Article last updated on October 20th, 2022
"Bass Reeves is not nor ever has been the inspiration for the fictional hero of yesteryear known as The Lone Ranger" -Joe Southern (Founder and former owner of the Lone Ranger Fan Club)
"The idea that Bass Reeves could be the basis for the radio and television character The Lone Ranger is nothing more than unsubstantiated speculation that does not hold up under the scrutiny of known facts." -Jim Spears (A member of the U.S. Marshals Museum Foundation board)
-Who
is Bass Reeves?
Bass
Reeves is a legendary lawman who was the first black man to serve as a U.S.
Marshal west of the Mississippi.
-Is Bass Reeves an American hero? Yes.
-Was
Bass Reeves a great man? Yes.
-Was
Bass Reeves a great lawman? Yes.
-Was
Bass Reeves the inspiration for The Lone Ranger? No.
This myth has been going around on the web for several years, but today we will debunk it once and for all. ***(I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors you may find while reading this report.)***
"Bass
Reeves is not nor ever has been the inspiration for the fictional hero of
yesteryear known as The Lone Ranger" -Joe Southern [6]. Southern is the founder and former owner of the Lone Ranger Fan Club and
considered a Lone Ranger expert by all who know him. After completing my
research, I can confirm Southern's statement. The Lone Ranger is NOT based on Reeves. Plus, author and historian
Martin Grams Jr. has already debunked this myth in his book "BASS REEVES
AND THE LONE RANGER: Debunking The Myth" (I have posted the link below so
you can read his free eBook):
Now, before we get into debunking this myth, I would just like to say that I am a fan of Bass Reeves, and this report in no way is intended to insult him or diminish his real life accomplishments. The lack of a connection with The Lone Ranger takes nothing away from Reeves and doesn't impact his story one bit. Reeves does not need The Lone Ranger. Reeves lived an incredible life and is a true American hero. His legendary accomplishments stand on their own and don't need to be attached to this myth. People often get confused whenever this myth is brought up on the Internet, and when people say "Reeves wasn't the inspiration for The Lone Ranger" or "Reeves was not The Lone Ranger" some people get offended because they think when you say, "Reeves was not the inspiration for The Lone Ranger" what you're really saying is "Reeves was not a great lawman", and that is totally false. No one is saying that. No one denies that Reeves was a great lawman. Everyone respects and acknowledges the accomplishments of this great American hero. When people say "Reeves wasn't the inspiration for The Lone Ranger" or "Reeves was not The Lone Ranger" they mean just that. It is a fact, Reeves was not the inspiration for The Lone Ranger. There are no bad intentions or hidden meanings behind those words. People only say this because he really wasn't the inspiration for the character. You see, this myth started back in 2006 when it was speculated by Author and Historian Art. T. Burton in his biography entitled “Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves” that the real life lawman was the inspiration for the fictional Lone Ranger character. It is estimated that over 1,000 blogs and websites on the Internet today are reprinting the false connection between Bass Reeves and The Lone Ranger, with many going so far as to report this theory as factual, but as you will learn by reading this report, Reeves had nothing to do with the creation of The Lone Ranger. Now, let's get into it...
-If The Lone Ranger isn't based on Reeves then who is the Ranger based on?
Answer: The Lone Ranger is a fictional character based on a mixture of Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro in the 1920 film "The Mark of Zorro", Robin Hood, silent film star Tom Mix, Zane Grey books and the standard elements of the popular "B" western movies of the 20's and early 30's. (If you read Martin Grams' free eBook or Dave Holland's book, "From Out of the Past: A Pictorial History of the Lone Ranger", you will see historical documents that confirm Mix, Zorro and Robin Hood as the inspirations for the masked man.) If you study those five things it becomes very clear that these are the true inspirations for the Lone Ranger character. Zorro wore a black mask and left behind the sign of the "Z" as his calling card. The Lone Ranger wore a black mask and left behind silver bullets as his calling card. Also, in the early episodes of the radio show, The Lone Ranger truly was in the mold of Zorro. In these episodes, he's a vigilante with a maniacal laugh. Instead of saying "Hi-Yo Silver" he says "Come Along Silver...That's The Boy. Hi Yi! (hearty laugh)...Now cut loose and away!" During the early episodes, The Lone Ranger is a laugh at danger swashbuckler. Go watch the 1920 film "The Mark of Zorro" and it will become very clear and obvious that Douglas Fairbanks' performance in that film made a huge impact on the creation of The Lone Ranger. The Robin Hood angle comes from the archer using arrowheads made of silver (Fun Fact: Tonto also used silver arrowheads during the early days of the radio show) and because he doesn't have an alter ego. The Lone Ranger used silver bullets and also doesn't have an alter ego. Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Peter Parker and Don Diego Vega are the alter egos for Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and Zorro. Now, unlike those heroes, The Lone Ranger has no alter ego. He's just The Lone Ranger. He wears his mask 24/7 365. Zane Grey had a major influence on the creation of The Lone Ranger. Prior to hiring James Jewell, Trendle tired to acquire the rights to Grey's novel "The Lone Star Ranger" so he could adapt that book into a radio series, but was unable to put a deal together. Some say it was because Grey wanted too much money while other say Grey just wasn't interested in having his book turned into a radio series, but the point is Trendle had to make some adjustments. First, he dropped the "Star" in Lone Star Ranger, and then hired James Jewell who started to put things together with Fran Striker. But that's not where Zane Grey's influence on The Lone Ranger ends. The name Tonto is derived from a book called "Tonto Basin". At one point in time, Tom Mix was a massive western film star and billed as "The Idol of Every Boy in the World" so it's very obvious why Trendle would want the Ranger to be a "Tom Mix type" for his kid friendly radio program. Trendle and company also adopted the concept of the wonder horse (a staple in the world of "B" westerns). Tom Mix had Tony, Ken Maynard had Tarzan, Tim McCoy had Pal, Buck Jones had Silver, Fred Thomson had Silver King, Jack Perrin had Starlight and Jack Hoxie had three different white horses. Hoxie had "Dynamite, the Wonder Horse", Scout and White Fury during the time the Lone Ranger was being created. It would only be fitting that The Lone Ranger have a wonder horse of his own. They should've called 1932, "The Year of the White Horse". Ken Maynard, Tim McCoy, Jack Perrin, John Wayne, Buck Jones, Jack Hoxie, Wally Wales, Tom Tyler, Rex Bell and a few other western film stars all rode white horses that year. The Lone Ranger started development in late 1932 so it's not too hard to figure out where Trendle and company got the idea for The Lone Ranger to ride a white horse. Actually, The Lone Ranger and Tonto are re-worked versions of characters Striker created on a western radio series he had worked on prior to The Lone Ranger called "Covered Wagon Days". Striker, according to his son, Fran Jr. in the book "His Typewriter Grew Spurs...A biography of Fran Striker. Documenting the Lone Ranger's ride on the radiowaves of the world", dug out a script he had previously written for ''Covered Wagon Days'', a script that began:
''In the small communities of the West, gambling and gunfighting were everyday affairs, and a man never left his house without being prepared to shoot in defense of his life. Throughout the entire West, in those turbulent days, were circulated stories of a masked rider, a modern Robin Hood, seen by few, known by none. Few men dared to defy this man, and those that did . . . lost.'' [2]
From this, the character
named The Lone Ranger evolved. After a few scripts, Jewell and Striker decided
that The Lone Ranger needed somebody to converse with to move the plots along.
Thus, Tonto was born. On ''Covered Wagon Days'' Gobo was his name, but that is
a horrible name so Striker changed it to Tonto, and the rest is history. "Bass Reeves was never the inspiration for the
fictional character...The Lone Ranger. That myth evolved from a biography written
about Bass Reeves, in which the author "suggested" through clever
wording that The Lone Ranger was the closest fictional character he could
find to match up to the legendary Bass Reeves. Among that author's claim was
that Bass Reeves rode a grey horse (which might have been mistaken for white),
paid for a drive with a silver dollar (forgetting currency had silver dollars
at the time) and some of the criminals he apprehended were incarcerated in
Detroit, Michigan, where the radio broadcasts originated. Bass Reeves never
appeared in any magazines or books until a single mention in an encyclopedia in
the 1970s, and then again almost thirty years later in a biography written by
Art T. Burton. After careful review of archival documents from multiple
archives across the country, it was evident
that George W. Trendle's only involvement in the creation of The Lone Ranger
radio program was in the capacity of producer, leaving the creation and
direction to the capable hands of James Jewell. Jewell hired Fran Striker, who
then resided in Buffalo, New York, to flesh out a masked vigilante character
from a prior western radio program, Covered Wagon Days. Striker was instructed
in multiple letters to create a character resembling Robin Hood and Zorro, and
later in another letter instructed to make The Lone Ranger more of a "Tom
Mix type." So if anything, The Lone Ranger was based on Robin Hood, Zorro
and Tom Mix. To date, everyone who jumps in on the "Bass Reeves was the
inspiration of The Lone Ranger" myth has no archival documents to debunk
the facts found in archives, nor do they have any documents proving Bass Reeves
was the inspiration. Every query has resulted in one of two responses: either
they saw it written on another website or blog and was copying what someone
else had, or they saw it in a book -- almost always crediting Art Burton and
his Bass Reeves biography. Finally, the author who started the myth (Burton) with his
biography was quoted of saying that he never claimed Bass Reeves was the
inspiration for The Lone Ranger, but was the closest he could find to connect
flimsy similarities. But the author never hesitated to ride on the coattails of
the Disney motion picture in 2013 by promoting his Bass Reeves biography with
careful wording in suggesting there was a connection. True historians know that
printed documents of the past paint an accurate account of what transpired and
are valued far more than historical bias based on assumptions. Jewell’s letters
were mostly positive reinforcement and encouragement for Striker to continue
what he was providing in script form, with only suggestions such as Zorro,
Robin Hood and Tom Mix. In short, those are the smoking guns that clearly
indicate what they were leaning towards. The simple answer is that historic
documents prove what The Lone Ranger was modeled after. All of which is sad because
claiming the falsehood that Bass Reeves was the inspiration for The Lone Ranger
tarnishes his good name. Reeves should be remembered for what he accomplished,
not for something he had no involvement with." -Martin Grams
^^^An episode of the TV show "To Tell the Truth" featuring Fran Striker. In this episode, Striker talks about the creation of The Lone Ranger. He says, "The Lone Ranger originated in Buffalo, NY", which is false on the surface, but if you read between the lines -- you'll have a better understanding for why he said that. The Lone Ranger actually did originate in Buffalo, sure George W. Trendle had an idea for a new western series and the show did debut on his Detroit based radio station, but he wasn't the writer of the show -- Striker was. Striker came up with the names, characters, plots and everything else for the show. Like I previously mentioned above, The Lone Ranger is actually a re-worked version of a character Striker created on a western radio series called "Covered Wagon Days". Striker had his hands in everything The Lone Ranger did until his departure in 1954. He wrote radio episodes, novels, comic books, and he even choreographed all of Brace Beemer's (The Lone Ranger) public appearances. Striker is the man most responsible for bringing the masked man to life, and he was from Buffalo, so his statement technically is true. (Fun Fact: Striker did not move to Detroit until 1934 so all the scripts for the first year of the series were written while he was still living in Buffalo. It was only after the show became a hit he moved to Detroit.)
