheep scattered helpless across the gullies. The cattlemen want Franklin gone, and this is their final warning.
Into this powder...

Originally Aired: March 14, 1938
The Lone Ranger #800, "Homesteader Jeb Martin," finds the masked man and Tonto encountering desperate homesteader Jeb Martin and his family fleeing California with a sick child. Martin explains that while the government granted settlers land in California, Spanish landowner Ortega refuses to recognize these claims, holding firm to an earlier grant from the Spanish governor for hundreds of thousands of acres. Dozens of pioneer wagons sit camped at Ortega's southern boundary, their occupants ready to fight for the land promised to them, while Ortega threatens violence against anyone who trespasses.
After helping the Martin family...

Originally Aired: March 11, 1938
In The Lone Ranger #799, "Andy Beechum Prospector," hardworking prospector Andy Beechum has finally struck gold after years of searching, but his triumph may be short-lived. To work his claim, Andy borrowed money from local moneylender Mark Nelson, unaware that his employee, the surly Black Mike, has been secretly reporting to Nelson about the mine's true value. While Mike tells Andy the claim shows no promise, he reveals to Nelson that they're on the verge of hitting the mother lode. A chance encounter brings reformed gambler Rod Ramsey to Andy's home, where he shares his search for...

Originally Aired: March 7, 1938
The Lone Ranger #797, "Jim Murdock S Mine,"
Jim Murdock has grown wealthy from his gold mine, but his fortune is built on a lie. Years ago, he and his partner Abe Jenkins agreed to split their claim, each working their section independently. Murdock's half produced riches while Jenkins' yielded nothing, leaving Jenkins' family desperate and starving. What Jenkins doesn't know is that Murdock deliberately schemed to take the valuable land for himself. When Jenkins arrives at Murdock's canyon-side home demanding food and blankets at gunpoint, Murdock surprisingly cooperates. But his conspirator Barney Holden has darker...

Originally Aired: March 2, 1938
The Lone Ranger #795, "The Apache Kid," brings the masked man and Tonto face to face with one of the Southwest's most ruthless outlaws. When they discover badly wounded Deputy Tom Reynolds dying in an arroyo, the elderly lawman reveals he was shot by the notorious Apache Kid. Before passing away, Reynolds shares his tragic mission: for five years, he has pursued the Apache Kid to avenge his murdered son Dave. The wealthy rancher-turned-deputy had dreamed of bringing the killer in alive to tell him that killing Dave Reynolds would be his downfall. Now that chance seems...

Originally Aired: February 23, 1938
The Lone Ranger #792, "The Missing Letter," a Pony Express rider races across the plains carrying important papers destined for Silver Gulch when he's ambushed and shot from his horse. The Lone Ranger and Tonto, camped along the route, spot the riderless horse galloping past and immediately recognize something is wrong. Knowing that mail carriers never simply fall from their mounts, the masked rider and his faithful companion head back along the trail to investigate.
Meanwhile, in Silver Gulch, prospector Jim Flood and his wife Ruth face desperate circumstances. Jim has discovered a fortune in gold...

Originally Aired: February 21, 1938
The Lone Ranger #791, "Jim Flood S Mine,"
In this episode, the Lone Ranger and Tonto stumble upon a mystery when a Pony Express horse races past their camp without its rider. The horse is still following its regular route, leading the masked rider to suspect foul play. He and Tonto ride back along the trail to discover what happened to the missing expressman, knowing that only violence could separate a Pony Express rider from his mount and the important mail he carries.
Meanwhile, in the town of Silver Gulch, prospector Jim Flood and his...

Originally Aired: February 18, 1938
The Lone Ranger #790, "Panamint Nash," the masked rider stops at the home of Amy Holcomb near Needle Point to water his horse Silver. There he learns about the bitter and reclusive Panamint Nash, a crippled man who rules over his extended family in the Bend Country and forbids any contact with the townspeople. Amy also tells him about Sheriff Bob Frawley, a young lawman driven by a lifelong vow to avenge his father's murder by tracking down a left-handed, limping outlaw known as Wildcat. The Lone Ranger's interest is piqued when he spots the sheriff riding...

Originally Aired: February 9, 1938
The Lone Ranger #786, "The Kansas Kid And The Stagecoach Murders,"
Ben Sortell, district superintendent of the stage line between Pine River and Calhoun, faces a deadly mystery. Twice in the past month, stages have arrived in town with both driver and guard dead, the mail rifled through by unknown killers. While Sortell discusses the baffling murders with Sheriff Jack Beardsley, a scrawny young man calling himself the Kansas Kid appears at the office. Peter Barrett, as he's really known, insists he's eighteen and can handle a six-horse team, desperately begging for work as a stage...

Originally Aired: February 7, 1938
The Lone Ranger #785, "Contraband Liquor," begins with a murder that threatens to expose a dangerous smuggling operation along the border. Steve Brady, a Border Patrol agent investigating illegal liquor trafficking, confronts cafe owner Flint Berkman at gunpoint, preparing to bring him in for questioning about contraband alcohol being sold in his establishment. Before Berkman can reveal anything about the smuggling ring, a mysterious shooter kills him with a perfect shot from outside. As Sheriff Perkins organizes a posse to hunt for the killer, suspicion quickly falls on a wandering drifter named Cactus Pete Hawkins, who is...