^^^If Striker and Jewell created The Lone Ranger, why is George W. Trendle given sole credit for creating the character? Answer: Trendle made Striker and Jewell sign away their rights of ownership to the character. Unfortunately, Striker and Jewell had no choice but to sign away their rights because it was during the great depression, money was tight and jobs were scarce. Also, The Lone Ranger was created on Trendle's dime and time so he (Trendle) had all the leverage. It was only after the rights of The Lone Ranger were sold to Jack Wrather that Striker was given credit for creating the character. Prior to the sale, Striker was only known as a writer and story editor, and Jewell was only credited as a director. Sadly, Jim Jewell's contributions have been forgotten. He left the show in 1938, and was never acknowledged by the Wrather Corporation as a creator for The Lone Ranger when they released the 1981 film "The Legend of the Lone Ranger". Only Trendle and Striker are recognized. See below:
^^^An episode of the TV show "To Tell the Truth" featuring Fran Striker. In this episode, Striker talks about the creation of The Lone Ranger. He says, "The Lone Ranger originated in Buffalo, NY", which is false on the surface, but if you read between the lines -- you'll have a better understanding for why he said that. The Lone Ranger actually did originate in Buffalo, sure George W. Trendle had an idea for a new western series and the show did debut on his Detroit based radio station, but he wasn't the writer of the show -- Striker was. Striker came up with the names, characters, plots and everything else for the show. Like I previously mentioned above, The Lone Ranger is actually a re-worked version of a character Striker created on a western radio series called "Covered Wagon Days". Striker had his hands in everything The Lone Ranger did until his departure in 1954. He wrote radio episodes, novels, comic books, and he even choreographed all of Brace Beemer's (The Lone Ranger) public appearances. Striker is the man most responsible for bringing the masked man to life, and he was from Buffalo, so his statement technically is true. (Fun Fact: Striker did not move to Detroit until 1934 so all the scripts for the first year of the series were written while he was still living in Buffalo. It was only after the show became a hit he moved to Detroit.)
After reading Grams's book, Time Magazine.com (who had previously printed a
story about The Lone Ranger being based on Reeves.) printed a retraction when
they discovered the Reeves-Ranger connection was a myth and the man who started
it (author Art. T. Burton) confessed he never had anything to back it up. [6] The
following quote was published by Burton on his official website on February
17, 2016:
Long overlooked by historians and the press, black lawman Bass Reeves has become well known among Western historians if not the general public. In my 2006 biography of Reeves I compared him to the Lone Ranger, and in an interview the next year in Wild West, I said, “I couldn’t prove conclusively that Reeves was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger, but he is the closest person in real life to compare to the fictional hero.”
^^^How people get the idea The Lone Ranger is based on Reeves from that statement (and the passages below) is beyond me. Also, here's a short audio clip I found of Burton talking about his theory [9]:
As you can see by the examples above, Burton never actually said The Lone Ranger character was inspired by Reeves. Sure, he made a few comparisons between the two (see below), but through carefully-selected wording Burton assured readers that his statements were merely theories, with no facts on which to base his conclusion. It's very obvious the media outlets who write Burton's theories as fact have never read his book. Also, the media and the general public who believe The Lone Ranger is based on Reeves' life have forgotten, ignored or don't know the history of The Lone Ranger.
Before we get into Burton's theory, let's take a look at the major differences between the two men in question.
___________
Lone Ranger: Is a fictional character.
Bass Reeves: Was a real person.
___________
Lone Ranger: Always wears a mask.
Bass Reeves: Never wore a mask.
___________
Lone Ranger: Was a former Texas Ranger.
Bass Reeves: Was a deputy US Marshal.
___________
Lone Ranger: Uses silver bullets.
Bass Reeves: Never used silver bullets. (Remember this one for later.) ___________
Lone Ranger: Never had a wife or kids.
Bass Reeves: Was married twice and had 11 kids.
___________
Lone Ranger: Was a lawyer before becoming a Texas Ranger (Then later The Lone Ranger).
Bass Reeves: Never was a lawyer.
___________
Lone Ranger: Is the lone survivor of an outlaw ambush.
Bass Reeves: Was never wounded during his career.
___________
Lone Ranger: Saved Tonto's life when they were boys, then years later was nursed back to health by Tonto after the ambush.
Bass Reeves: Was never wounded during his career.
___________
Lone Ranger: Tonto calls him Kemosabe.
Bass Reeves: No one ever called Reeves "Kemosabe" because Jim Jewell made up that term. Tonto's greeting to the Ranger, was derived from the name of a boys' camp owned by Jewell's father-in-law Charles W. Yeager. Camp Kee-Mo-Sah-Bee operated from 1911 until 1941 on Mullet Lake south of Mackinac, Michigan. After the radio show became popular, Yeager held "Lone Ranger Camps" at his camp.
___________
Lone Ranger: Has a horse named Silver.
Bass Reeves: Silver was not the name of any of his horses.
___________
Lone Ranger: "Hi-Yo, Silver, Away!" is his catchphrase.
Bass Reeves: Reeves never had a catchphrase. Why? Because he was a real person.
___________
Lone Ranger: The William Tell Overture is his theme song.
Bass Reeves: Reeves never had a theme song. Why? Because he was a real person.
___________
Lone Ranger: Never kills anyone.
Bass Reeves: Killed at least 14 outlaws during his career. Some historians believe that number is north of 20, but there's no way of knowing for sure.
___________
Lone Ranger: Owns a silver mine.
Bass Reeves: Never owned a silver mine.
___________
Lone Ranger: Never accepts a reward for the outlaws he captures.
Bass Reeves: Collected the rewards for the outlaws he captured.
___________
Lone Ranger: His horse has silver horseshoes.
Bass Reeves: None of his horses ever did.
___________
Lone Ranger: Lives by The Lone Ranger Creed.
Bass Reeves: Never had a creed. Why? Because he was a real life person. Creeds are what fictional western characters from radio, TV and Movies have. People like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hop-along Cassidy (William Boyd) had creeds.
Now, on to Burton's theory. Below are the parts of Burton's 2006 book ("Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves") where he mentions The Lone Ranger. Disregard everything you've read on the internet because these are Burton's exact words. I've posted them on here so you can read for yourself and see that what he writes is just a THEORY/OPINION and NOT facts.
^^^This looks like an opinion to me.
^^^Burton and the media have said Reeves' career as a lawman was widely known and celebrated in his time, but in this passage Burton writes he (Reeves) was unknown -- so which one is it? Was he well known or unknown? Was he a celebrity or not? This is a big hole in Burton's theory. Next, if federal law
mandated that deputy US marshals have at least one posseman with them whenever
they went out in the field, how is that unique to Reeves? It was the law so everyone during that time had to have one. Reeves wasn't the only
deputy US marshal in the territory during that time, and he wasn't the first, last or only person to have a Native American assistant. It was standard operating procedure in those days. Lawmen, cavalry, pioneers,
trappers and bounty hunters commonly took along an Indian colleague for both
protection and as a guide. George Armstrong Custer had an Indian scout named Bloody Knife. Bloody Knife started working as a scout for the US Army in 1868 (Years before Reeves started working as a marshal). This is another hole in Burton's theory. The
character of Tonto was brought into the series beginning with episode 11 of The
Lone Ranger radio show. If The Lone Ranger was based on Reeves' life and having
a Native American partner is so important to the Reeves legend then why was
Tonto not created on day one? Answer: The true story of Tonto is he was born
out of theatrical necessity. The Lone Ranger was supposed to be a lone
operator, but that posed a problem for creating dialogue and moving the plot
forward. With just the singular hero and his horse, the narrator was required
to play too big a role in explaining the plotline of the episode to the
listening audience. In radio plays, dialogue served the dual purpose of telling
the story and describing the background of the scenes and the actions of
others. In theater and television productions, audiences can see what is
happening, but on the audio-only format known as radio, it had to be described. To solve
this problem Jim Jewell asked Fran Striker to create a sidekick. And that's how
we got Tonto.
^^^Remember when I said Zorro in the 1920 silent film "The Mark of Zorro" is the true inspiration for The Lone Ranger? Here's some proof to back up that statement. In the film Douglas Fairbanks (Zorro) is assisted by a Native American. Bernardo is played by Native American Actor Tote Du Crow. It's very obvious when Trendle and company were thinking about who should be The Lone Ranger's sidekick they remembered back to who was helping Zorro in this film. The picture above is a screenshot from the movie and features both Fairbanks and Du Crow (standing). Zorro has way more in common with The Lone Ranger than Reeves does. In the early episodes of the radio show, The Lone Ranger truly was in the mold of Zorro. In these episodes, he's a vigilante with a maniacal laugh. Zorro wears a mask, is vigilante with a maniacal laugh, has a calling card, and a Native American assistant. Burton's theory is just his opinion. No one (including Burton) knows what color horse Reeves rode or if he really had a calling card, and the other similarities stated in Burton's theory are not unique to only Reeves. The few similarities stated in Burton's theory are loose and weak at best. The hand full of similarities between The Lone Ranger and Zorro are striking and visible to everyone. There's no guess work to be done here...Zorro in the 1920 silent film "The Mark of Zorro" is the true inspiration for The Lone Ranger.
^^^Jack Wrather (Former owner of The Lone Ranger trademark) explains why the creators of The Lone Ranger selected a Native American to be the Ranger's partner. He says, "By accepting the Indian Tonto, as his closest companion, he makes it obvious to children that great men have no racial or religious prejudice."
^^^This is probably the weakest item in
Burton's theory. Over paying for a meal makes a silver dollar Reeves' calling
card? What?? Paying someone for their services translates into a silver dollar
being his calling card? What?? Two documented occasions is enough to make a
silver dollar his calling card? Was Reeves a billionaire and we just don't know about it? A silver dollar was a lot of money back then (Today it would be $25). Show me a lawman today that could afford to give away $25 to people they come in contact with. How could he afford to give away that much money? There isn't much proof that the silver dollar even was his calling card, but for sake of argument we'll say it was. But regardless, this is a weak claim because the silver dollar
was too common. There were tons of people back then that used silver
dollars. Anyone living today who has ancestors that lived back in the old west
could make the claim that their family member used the silver dollar as their
calling card. Too many average Joe's had access to the silver dollar to make
this part of the myth valid. The silver bullet is unique to The Lone Ranger
because very few had access to the kind of pure silver he uses to cast his
bullets. No one back then, if they even had a silver mine, would use silver ore
to make bullets. Why? Because the Ranger isn't a real-life person. He's a
fictional character made up to entertain people. If Reeves had used a less common object that was made of silver then Burton would have a better case. This passage hurts Burton's
theory because it comes off as him trying too hard to make a connection between
The Lone Ranger and Reeves.
^^^This part about Reeves riding a gray horse has me confused. Isn't it just as possible that Reeves's horse could've appeared near black? Also, according to David Dary, emeritus professor of journalism, at the University of Oklahoma and the author of 20 books on the American West, in a 2007 article wrote..."He (Reeves) rode a large red stallion with a white blaze." [10]
^^^Here's a picture of President Theodore Roosevelt riding a gray horse in 1905. Does this mean Roosevelt is the inspiration for the Lone Ranger? Based on Burton's theory --yes, because what color horse you ride is solid evidence. I was being sarcastic, but seriously do you see how ridiculous this part of the myth is? Tons of people back in those days rode a gray horse. Plus, we (and Burton) don't know if Reeves even rode a horse that appeared white. David Dary says Reeves rode a red stallion, which is a horse with a brownish color.
^^^And if you're still not convinced that Burton's gray horse claim is weak, take a look at this...here's a painting of Reeves done by artist Jack Sorenson. As you can see by the photo above, Reeves is riding a large red stallion with a white blaze. Now I know that you're thinking: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. I thought Reeves only rode a grey horse (that may have appeared to look white)? That's what Burton wrote in his book, and that's one of the pieces of "proof" the media writes about as a connection between Reeves and The Lone Ranger." So, I tracked down Sorenson to ask him why he painted Reeves riding a red stallion with a white blaze. Especially since Burton's myth claims that he rode a gray horse (that may have appeared to look white). Here's what he told me in an email: "While researching Bass Reeves that is the color horse he was referred to have ridden." David Dary wrote that Reeves was well known for riding a red stallion and now here we have Jack Sorenson telling me the same thing after he painted Reeves on a red stallion. Based off all of this it looks like Burton is trying to make The Lone Ranger into Reeves more than he claims Trendle and company were trying to make Reeves into The Lone Ranger back in 1933. The Lone Ranger has always ridden a white horse not a gray horse (that may have appeared to look white) or a red stallion with a white blaze. It also should be noted that Reeves would've ridden many different horses during his long career in law enforcement. Even Burton points this out in his book when he writes: "Reeves may have ridden a white horse during one period of his career." That sentence from Burton's book truly does nothing to help his case because (1) The "one period" part and (2) Because Burton uses clever wording here to try and trick the reader he actually ends up debunking himself. That sentence tells the reader that Reeves rode other colored horses during his career. Burton cherry picks information all the time, but only when it's convenient for him and his theory. This part of his theory is an excellent example. If Reeves rode other colored horses during his career, what makes riding a gray horse so unique to him? If we went back in time I'm sure we'd find several lawmen who rode a gray horse at one period during their careers. And what about those other periods of Reeves' career? What color horses did he ride before and after this argument with his cook? Burton conveniently skips over answering these questions in an attempt to make his theory a fact. Deep down inside even Burton has to know this part of his theory is loose and weak at best. And the exact color of Reeves' gray horse is still up for debate. Like Burton wrote in his book a gray horse can appear anywhere from near black to near white. Burton doesn't even know the answer to that question because if he did he wouldn't have used the word "possible" in his book. If he had a definitive answer he would have left out that word. I don't say it's possible the sky is blue. I say the sky is blue because it's a fact. When talking about a fact there's no need to use the word possible. The word possible is used in Burton's book because he doesn't know. Also, how long did Reeves ride this gray horse? Ten years? Five years? One Year? Six months? One month? A week? What? The answer to that question isn't in Burton's book. And isn't it just as possible that Reeves's gray horse could've appeared near black? There are so many unanswered questions. And based off of how Burton likes to cherry pick information when it helps his cause, I'm 99.9% sure that if The Lone Ranger rode a large red stallion with a white blaze we wouldn't be talking about any gray horses. We would be talking about the "one period" when he rode a red stallion with a white blaze. But this isn't even the real story. The real story is Reeves wasn't known for riding any specific color of horse. Burton and Dary are both wrong. Reeves was a real guy who lived in the real world. He was not a fictional western hero from a novel, radio show, TV show or Movie. Now, because of this he could not successfully do his job if he rode the same color horse all of the time, and there are several reasons behind this fact. (1) He might have gotten ambushed. Reeves had a long career in law enforcement because he was able to get the outlaws before they got him. If the outlaws who Reeves was pursuing knew Reeves was on their trail, and that he always rode the same color horse, they could easily hideout somewhere, and when a grey horse came riding down the trail, they could shoot him before he could even see who was shooting at him. The real west was not the movies. The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Red Ryder, The Durango Kid and all the other western stars and/or fictional characters from back in the day could ride the same horse over and over again. Why? Because it's all fiction. In the real world outlaws would pick up on these kinds of things. If the outlaws knew someone on a certain color horse was chasing after them they would be on guard, and ready to attack if someone on that color of a horse got close to them. This stuff never happened to The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers or Gene Autry. Why? Because the writers never wrote it. It's fiction. If directors, producers and writes used real life logic in their stories 100% of the time there wouldn't be anything to put on screen. Legendary film director John Ford, who directed the 1939 western classic "Stagecoach", was once asked why, in the climactic chase scene, the Indians didn't simply shoot the horses to stop the stagecoach, the director replied, "Because that would have been the end of the movie." You see, real life logic clashes with pure entertainment. Everyone knows that in real life the chase scene in the movie "Stagecoach" wouldn't of happened, but it's a movie so we are willing to suspend disbelief. Burton tries to attach the entertainment elements from western movies to a real life person, and it simply does not work. (2) The horse would die or be in terrible shape. Reeves traveled many miles during his trips out into the field to go pursue outlaws. During a long journey he would've needed fresh horses in order to make it back to his post. Horses go lame, get sick or get tired all of the time. It's highly unlikely that the horse he rode at the start of his mission would be the one he rode back on at the end of it. (3) Reeves working in disguise. Like I mentioned earlier, if Reeves was known for riding a red stallion or a grey horse, and if the outlaws knew someone on a certain color horse was chasing after them they would be on guard, and ready to attack if someone on that color of a horse got close to them. Reeves disguises never would've worked if he rode the same color horse all the time. He would've needed to ride another color horse in order to trick the outlaws he was trying to capture. The biggest mistake Burton makes in this passage is that he tries to do a side by side comparison between a real life person and a fictional character while also failing to include real life logic. Real life logic must always be used when discussing the lives of real people because chances are that logic is what allowed the person to do what they did during their lifetime. This passage isn't as weak as the silver dollar one, but that's not saying much.
^^^I've already debunked this part of the myth earlier in this report when I mentioned Fran Striker being from Buffalo, New York, but one more time won't hurt anyone. Pulp fiction writer
Johnston McCulley was the sole creator of Zorro. Zorro comes from the
imagination of McCulley...and only McCully. He didn't own a publishing company
or a radio station -- he was just a writer being payed a penny for each word written. Johnston McCulley and George W.
Trendle have nothing in common. Someone like McCulley would've worked for Trendle.
Trendle was all about making money. He wanted his new radio series to be a
western because westerns were popular. He wanted his character to be like Zorro
because Zorro was popular. He wanted his character to be like Robin Hood
because Robin Hood was popular. He wanted his character to be like Tom Mix
because Mix was popular. Popular = Money in Trendleville. Trendle
was not a writer. He never wrote a single script for the show. He was a
lawyer turned businessman, and was the owner of a radio station. This part of
Burton's theory would only be valid if Trendle, like McCulley, was the only
person who worked on the character during the early days. Burton's theory falls
short again because it only focuses on George W. Trendle. Burton is trying to
connect dots, but he's looking in the wrong direction. The focus should be on
Fran Striker because Trendle actually has
very little to do with the creation of The Lone Ranger. What
does a guy from Buffalo, NY have to do with the Detroit House of Corrections?
Answer: Nothing. "Masked
cowboy who fights crime in the old west" is Trendle's general idea, but
it's the application of the idea that's important. Tonto, Silver the horse,
silver bullets, silver horseshoes, kemosabe, "Hi-Yo, Silver" -- these ideas came
from Striker (and some from Jim Jewell), not Trendle. Remember this from earlier? Trendle came up with an idea for a
western hero and the show did debut on his Detroit based radio station, but he
wasn't the writer of the show -- Striker was. Striker is the man responsible
for bringing the masked man to life, and he was from Buffalo, not Detroit.
Striker did not move to Detroit until 1934 so all the scripts for the first
year of the series were written while he was still living in Buffalo. It was
only after the show became a hit he moved to Detroit. This passage showcases that Burton either knows very little
or cares very little about the history of The Lone Ranger. He gives Trendle too
much credit and completely overlooks Fran Striker's contributions to the
character. We already know the media knows very little or cares very little
about the history of The Lone Ranger. (Read Martin Grams' ebook for more
information on this subject.) "As Western historian Dave Holland correctly
points out (in his book "From Out of the Past: A Pictorial History of the
Lone Ranger"), The Lone Ranger wasn't created in one explosive moment---it
evolved gradually, through the contributions of a number of people." -Steve White (Writer for The Silver
Bullet Chronicle)
Now, I don't
mean to insult Burton, but this Reeves-Ranger connection is just his opinion.
Nothing more, nothing less. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Burton is entitled to his opinion, but in order to show the media and the
general public that Burton's theory is just his opinion without any evidence to back it up, I have to mention him
because it all started in a book he wrote. Also, in Burton defense, he isn't
the only person who's made claims The Lone Ranger was based on a real person. Some historians believe Texas Ranger John R. Hughes
inspired the creation of The Lone Ranger [17]. Hughes, who died in 1947 at the age of 92, also told
relatives that he believed he was the inspiration for the character. Many western
film historians say actor Buck Jones inspired the creation of The Lone Ranger. He (Jones) also believed he was the inspiration for The Lone Ranger so
much that he actually filed a lawsuit against George W. Trendle. (Fun Fact:
Jones actually rode a white horse named Silver during his film career. And for
those who were wondering...yes, Jones lost the case.) We'll talk a little bit more about Jones later in this report, and FYI when we mention the standard elements of the popular "B" western movies of the 20's and early 30's, we are including Jones in that group.
^^^One
of the actual letters sent by Jim Jewell to Fran Striker regarding the creation
of The Lone Ranger. As you can see Jewell mentions Zorro and Tom Mix in this
one. Also, a real life figure from the old west is mentioned, but it isn't
Reeves, it's Jesse James. The media members who believe Burton's theory and write stories on this subject have either ignored the letters or don't know they even exist. These letters are key to debunking this myth for several reasons. (1) These are interoffice memos that were only supposed to be seen by people who worked for Trendle. This is important because if The Lone Ranger was based on Reeves, his (meaning Reeves) name would be mentioned or some other reference to him would be present, but there is no mention of him. Now, because these are interoffice memos, Trendle and company would be able to speak freely about anyone or anything because the general public would never know what goes on behind the scenes. Ask yourself these questions...Do you have work emails? Do you have things in your work emails that are only to be seen by you and/or your co-workers? Of course you do. Every company has things that are only to be spoken about behind closed doors. Multiple people were responsible for the creation of The Lone Ranger. Again, if The Lone Ranger was based on Reeves his name would be mentioned or some other reference to him would be present. Striker and Jewell weren't mind-readers they would've needed to be told about Reeves to know who he was. (2) This is the only way they could communicate with Fran Striker. Burton claims Trendle and Striker didn't mention Reeves in the letters because when they were coming up with their show they probably talked about it over the phone. Burton claims during these phone calls is maybe when Reeves was mentioned. This is false for several different reasons...first, Burton never worked for Trendle so how does he know what Striker and Trendle talked about? In fact, Burton wasn't even born when this show was being created. So his phone call claims can't even be taken seriously. Second, Trendle never talked to Striker until after Striker moved to Detroit. It should also be noted that until November 1933, eight months after the premiere of The Lone Ranger, Trendle was never aware the radio scripts were written by Fran Striker. Trendle knew of Striker’s ability to churn out scripts for a radio series called "Warner Lester" but he was under the false assumption that Jewell was typing the Lone Ranger scripts himself. (Martin Grams covers this in depth in his report) Third, back in 1932 it would've cost the radio station a fortune to make a phone call from Detroit to Buffalo. It's not like it is today. Back in those days not everyone had a phone, and it was very expensive to make a long distance phone call. It was much more cost effective to send a letter. That's why that claim by Burton is false. Fourth, according to Burton, Trendle is the man with all of the knowledge about Reeves so it would take a very long time for Trendle to explain to Jewell, and then for Jewell to explain everything Trendle told him about Reeves to Striker in a phone call. Even if they only had short conversations, it would still cost the station a lot of money. Again, a phone call from Detroit to Buffalo would've cost a lot of money back in those days. And fourth, it was in the middle of the Great Depression, Striker couldn't have afforded these calls on his end. He was just a writer trying to stay above water like many during that point in time. And if these phone conversations really did take place Jewell wasn't paying for them either so Trendle (or one of his accountants) would've been furious about having to pay for such a big expense. They (meaning Burton and the media) would have a leg to stand on if The Lone Ranger was created in 2020 because everyone has a cell phone and calls don't cost hardly anything with all the different cell phone plans we have available to choose from. Also, what's the point of sending letters? If Jewell and Striker were talking over the phone as much as Burton claims they were, why would Jewell send Striker letters? It takes a few days for a letter to get from Detroit to Buffalo, but it takes seconds to get from Detroit to Buffalo over the phone. Why would you voluntarily choose to use a slower form of communication over a faster one especially when you have the faster one available to you? Like the rest of Burton's theory this doesn't make any sense. (3) You can't have it both ways. Burton didn't know Reeves, he never met him in real life. Burton is a person who was born decades after Reeves' death and is still alive today. The only way Burton can learn about Reeves' life is through oral stories told to him by people who knew or had family members who knew Reeves, and historical documents (Things like Newspaper articles for example). These letters between Striker and Jewell are historical documents so you can't have it both ways. You (Burton and the media) can't believe everything ever written about Reeves in historical documents while simultaneously denying the historical documents that prove the Reeves-Ranger theory is false. Either everything is false or everything is true, but any way you cut it Burton's theory is false. If it's all true, then these letters prove Reeves had nothing to do with the creation of The Lone Ranger, but if it's all false, then Reeves never did all the things Burton wrote about him in his book, and there are no similarities between Reeves and The Lone Ranger. (4) You can't pick and choose what information is true and what information is false. The only reason Burton and the media disregard these letters between Striker and Jewell is because it goes against Burton's theory. If these letters confirmed Burton's theory things would be different. Burton and the media would be citing them. Burton's theory boarders on being a conspiracy theory because even when presented with evidence that proves his Reeves-Ranger theory is false, they (Burton and the media) still believe it is true. "Let’s get this straight. Art Burton has done important work in the Old West field. His books have given insight to Black and Indian law officers, outlaws and Army scouts—a group who’ve received scant attention in the past. But his attempt to connect Bass Reeves with the character of the Lone Ranger? Kemosabe, that’s wind on the prairie. Reeves was a great lawman; nobody can doubt that. But he was little known outside of the Indian and Oklahoma Territories during his lifetime and after. What’s the chance that some Detroit radio guys had ever heard of him? And would they have dared base a white character on a Black man—at a time when racism ran rampant in Michigan? If somebody had discovered that, the station would have been burned to the ground. We can go point by point on Art’s analysis and find that most of those things applied to countless lawmen of the Old West. Taking various and disparate facts and trying to connect the dots is always dangerous. Take this fake syllogism: All cats die. Plato is dead. Plato is a cat. The two predicate statements are both true, but the conclusion is crazy. You can take a bunch of facts and reach practically any conclusion you want. But there are two other things to consider. First, some believe that legendary Texas Ranger Captain John R. Hughes—who was likely the model for Zane Grey’s Lone Star Ranger—sparked the idea for the Lone Ranger. But he didn’t wear a mask, shoot silver bullets, etc., etc. Then there’s this. In 1933, the creators/producers at WXYZ radio in Detroit were discussing how to form the Ranger. In letters (still available), one suggested that he be like Zorro, with a mask and a flare for derring-do. Another letter suggested that the Ranger be a “Tom Mix type.” Bass Reeves (or John Hughes) is never mentioned. If this is the case, the Lone Ranger was based on popular culture figures, not real-life lawmen. In all fairness, Art Burton hedges his bet: “I stated in the book that we would not be able to prove conclusively that Reeves was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger.” But many media outlets took the story and ran with it, not looking at the author’s caution. As a result, there are many people who believe the Lone Ranger was Bass Reeves, and vice versa. The history field has enough problems (can I sell you a Billy the Kid photo?) without rumors and speculation clouding things. So, definitely read Art Burton’s book on Bass Reeves. It’s good; it’s important. But let’s cry out “Hi-yo Silver, away” to the Reeves-Ranger theory." -Mark Boardman (
Features Editor
at True West Magazine) 
^^^The
word "reportedly" has caused some confusion. I see tons of articles that
state "Reportedly Bass Reeves was the inspiration for The Lone
Ranger". People read this and then believe it's true. As you can see by
what the definition of reportedly is, it doesn't mean it's truth or a fact. Bloggers have said it's true, but there is no evidence that backs up this
theory. Art T. Burton's theory is just his opinion. Nothing more, nothing less. "I believe Bass
Reeves as the Lone Ranger is a total myth. The Lone Ranger character was
created in 1932 by the thoughts of several people, not one person. I
appreciate historians trying to uncover the past, but in this case those
historians are incorrect. What I know about the history of the Lone Ranger is first-hand.
I speak locally about the Lone Ranger. I happen to know the niece of Jim Jewell
who was the first director of the Lone Ranger. Jewell kept all his papers and
his niece eventually inherited them. I met the niece when she came to one of my
talks. I arranged a meeting with two other historians at a local library with
the niece who brought all of her uncle's files. She allowed us to scan
all the documents, many of which were inter-office memos from 1932 about
the creation of the character that eventually became the Lone Ranger.
Nothing in the documents mention using ideas from historic figures. The Lone Ranger was the creation of the WXYZ radio
staff requested by George Trendle. Trendle eventually became the sole
creator of the Lone Ranger when he had the staff member sign away any
rights for the ideas they offered in the creation of the Lone Ranger." -Larry Zdeb (Radio Historian)
Here's the link to the History.com article mentioned above: https://www.history.com/news/bass-reeves-real-lone-ranger-a-black-man
^^^In this article I don't see any facts regarding The Lone Ranger, do you? I don't see anything talking about the creation of The Lone Ranger, do you? I don't see any information about the creators of The Lone Ranger, do you? I don't see any mention of the names Trendle, Striker or Jewell, do you? I don't see any quotes from Trendle, Striker or Jewell, do you? I don't see anything about the history of The Lone Ranger, do you? I don't see any historical documents that back up Burton's theory, do you? I don't see any evidence that confirms Burton's theory is actually true, do you? I don't see any evidence that shows Trendle and company even knew who Reeves was, do you? These passages from Burton's book really don't say anything and this article says even less because it only repeats what Burton put in his book and doesn't add anything beyond what he wrote. As I re-read these passages from Burton's book and this History.com article, I'm still trying to figure out how someone could read them and believe they are anything else but the opinion of one author. The similarities Burton offers in his theory are loose and weak at best and there is no evidence that his theory is true. Also, this article doesn't say The Lone Ranger was based on Reeves. It only asks the question of if it could be possible. This History.com article leaves it open for interpretation by the reader, but that truly means nothing. Asking questions are not a facts. Saying something is possible doesn't make that something a fact. Internet bloggers who site this History.com as proof of a connection are wasting their readers time because this article doesn't even say it's a fact. History.com needs to step their game up and focus on facts rather than opinions because it is a fact The Lone Ranger isn't based on Reeves. Also, the Internet bloggers out there need to step their game up and do some actual research instead of just copying and pasting links to articles. A true journalist is supposed to skeptical without being cynical, as per the saying "If your mother says she loves you, check it out,". When reporting on controversy, reporters are expected to use multiple sources. Unfortunately, this History.com article and many, many others floating out on the web do not follow that rule.
^^^This is a photo of retired Judge Paul L. Brady. Brady is the great nephew of Bass Reeves.
^^^I found the article above to be very interesting. Brady is being interviewed in this article, and when The Lone Ranger myth is brought up his response is very telling. Even Brady, a relative of Reeves, doubts Burton's theory. Here's the passage in the article: Some believe the fictional character of the Lone Ranger was modeled after Reeves. Brady, though, doesn’t think there’s a connection.
“That is simply not true,”said Brady, who has written a book about his famous relative, “The Black Badge: Deputy United States Marshal Bass Reeves.” One more time, there is no connection between Reeves and The Lone Ranger. Art T. Burton's theory is just his opinion. Nothing more, nothing less.
^^^This is a photo of Actor Klinton Spilsbury as John Reid in the 1981 film "The Legend of the Lone Ranger". The Lone Ranger's real last name is Reid, and Burton claims because Reid and Reeves sound similar that is proof of a connection. Burton's claim is totally false. It's false because Reid was actually the third last name given to The Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger's original name was Allen King. During the early years of The Lone Ranger radio show, The Lone Ranger had no first or last name so Republic Pictures gave him one when they produced the first Lone Ranger movie serial. The Lone Ranger's second name was Bill Andrews (also a Republic creation). It wasn't until the early 1940's when the name Reid started to appear. "The Lone Ranger was originally created as a Man-of-Mystery. In the beginning, even Tonto didn't know who he was or why he did what he did. For the 22 years+ his original creators had control, he wasn't even given a first name. His origin wasn't even touched on for the first five years and then there wasn't much more than a sentence or two about it, slowly added now and again. To his creators, who the Masked Man HAD BEEN was never important. How he became The Lone Ranger was not important. *BEING* The Lone Ranger, doing what he did as The Lone Ranger, WAS important. Even on radio, the audience was never given an opportunity to see his face, even in their IMAGINATIONS! His MYSTERY was important. There were good reasons why a question, "Who WAS that Masked Man?" became so closely identified with The Lone Ranger, as opposed to any number of other masked adventurers." -Clare Sieffert (Author of the book "The Lone Ranger: The Classic TV Series")[15] This name thing is another example of Burton cherry picking information when it's convenient for his theory. Burton debunks himself in a lot of ways because he continues to only look at The Lone Ranger as a finished product, and completely ignores the fact that The Lone Ranger is a legacy character. The current mythology of The Lone Ranger and the original creation of the character by Trendle and company are different. Over the years hundreds of writers, directors, producers and actors have played a part in molding The Lone Ranger into what he is today. Burton's theory is supposedly based on the original creation, but he tries to prove it by using things that were introduced years after The Lone Ranger's debut. Burton and the media members who believe his theory and write stories on this subject have either ignored, forgotten or don't know the true history of the Lone Ranger. These people think the Lone Ranger is just some old 1950's TV show. A massive amount of Burton's theory comes from his knowledge/memories of that TV show. Had Burton studied the entire history of the character he probably wouldn't be trying to sell his theory and the media wouldn't be buying it.
^^^I found this to be very telling. This is the first page of a Lone Ranger activity book from 1940. As you can see the first sentence says "In the old West of the days before the Civil War, the Lone Ranger was a famous and mysterious hero." "Before the Civil War" are the key words in that sentence. The timeline doesn't add up for Burton's theory. According to this activity book the Lone Ranger's fictional career started over a decade before Reeves' real life career did, and during the time when Reeves would've still been a slave. Also, Burton claims that a Texas Ranger and a Native American would've never worked together post civil war. That might be historically accurate, but that bit of history makes no impact on this situation because The Lone Ranger's fictional career started before the war. As I stated above several times now, Burton's theory is just an opinion. It's very obvious that Burton did not do much research on the Lone Ranger because if I found this book he also could've found it. Burton and the media members who believe his theory and write stories on this subject have either ignored, forgotten or don't know that the Lone Ranger was a multimedia brand long before he ever was on TV. These people think the Lone Ranger is just a character from an old 1950's TV show. Had Burton studied the entire history of the character he probably wouldn't have written his theory, and the media wouldn't be repeating it as a fact. Still not convinced that this is a myth? Then, let's keep going.
^^^A publicity still from the 1938 Republic serial "The Lone Ranger".
One of these five men is The Lone Ranger, but only Tonto, and the other four
Rangers, know which one it is. The hook of the story is that, in a reversal of
the common serial "Masked Mystery Villain" stock character, the
audience doesn't know who the hero is until the final reel—all
the audience is told is that The Lone Ranger is one of the men in the group
(the same plot line was used later in the 1943 Republic serial "The Masked
Marvel"). "If you've seen the serial, you
know that the Lone Ranger turns out to be one of five identically garbed
"suspects" who are killed off, one by one, throughout the serial. Republic decided to use that distinctive mask (a) to make it harder for
the audience to guess which one of the five men was actually the Ranger,
and (b) to make it easier to conceal the face of stunt double Yakima
Canutt, who appears on screen as the Ranger in at least as much footage
as the actor (Lee Powell) who is unmasked in the final chapter. In
researching my monograph I had access to hundreds of pages of documents
relating to the making of this serial, including the original contract
between Republic and George Trendle, owner of the LR radio show. I also
had countless memos that went back and forth between the two parties. Bass Reeves is never mentioned, and I highly doubt anybody back then had the
slightest idea who he was. The Lone Ranger wasn't created by Western
historians; he was created by a bunch of radio broadcasters. Any hint to the contrary is baseless speculation." -Ed Hulse (Author of the book "Behind
the Mask: The Making of Republic's Lone Ranger Serials")
^^^Another example proving Burton's mask theory wrong, and also proves to you (the reader) that this was the standard at Republic Pictures during that era. A lobby card photo of Robert Livingston as Zorro in the film "The Bold Caballero" released by Republic in 1936 (2 years before The Lone Ranger serial was released and 3 years before Livingston played The Lone Ranger in the second Republic Serial "The Lone Ranger Rides Again").
^^^If you're still not convinced -- here's a few more examples proving Burton's mask theory wrong. (1)
The first ever publicity photo of The Lone Ranger. The photo is of Brace Beemer
as The Lone Ranger and is from June 1933. (2) A 1933 publicity photo of
The Lone Ranger and Tonto from a short-lived live action stage production. (3)
A 1933 publicity photo of Carl Romig as The Lone Ranger. Romig was a local horse
trainer who owned a beautiful white stallion named Hero. Romig raised Hero from
a colt and had taught him many tricks. James Jewell saw the tall, muscular
Romig put Hero thru his paces, and knew that he had found his Ranger and horse.
For many years, Hero portrayed Silver during public appearances. Romig was hired
to portray The Lone Ranger in the promotional material for the West
Intermediate Circus (where the masked man was to make another public
appearance). (4) A 1934 publicity photo of Brace Beemer as The Lone
Ranger. (5) The Lone Ranger at his first ever public
appearance. The photo is of Brace Beemer as The Lone Ranger and was taken July
30th, 1933 on Bell Isle. (Also, I zoomed in on his face so you could have a better look at his mask. It's larger than picture 1, but the bottom half of his face is still exposed.) (6) A 1935 picture of The Lone Ranger. This photo was later used as a premium giveaway. Some
people say it's Beemer as the masked man, some believe it's Romig, some say it's Earl Graser, or Harold Bud Olencamp, but regardless of who it is behind the mask the
point is it's still not the full face mask style from the Republic serials. Burton claims in the early years of The Lone Ranger, he (LR) wore a full mask as some kind of tribute to Reeves. That is totally false (I mean, how can we go any earlier than 1933?). Burton tries way too hard to turn his theory into truth because he cherry picks information, but only when it's convenient for him and his theory. Did the Lone Ranger wear a full mask in the two Republic serials? Yes, that's true, but that is the only time in the history of the character. No other time during the 85+ year history of The Lone Ranger did he wear a mask like that one. As you can see by these photos, The
Lone Ranger is wearing his traditional domino mask, and was wearing it long before the two movie serials. It's a well known fact
within movie serial fandom why The Lone Ranger wears a mask that covers his
entire face. Hulse and Witney just explained it to you. The only people who
seem to not know this are Burton and the media.
^^^And if you're still not convinced -- here's yet another
example proving Burton's mask theory wrong. This is the first Lone Ranger
cartoon. No one knows the exact date it was released, but judging by the way
The Lone Ranger is dressed it's between 1933-1935. The Lone Ranger who appears
in this cartoon short looks like photos 1 & 2 from the previous example.
Burton claims in the early cartoons and comic books of The Lone Ranger, he (LR)
wore a full mask as some kind of tribute to Reeves. As you can see by this
cartoon that is totally false. This whole myth was very easy to debunk because
it becomes very obvious that it's false when people (in this case Burton)
resort to making stuff up to try and make their theory true. "
^^^Tom Mix and Douglas Fairbanks, two of the true inspirations for The Lone Ranger. Prior to the creation of The Lone Ranger, westerns were filled with masked heroes. As you can see by the first photo, even Tom Mix wore a mask during his career. (1) Publicity photo of Mix as the masked hero in the 1928 film "Daredevils Reward". (2) Publicity photo of Fairbanks as Zorro in the 1920 film "The Mark of Zorro". “Bass
Reeves, the legendary lawman who was the first black man to serve as a U.S.
Marshal west of the Mississippi, is not nor ever has been the inspiration for
the fictional hero of yesteryear known as The Lone Ranger. This urban legend started in 2006 when it was speculated by author Art. T.
Burton in his biography entitled “Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend
of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves” that the real lawman was the inspiration for
the fictional one. Had Burton done his due diligence and actually researched
the creation of The Lone Ranger, he never would have made his phony assertion. I
know this because I am not only a Lone Ranger fan; I’m also the founder and
former owner of the Lone Ranger Fan Club and an amateur Lone Ranger scholar. I
have done tons of research and written countless articles about the masked man
and I can tell you for fact that there never was any mention or even hint of
speculation prior to 2006 that the fictional character was inspired by Reeves
or any other person who ever lived. The true story of how The Lone Ranger came
to be is much more convoluted and entertaining than someone drawing inspiration
from a long-dead cowboy with a badge. You see, The Lone Ranger evolved through
a process of contributions by several people working simultaneously in
different states. The whole thing started in late 1932 after George W. Trendle,
owner of WXYZ radio station in Detroit, broke away from the CBS network and
needed programing for his now independent network of radio stations. To create
that programing he put his staff to work. Among his directives for one of the
programs were three “givens.” The first was that the program was going to be a
drama, because they were inexpensive. The second was that it would be a
children’s program because children were less critical and very persuasive when
it comes to coaxing parents to buy sponsors’ goods. The third is it would be a
Western. In one of the first staff brainstorming sessions, Trendle said he
wanted the new hero to be modeled after Robin Hood and Zorro. The staff liked
the idea of a Zorro-like mask and the benevolent outlaw approach to the
character. “I see him as sort of a lone operator. He could even be a former
Texas Ranger,” Trendle said. Keep in mind, Reeves was a U.S. Marshal. Program
director James Jewel, who was in that first meeting and is credited with coming
up with some of the finer details of the character, said it was studio manager
Harold True who came up with the name after it was pointed out that “The Lone
Star Ranger” couldn’t be used because Zane Grey had already used it in a book.
That led True to shorten it to The Lone Ranger. Trendle felt it was important
that the character ride a magnificent horse, like all the other Western heroes
of the time. On Dec. 28, 1932, Jewel wrote a letter to Fran Striker, a writer
who lived in Buffalo, N.Y., with a bunch of the basic concepts for the
character. Striker cobbled them together and re-worked scripts from other
Westerns he had written and came up with the first few Lone Ranger radio
scripts. Some of the details were augmented by Jewel during rehearsals. A few
stories into the program it was determined that the masked man needed a
companion to talk to in order to move the stories along. Otherwise he would
have to talk to himself or his horse or there would be long breaks in the
action for lengthy narration. That led to Tonto becoming part of the Lone
Ranger legend. The point is that The Lone Ranger arose out of the collaborative
efforts of several people over a period of time. There were many contributors
and detractors along the way. Other than the influence of the fictional Robin
Hood and Zorro, there is no evidence of The Lone Ranger being inspired by any
one person, including Bass Reeves. Like I wrote in my article from last year, this takes nothing away from Bass Reeves,
who was a great man in his own right and deserves better than to have his
legacy tainted by fiction. I bring this up not be racist or to take anything
away from the accomplishments of a great man. I do this to set the
record straight and to separate fact from fiction and truth from speculation.” -Joe Southern
Facebook
user, what exactly do I know now? All your information is wrong??
I think the lesson we can learn from this is do your own research and don't believe everything you read on the Internet. "There is no connection between Bass Reeves and The Lone Ranger. True and dedicated Lone Ranger fans know there is no connection and that media outlets are spreading a false connection, mainly because they do not know the history of The Lone Ranger that George Trendle, James Jewell and Fran Striker created. They should research the beginning of how the fictional story of The Lone Ranger came to be instead of trying to create a false narrative." -Garry Cherricks (President of The Lone Ranger Fan Club)
I think the lesson we can learn from this is do your own research and don't believe everything you read on the Internet. "There is no connection between Bass Reeves and The Lone Ranger. True and dedicated Lone Ranger fans know there is no connection and that media outlets are spreading a false connection, mainly because they do not know the history of The Lone Ranger that George Trendle, James Jewell and Fran Striker created. They should research the beginning of how the fictional story of The Lone Ranger came to be instead of trying to create a false narrative." -Garry Cherricks (President of The Lone Ranger Fan Club)
But interestingly enough, the inspiration behind The Lone Ranger may have actually been the real-life Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, a Black man who fled the civil war, befriended the Seminole and Creek Indians, and eventually became one of the greatest lawmen in the Wild West. As the story goes, Reeves arrested more than 3,000 outlaws and killed 14 criminals — without ever sustaining a gunshot wound. His whole life was defined by stranger-than-fiction experiences. And many people whom he arrested were sent to the House of Corrections in Detroit, which was the same city where The Lone Ranger was first introduced via radio in 1933. Of course, it’s worth noting that there’s no concrete proof that Reeves inspired the famous character. But according to biographer Art T. Burton,“Bass Reeves is the closest real person to resemble the fictional Lone Ranger on the American western frontier of the nineteenth century.”
"No concrete proof " are the key words in this article. This part about The Lone Ranger in this article is pointless because it tells the reader nothing. There's no concert proof because there is no proof. There's no concert proof because Reeves had nothing to do with the creation of The Lone Ranger. There's no concert proof because Art Burton made the whole thing up. Excuse me, Karen, but how can Reeves be the "real" Lone Ranger when there’s no concrete proof that Reeves inspired the fictional character? Again, I don't mean to single out Karen Hunter, but even when presented with evidence that proves this is a total myth, she, and many other people online, still continue to claim it's true. Which brings up the question...why even mention The Lone Ranger in an article about Reeves? There's no proof so why even mention it? Reeves' legacy and accomplishments are set in stone. They don't change because he has no connection to The Lone Ranger. Reeves has an amazing life story so why write about a myth in an article that's supposed to inform people about his life? Why not write about one of his actual accomplishments? Nothing related to this myth makes any sense. And why? Because there's nothing to it. Burton's theory is just his opinion. Nothing more, nothing less. This article is a prime example of what's floating around on the internet because, like all the others who repeat Burton's myth, nowhere does it mention who created The Lone Ranger or gives any history about the character. And like all the others, the writer of this article never bothered to reach out to anyone who knows the real history of The Lone Ranger for a comment. Burton knows very little about The Lone Ranger, but still the writer only repeats the words that can be found in Burton's book, and doesn't include any research beyond what was written in said book. Also, here we go again with the use of words like "May"when this myth is mentioned in an article on the internet. "May" doesn't sound like proof to me, how about you? If I was writing about a fact I wouldn't use the word "May", would you? The definition of the word "May" is Expressing possibility. or Expressing a wish or hope. The word "Possibility" is not a synonym for the words "Real","Fact", "True" or "Truth". “Bass Reeves is the closest real person to resemble the fictional Lone Ranger on the American western frontier of the nineteenth century.” This is actually an empty statement when you fully break it down. This statement by Burton is 100% opinion based. You can tell just by the way it's written. Just because Reeves is the closest real person to resemble the Lone Ranger Art Burton could find from history doesn't mean anything, and it definitely doesn't prove the Lone Ranger is based on Reeves. Also, it's actually impossible for Burton to claim Reeves is the closest because he doesn't know every lawman who ever lived in the old west. Burton really can't make that claim because he hasn't studied every lawman from that era. Reeves is just the closest of anyone he (meaning Burton) knows of which truly means nothing. In pretty much every article about Reeves that mentions a possible connection with The Lone Ranger, Burton's name is brought up. Which proves that this theory is not a fact and only exists because of his book. Here we go again, and I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but Burton's theory is just his opinion. Nothing more, nothing less.
Link to the full article: https://allthatsinteresting.com/bass-reeves
^^^Remember when I said Karen Hunter was not the only person spreading this myth online? Here's an article that highlights my statement perfectly. This article is way more ridiculous than Hunter's tweet. In fact, this might be the most ridiculous article ever written regarding this myth. Here's the passage in the article that caught my eye. A man named Darrell Cummings quoted in it:
“He (Reeves) was a Texas Ranger and during his time, he caught more convicts than any of the other rangers,” Cummings said. “He traveled, had the silver bullet, the white horse and the Native American companion.”
Excuse me, Pastor Cummings, where did you get your information? It wasn't from any book regarding the history of The Lone Ranger. It wasn't from Art Burton's book. So where did you learn all of this stuff? Judge Paul L. Brady is a relative of Reeves' and he says there's no connection. So, how do you know? I can guarantee you that Cummings has no knowledge and has done zero research on the history of The Lone Ranger because his statement in this article highlights that. But the worst part about his quote is he actually knows nothing about Reeves. Art Burton knows nothing about The Lone Ranger, but at least he knows about Reeves' life and career. The same can't be said for Cummings. There is not a single word of truth in his statement. There's at least seven false things in his short statement. (1) The Lone Ranger was not based on Reeves. (2) Bass Reeves was never a Texas Ranger. He was a deputy US Marshal. (3) Because he was a US Marshal and not a ranger, he did not capture more convicts than any other ranger. He was never a Texas Ranger. (4) Reeves never used silver bullets. Art Burton claims Reeves may have used silver coins as a calling card, but he never used silver bullets. (5) Reeves never rode a white horse. He may have rode a gray horse that may have appeared white. "May" is the key word. Burton doesn't actually know what color the horse was, and it can't be verified by him or anyone else. Also, according to David Dary, Reeves rode a large red stallion with a white blaze. A red stallion is a brownish colored horse. (6) Federal law mandated that deputy US marshals have at least one native posseman with them whenever they went out in the field. Being assisted by a Native American scout is not unique to Reeves. It was the law so everyone during that time had to have one. Reeves wasn't the only deputy US marshal in the territory during that time, and he wasn't the first, last or only person to have a Native American assistant. It was standard operating procedure in those days. Lawmen, cavalry, pioneers, trappers and bounty hunters commonly took along an Indian colleague for both protection and as a guide. (7) The TV show wasn't even The Lone Ranger's first appearance. There were two Lone Ranger Republic Serials released 10 years before the TV show started. The Lone Ranger TV series started in 1949, and by then the radio show had been on the air for 16 years. ***On a quick side note*** It is very confusing and misleading when people on the Internet write "Bass Reeves was the real Lone Ranger" for a few reasons . (1) Reeves never was a ranger. And because he never was a ranger no one in 1880's would've called him that because it would've made no sense. (2) Reeves was never known as The Lone Ranger during his lifetime. For whatever reason, bloggers on the Internet call him that, but it was never his nickname or a name attached to him prior to Burton's book. There's not a single newspaper article from Reeves' lifetime where he was referred to as that name.*** I can guarantee you that Cummings doesn't know or care about the history of The Lone Ranger. I can guarantee you that Cummings doesn't know or care about how The Lone Ranger was created. I can guarantee you that Cummings doesn't know or care about the men who created The Lone Ranger. I can guarantee you that Cummings doesn't know or care about the letters between Jewell and Striker. I can guarantee you that Cummings doesn't know or care that The Lone Ranger was a radio show long before it was a TV show. And I can guarantee you that Cummings never read Burton's book because if he did he would know that Burton's theory is just his opinion and not a fact. Also, he would know that Reeves was a US Marshal. Cummings doesn't even know that small and simple detail about Reeves' life. The same goes for the writer of this article D.K. Wright. She did absolutely no research. It is crystal clear she didn't research The Lone Ranger or Bass Reeves. Had she done some research she would know that Cummings' statement is 100% false. It is a well known fact that Reeves was a US Marshal, and Wright couldn't even get that correct in this article. It is shocking that WTRF would run a story and not fact check anything. And why would you even interview someone who knows nothing about Reeves or The Lone Ranger? This article can't be taken seriously because it features an interview with someone who doesn't know anything about Reeves or The Lone Ranger. Also, here we go again with an article about this myth that doesn't have a single person who knows the history of The Lone Ranger quoted in it. Wright just wrote down whatever Cummings said, and never stopped to check and see if what he was saying was true or not. Had Wright done some research on Reeves or The Lone Ranger she wouldn't have written this story because there would be no story to write. Everything in that quote is false. Why put a quote in an article you know is false? Answer: Wright didn't do any research so she doesn't know it's false. Wright has displayed some very poor journalism in this article. Again, I don't mean to single out Wright because she's not the only person spreading this myth online, but this article gives you a good idea of what kind of nonsense is floating around on the internet regarding this myth.
Link to the full article: https://www.wtrf.com/news/black-history-month/pastors-black-history-collection-started-with-a-single-newspaper/
^^^As ridiculous as the statements made by Karen Hunter and Darrell Cummings are this one takes the cake. This statement is yet another good example of the kind of nonsense that is floating around on the internet regarding this myth. This is a statement from Larry Callies, owner of The Black Cowboys Museum. Callies' statement is false on some many levels. (1) This implies that The Lone Ranger is based on Reeves. That's false. Actually, this statement doesn't even claim that. Like Cummings' statement earlier, Callies takes it one step further by claiming Reeves is The Lone Ranger. No based on or inspired type language here. According to Callies, The Lone Ranger is not a show about a fictional character, but rather a biographical series. This of course is totally false. Reeves was never known as The Lone Ranger during his lifetime. For whatever reason, people continue to call him that, but it was never his nickname or a name attached to him prior to Burton's book. There's not a single newspaper article from Reeves' lifetime where he was referred to as that name. And why would it be? He wasn't even a Texas Ranger. (2) This also implies that the only reason The Lone Ranger wears a mask is because he's based on Reeves (or according to Callies, IS Reeves). This is also false. (3) This statement also implies that Trendle and company knew who Reeves was at the time. This is false because there is zero evidence of that. (4) Who is Callies quoting in this interview? Does anyone know? It's not Art Burton. Burton never even wrote that, and he invented this myth. It's not George Trendle. It's not Fran Striker. It's not James Jewell. Callies doesn't know Trendle, Striker or Jewell, and all of those men are dead so the quote didn't come from one of them. Plus, he uses they a lot in this statement. This showcases that Callies doesn't know or care who created the character. Mr. Callies, who even said that? Who are you quoting in this statement? (5) When The Lone Ranger radio show started The Lone Ranger didn't even wear a black mask. He wore a silver mask. This idea for why The Lone Ranger wears a black mask is totally false. "On the radio program the earliest indication for what color mask The Lone Ranger wore was silver, then black. In late 1934 it was officially changed to a black domino mask and remained that way for the rest of the show." -Martin Grams (6) Callies is talking in circles. He begins talking about the radio show, but then quickly changes over to talking about the TV show. Everyone keeps mentioning the TV show when talking about this myth, but the TV show has nothing to do with this debate. The debate is about the creation of the character, not a TV show that started airing 15+ years after the character first appeared. The TV show should never even be mentioned when talking about this myth. The TV show wasn't even The Lone Ranger's first on-screen appearance. There were two Lone Ranger Republic Serials released 10 years before the TV show started. The Lone Ranger TV series started in 1949, and by then Brace Beemer (who played the character on radio) had already done hundreds of public appearances as The Lone Ranger. Here we go for the hundredth time...I don't see anything talking about the creation of The Lone Ranger, do you? I don't see any information about the creators of The Lone Ranger, do you? I don't see anything about the history of The Lone Ranger, do you? I don't see any historical documents that back up Callies' statement, do you? I don't see any evidence that Trendle and company even knew who Reeves was, do you? Callies might know a lot about the history of the Wild West and black cowboys, but he knows nothing about the history of The Lone Ranger. ***Quick Note*** Of course the Houston Chronicle never fact checked Callies or questioned him on where he got his information, but you didn't need me to tell you that. You already knew they weren't going to do it. 😉
There are tons of other articles that contain quotes similar to that of Hunter, Cummings and Callies, but you get the point. No need to bore you with anymore examples of them so let's move on.
Link to the full article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lift-every-voice/article/Larry-Callies-16225323.php
Garry Cherricks said it best earlier in my report, but it needs to be said again:"There is no connection between Bass Reeves and The Lone Ranger. True and dedicated Lone Ranger fans know there is no connection and that media outlets are spreading a false connection, mainly because they do not know the history of The Lone Ranger that George Trendle, James Jewell and Fran Striker created. They should research the beginning of how the fictional story of The Lone Ranger came to be instead of trying to create a false narrative." -Garry Cherricks (President of The Lone Ranger Fan Club)
^^^When I was doing my research for this report I reached out to several Bass Reeves experts, but only Sidney Thompson got back to me. Most of the Reeves experts never replied. The ones who did reply told me to read Art Burton's book (like that's gonna tell me anything), read the History.com article (if Burton's book tells me nothing that articles tells me even less so that was no help) or no comment. I really appreciate Sidney getting back to me and giving me a real answer. An answer that is based in facts and not one based on emotion. Now, let's breakdown his response: "Thanks for reaching out and sharing this information. I've had my doubts about the connection, but have never done any research on the Lone Ranger to verify anything one way or another." --Having doubts is a good start because Burton's theory is weak and loose at best. Next, and this one is a common theme when it comes to this myth...no research has been done on The Lone Ranger. This is a huge problem within this myth. Everyone who claims Burton's theory is true has done zero research on the history of The Lone Ranger. Luckily for Sidney people like Martin Grams, Joe Southern and myself have done the research. I appreciate Sidney's honesty, but I find it very disturbing that he (Sidney) has repeated Burton's theory and has claimed it is a fact when he hasn't done any research on the other side of the coin. Which is par for the course at this point because if you study the history of The Lone Ranger, Burton's theory quickly falls apart. Why? Because it's not true. It's just an opinion. "Even if so many of the similarities are merely coincidental, the comparison is helpful because it instantly gives people an idea of what kind of person Bass Reeves was." --So now this is a marketing gimmick to give people a better idea about who Reeves was? I'm 99.9% convinced Art Burton made this myth up so he could sell more books, and this part of Sidney's response basically confirms my suspicion. He (Burton) claims he has no proof of a connection, but never bothers to clear things up or miss out on an opportunity to cash in on it. He's sold more books and got more free media exposer than anyone. Are you familiar with the saying, "Follow the money"? Who is benefiting from this myth? It's not Reeves he's been dead for over 100 years. How can a dead man cash in on this? Burton is the only person who's gotten anything out of this myth. Every single article mentions either his name or book. Either way it all becomes free advertising for him and that book. "Honestly, though, I'm also not certain there was absolutely no influence between the two--because I am well aware of instances when white deputies and marshals took credit for Reeves's work. Is a link between Reeves and the Lone Ranger unlikely? Yes, I'll grant you that. I do acknowledge your point that it's not a proven fact." --I don't even know what the first part of this means, but for the second part..a link is unlikely because there is no link. It's not a proven fact because there is no proof to prove it is a fact. There is no evidence that proves it's true and there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that proves that this theory is false. And why is this theory false? Because The Lone Ranger is a fictional character based on a mixture of Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro in the 1920 film "The Mark of Zorro", Robin Hood, silent film star Tom Mix, Zane Grey books and the standard elements of the popular "B" western movies of the 20's and early 30's. In just a single email Sidney confirmed pretty much all of my suspicions. This myth is being used as a marketing gimmick to sell books, the people who repeat this myth as a fact know nothing about the true history of The Lone Ranger, and no one has any evidence that can prove that Burton's theory is anything more than just the opinion of one author. Once again, thank you, Sidney, for the response. I really appreciate it.
^^^There is a ton of false information living on the internet about Bass Reeves. This myth about The Lone Ranger being based on Reeves' life is the biggest lie, but it is not the only lie or false piece of info on the web. This photo above perfectly highlights all of the false information. Ernest Marsh is the premier Reeves reenactor and someone who spreads this myth across the Internet on a daily basis. If Burton is the President of this myth, Marsh is the Vice President, but that's a story for another day. Here Marsh posted this on Facebook in July 2021. In the post there is a photo of a man who some claim is Reeves. The man in this photo is clearly not Reeves, but because someone somewhere said it was this photo sold for $12,000 in 2020. On one hand, I feel bad for the person who paid that much money because they got ripped off, but on the other hand, you need to do research. And that is the running theme when talking about the legacy of Bass Reeves. No one is really doing research. Art Burton did a good job with his book, but his Lone Ranger myth hurts that book because that is the only thing people talk about whenever it is mentioned. There are tons of people who just go off of what Burton wrote in his book. Then there's the other people... these people have never read Burton's book or any other book about Reeves. These people are just going off of what they heard or what they can find on Google. These people are not checking to see if the sources they're citing are reliable. These people are just copy and pasting things on websites from other people who copied this info from another website. It's a vicious, never ending cycle. The lesson we can learn from this is do your own research and don't believe everything you read on the Internet or it might cost you 12,000 bucks.
^^^Promotional drawing for Mario DeMarco's book "The
Lone Rangers of the Silver Screen and Television"[11]. It's a well-known
fact that Zorro is the main inspiration for The Lone Ranger. The drawing was done by DeMarco himself to promote the book he wrote about The Lone Ranger.
^^^Some bloggers who have printed Burton's opinion as fact have made claims that because Reeves was a crack shot and The Lone Ranger was a crack shot they must be connected. That is false. Being good with a gun isn't exclusive to The Lone Ranger. Every western hero from movies, TV, comics, and novels is good with a gun. The universe that these fictional cowboys live in is ruled by the law of the six-gun. The best shot is the best man, and these heroes are always the best. It comes with the territory. Hopalong Cassidy, Red Ryder, The Cisco Kid, The Durango Kid, The Range Rider, The Virginian, Shane, Matt Dillon, Lucas McCain, Bret Maverick, Paladin, Josh Randall, Bronco Lane, Johnny Yuma, Cheyenne Bodie, Jess Harper, Slim Sherman, Dan Troop, Flint McCullough, Hondo Lane, Christopher Colt, Jim Hardie, Django, The Man with No Name, Will Kane, Harmonica, William Munny, Rooster Cogburn, and every other fictional western hero you've ever heard of are all known to be a crack shot. It's an extremely common element of wild west story telling. The Lone Ranger being good with a gun has nothing to do with Reeves, it has to do with him being a fictional western hero, and fitting into the industry standard of what abilities the hero should possess. "The original concept for the show came about in
a meeting in 1932 with George W. Trendle and the staff of radio station WXYZ in
Detroit. There is no indication that they (Trendle and his staff) even
knew about Reeves. Brace Beemer, who was to become the most famous voice
of the ranger on radio, was the station manager at the time and had major input
in the details. As you know I was a friend of the Beemer family. There is little similarity between Reeves and the Lone
Ranger when you get down to the details. The major difference being Trendle
insisted that the Lone Ranger never kill anyone. Reeves is said to have
killed several in his career." -Everette Humphrey (Contributor for The Silver Bullet Chronicle and at the Wabash County Museum. The museum features one of the largest Lone Ranger exhibits in the world.)
It is estimated that during his career, Bass captured 3,000 people or more. Spears believes that number is exaggerated, but he does not doubt that the number of men Reeves killed during that time to be 14 (although there are also estimates of 12 and 20). Another bit of mythology Spears disagrees with is that Bass is the model for the Lone Ranger, a suggestion that has come up in Art Burton’s 2006 book about the lawman and has also been promoted by Bill O’Reilly.
I tracked down Spears for a more in-depth comment on the subject, and here's what he had to say about this myth:"The idea that Bass Reeves could be the basis for the radio and
television character The Lone Ranger is nothing more than
unsubstantiated speculation that does not hold up under the scrutiny of
known facts." -Jim Spears (A member of the U.S. Marshals Museum Foundation board)
Here's the link to the article mentioned above:
https://www.swtimes.com/news/20191101/we-are-river-valley-bass-reeves-and-old-west?fbclid=IwAR0UX-vRoUFrIHU_7ZljNkelRqbu7dzMH1a2Y1AckodmesEKp1ykG1UyXG8
^^^There is no connection between The Lone Ranger and Reeves. The similarities in Burton's theory are loose and weak at best. If The Lone Ranger isn't based on Reeves then is there any fictional character who's based on him? Yes. There is a fictional character whose life and exploits were very similar to that of Reeves -- US Marshal Jed Cooper, played by Hollywood Legend Clint Eastwood, in the movie, "Hang 'em High". The equivalent of Judge Isaac Parker, who was friends with Reeves and tried the outlaws he (Reeves) brought in, had an equivalent in that movie as well: Judge Adam Fenton, played by Pat Hingle. He (Reeves) was nothing like The Lone Ranger but very much like Eastwood's character, Jed Cooper. What's hard to understand is that if one is to draw parallels between Reeves and a fictional character, why The Lone Ranger? There are very few parallels and many differences. By comparison, the fictional character Jed Cooper in the movie, "Hang 'em High," offers numerous strong parallels. Let's break them down. Reeves was a US Marshal. In the movie Cooper is a US Marshal. Reeves worked with Judge Parker. Cooper worked with Judge Fenton. Reeves lived in Oklahoma. Cooper lives in Oklahoma. According to David Dary, author and professor of journalism, at the University of Oklahoma, in a 2007 article wrote..."He (Reeves) rode a large red stallion with a white blaze." Cooper rides a large red stallion with a white blaze. Art Burton's theory is opinion based, and isn't backed up by any facts. Burton uses words like "may", "doubt", "possibly" and "tenuous" because even he isn't sure if what he's writing is actually true. However, the parallels between Reeves and Eastwood's character, Jed Cooper are backed up with facts. It is a FACT Reeves lived in Oklahoma. It is a FACT Reeves was a US Marshal. It is a FACT Reeves worked with Judge Parker. Reeves has absolutely nothing to do with the creation of The Lone Ranger, but Jed Cooper is another story. I doubt we would be able to prove conclusively that Reeves is the inspiration for Jeb Cooper. We can, however, say unequivocally that Bass Reeves is the closest real person to resemble Jeb Cooper on the American western frontier of the nineteenth century. See how that works. 🤣🤣 Anyone can make a connection from one thing to another if they really want to. 😉
Here's the link to the article mentioned above:
https://www.swtimes.com/news/20191101/we-are-river-valley-bass-reeves-and-old-west?fbclid=IwAR0UX-vRoUFrIHU_7ZljNkelRqbu7dzMH1a2Y1AckodmesEKp1ykG1UyXG8
^^^This image was published in the Waco Citizen on July 31,
1975. The Citizen did an article about Reeves and Judge Isaac Parker, and this
drawing appeared with it. I found this article to be very telling because no
one was making claims of a Reeves-Ranger connection during Reeves' media
resurgence in the 70's, when Clayton Moore was still making personal
appearances as The Lone Ranger, Jack Wrather owned the rights to the character
and James Jewell was still living, and able to denounce it. Fast forward to
2020, Art Burton, Bill O'Reilly and others who have spread this false narrative
have gotten away with it due to the lack of public interest in The Lone Ranger,
and because all of the creators of the character are no longer living. Fran
Striker died in 1962, George W. Trendle died in 1972 and James Jewell died in
1975 (He died shortly after this Waco Citizen article was published). It's very easy for
Burton and O'Reilly to spread this myth when the Ranger's creators are not here
to tell how they created their character. No one is creating lies about the
creation of Star Wars because Star Wars has a massive fan base and George Lucas
is alive and is able to tell people the truth about his creation. I find it
very interesting that back in the 70’s when Reeves was having his media
resurgence and The Lone Ranger was still a major player in pop culture (Gabriel
Toys had made a very successful line of Lone Ranger action figures, Clayton
Moore got his mask taken away from him in 1979 and “The Legend of the Lone
Ranger” was in production) that no one said a word about this myth. Then the
creators die, the character fades away, someone writes a book, and all of a
sudden there’s a connection between Reeves and The Lone Ranger? Like the rest
of this myth, things just don't add up. No one said anything back in the
70’s because there was nothing to say. There is no connection between The Lone
Ranger and Reeves. "I highly doubt that the men who created the fictional Lone Ranger character used any single real life person from the American west as source, for a number of reasons. As I recall watching the Lone Ranger on TV as a child it all seemed realistic. But now as an adult it is ridiculous! A man wearing an "eye mask" to conceal his identity? A white hat? A brace of silver six-guns? An exceptionally trained white stallion? Silver adornments on the saddle? Etc. Etc. It was good television for children, but that image now is as far from reality as Spiderman or Wonder Woman is." -Chuck Parsons (Author and Wild West Historian)
^^^Now, I'm not an unreasonable person. If Burton had some proof and a better argument, I would shut my mouth, but he has less than nothing. His theory is loose and weak at best, and he's said numerous times (there is an interview with him saying it in this very report) that he has no proof. I'm 99.9% convinced Art Burton made this myth up so he could sell more books. He claims he has no proof of a connection, but never bothers to clear things up or miss out on an opportunity to cash in on it. He's sold more books and got more free media exposer than anyone. Are you familiar with the saying, "Follow the money"? Who is benefiting from this myth? It's not Reeves he's been dead for over 100 years. How can a dead man cash in on this? Burton is the only person who's gotten anything out of this myth. Every single article mentions either his name or book. Either way it all becomes free advertising for him and that book. Many websites say people dispute Burton's theory, but in reality Burton is the one disputing things. For over 85 years TLR was based on a mixture of Zorro, Robin Hood, Tom Mix, etc., but now Burton claims that is false. So, he's actually the one in denial. Burton is the one who is disputing it. We have already gone over this earlier in my report, and the reasons behind why the things mentioned below served as the true inspiration for the character, but just to recap... The Lone Ranger is a fictional character based on a mixture of Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro in the 1920 film "The Mark of Zorro", Robin Hood, silent film star Tom Mix, Zane Grey books and the standard elements of the popular "B" western movies of the 20's and early 30's. "The idea that Bass Reeves could be the basis for the radio and television character The Lone Ranger is nothing more than unsubstantiated speculation that does not hold up under the scrutiny of known facts." -Jim Spears (A member of the U.S. Marshals Museum Foundation board)
^^^Here is the cover for the book "The Lone Ranger: The Early Years, 1933-1937". The book is available right now on Amazon. The book is written by historians Terry Salomonson & Martin Grams Jr.. This book documents the first five years of the Lone Ranger radio program, including a thorough and accurate history to the origin of the program, with scans of archival documents, myths debunked and plot summaries for almost every radio episode from 1933-1937. It took Salomonson and Grams over two decades to put this project together, and they have some great information in their book. This book is 800 pages long, and it only covers the first five years of the character. If the book covered the entire history of the Ranger from 1933-present day it would be around 14,000 pages long. That is quite amazing when you really think about it. I only mention this book because it is a good reminder of just how much Lone Ranger history there is. And also it shows the media that there are still many people around who know the true history of The Lone Ranger. All you (the media) have to do is look for them, and once you find (and talk to) them you'll know that Burton's theory is false. Also, many of the things I've written in my report can be found in this book, and in greater detail.
^^^The Lone Ranger Creed by Fran Striker. "Within the Lone Ranger's creed as written by Fran Striker it states, "That all things change but the truth, and that truth alone, lives forever". For many of us it will be a pleasure for the light of truth to put an end to the Bass Reeves falsehood." -Rod Charles (Oxford Lone Ranger Posse Member) [14]
^^^The three men who created The Lone Ranger.
***Quick Recap***: Burton's theory is a myth and can't be taken seriously for the following reasons...
(1) There is no evidence that confirms his theory is true. (2) There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that proves his theory is false, and shows how the character was actually created. (3) The people who claim Burton's theory is true don't know the history of The Lone Ranger. (This one should really be number one on this list because if you know or study the history of the character, Burton's myth quickly falls apart.) (4) Some of these people who claim Burton's theory is true also don't know anything about Bass Reeves. Do I need to remind you Pastor Cummings said Reeves was a Texas Ranger? I didn't think so. (5) Burton is way too inconsistent. Burton has been quoted numerous times saying that he never claimed Bass Reeves was the inspiration for The Lone Ranger, but was the closest real life person he could find to connect with the flimsy similarities found in his book. When questioned by someone who knows the true history of The Lone Ranger, Burton backpedals and says he never claimed Reeves was the inspiration for The Lone Ranger, but was the closest person he could find because of these flimsy similarities. Now, when he's asked questions about Reeves by someone who doesn't know the true history (or any history) of The Lone Ranger and believes his theory is a fact, Burton doubles down and claims that his theory is true. A good example of this is when Burton never hesitated to ride on the coattails of the Disney Lone Ranger movie in 2013 by promoting his Bass Reeves biography with careful wording in suggesting there was a connection. Burton contradicts himself all the time. For example: Burton and the media have said Reeves' career as a lawman was widely known and celebrated in his time, but in one of the passages in his book, Burton writes he (Reeves) was unknown -- so which one is it? Was he well known or unknown? Was he a celebrity or not? (6) Burton tries way too hard to turn his theory into truth because he constantly cherry picks information, but only when it's convenient for him and his theory. Anything that proves his theory is false he purposely ignores. (7) Burton has skin in the game. Burton has benefited more than anyone else from this myth. Burton knows there is no evidence to support his theory, but continues to claim his theory is a fact because it's good for business. Burton has gotten more media coverage and sold more copies of his book because he's used his theory as a marketing gimmick. (8) Nothing in Burton's theory can be verified. Burton uses words like "may", "doubt", "possibly" and "tenuous" because even he isn't sure if what he's writing is actually true. Now remember, Burton never met Reeves. All of the info he knows about Reeves he got from police reports, newspaper articles and oral stories. Burton never witnessed Reeves' heroics with his own eyes so it is very possible that some things he was told are 100% true but close enough. (9) The letters between Jim Jewell and Fran Striker. These letters between Striker and Jewell are historical documents, and confirm what we already knew. When you study what was going on in the entertainment industry during the early 30's, study who The Lone Ranger's creators are, and their personal and professional history, and study the creative challenges they had to overcome to make the character into the character that hit the radio waves in 1933, these letters are the icing on the cake to why Burton's theory is a myth. As Martin Grams correctly said earlier in this report: "Those (the letters between Jewell and Striker) are the smoking guns that clearly indicate what they were leaning towards. (10) The source. Art Burton, Ernest Marsh, Karen Hunter, Larry Callies, D.K. Wright, Pastor Cummings, History.com, Facebook User are not authorities of Lone Ranger history. These people are not reliable sources (on this topic) because they don't know (or care in some cases) about the history of the character and are completely unaware of the fine details. All they know is what they can google or remember from when they watched Clayton Moore on TV. People like Martin Grams, Terry Salomonson, Joe Southern, Dave Holland, Garry Cherricks, Clare Sieffert, Ed Hulse, Rod Charles, Larry Zdeb, Everette Humphrey, David Rothel and Mario DeMarco know things about The Lone Ranger you will never be able to find by searching on Google. These people have forgotten more about the history of The Lone Ranger than Burton, Marsh, Hunter, Cummings, Callies and Wright even know. All of this ties together because if Burton and company were Lone Ranger historians they would know that Reeves had nothing to do with the creation of the character, and Burton wouldn't of written his theory. You see, the only way someone could dream up a theory like this one is if they didn't know the history of the thing they were trying to make a connection with, and the only way someone could believe in the theory is if they also didn't know the history. Bottom line, when you study this myth from both sides it leads to a dead end because there is no connection between The Lone Ranger and Reeves. (11) And last but certainly not least, the similarities Burton offers in his theory are loose and weak at best. Burton's theory actually doesn't make any sense. Over paying for a meal makes a silver dollar Reeves' calling card? What?? Paying someone for their services translates into a silver dollar being his calling card? Again, what?? Two documented occasions is enough to make a silver dollar his calling card? Was Reeves secretly a billionaire? A silver dollar was a lot of money back then (Today it would be $25). Show me a lawman today that could afford to give away $25 to people they come in contact with. Reeves may have ridden a grey horse that appeared to look white? Isn't it just as possible that Reeves's horse could've appeared near black? Also, Reeves would've had more than one horse during his career. And, according to David Dary in his 2007 article, Reeves was known for riding a large red stallion (A brown horse). If federal law mandated that deputy US marshals have at least one native posseman with them whenever they went out in the field, how is that unique to Reeves? It was the law so everyone during that time had to have one. Reeves wasn't the only deputy US marshal in the territory during that time, and he wasn't the first, last or only person to have a Native American assistant. It was standard operating procedure in those days. Lawmen, cavalry, pioneers, trappers and bounty hunters commonly took along an Indian colleague for both protection and as a guide. "The idea that Bass Reeves could be the basis for the radio and television character The Lone Ranger is nothing more than unsubstantiated speculation that does not hold up under the scrutiny of known facts." -Jim Spears
And because of this, Burton's theory is a myth and can't be taken seriously.
The moral of the story is no one cares about westerns anymore. No one cares about The Lone Ranger because if they (the bloggers who repeat Burton's opinion as fact) did they would know the history of the character or take the time to learn the history of the character. They would never write a story about this myth because they would already know it's false. Everyone knows the history of Star Wars because people care about Star Wars. Everyone knows the history of Batman because people care about Batman. The bloggers who copy and paste Burton's words don't bother to do any research because they don't know, care or like westerns, and don't know, care or like The Lone Ranger. Also, no one really cares about Bass Reeves either. If the bloggers did then they would've read Burton's book. Then they would've seen the passages you just read, and would know that this myth started because of Art Burton's opinion. Look, Bass Reeves was one of the greatest lawmen who ever lived, he's a true American hero and a great legend of the old west. No one is disputing or discrediting what Reeves achieved during his incredible life and career, but he has nothing to do with the creation of The Lone Ranger. Also, it is very confusing and misleading when people on the Internet write "Bass Reeves was the real Lone Ranger" because there was no "real" Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger is a fictional character created in 1933 by George W. Trendle, Fran Striker and James Jewell. The harshest critics of The Lone Ranger say their number one complaint about him is that he's unrealistic. Bass Reeves was a real person who lived in the real world so to say he was the "real" version of a fictional character, who some say is unrealistic, really doesn't make any sense. There never was a real-life person from the old west who went by The Lone Ranger, wore a black mask made from their dead brother's vest, rode a white horse named Silver, used Silver bullets, had a Native American friend named Tonto, had "Hi-Yo Silver" as their catchphrase and had the William Tell Overture as their theme song. The Lone Ranger is a fictional character just like Batman, Superman and Spider-Man. Bass Reeves is not The Lone Ranger. He was Bass Reeves. We need to stop with this myth and start celebrating this man for what he accomplished during his life. Marshal Reeves deserves better.
***QUICK UPDATE***: I get asked all the time by readers: Why are there no quotes from Fran Striker Jr. or Dave Holland in your report? Well, unfortunately Mr. Striker and Mr. Holland are no longer with us. Striker passed away in 2013 and Holland passed away in 2005.
Please share this report with your friends, family, social media followers, co-workers or anyone else you think would be interested in reading it. And if you are a member of the media and would like to re-post this report on your website or blog feel free to contact me via email at reddeadpl@gmail.com . Thanks for reading!
Also, I highly
recommend you check out the following books, articles and websites:
[1] The full 22
page report by Martin Grams that debunks this myth. You can read it right now
for free at the link below:
[2] "His
Typewriter Grew Spurs...A biography of Fran Striker. Documenting the Lone Ranger's
ride on the radiowaves of the world" by Fran Striker Jr.:
[3] "From
Out of the Past: A Pictorial History of the Lone Ranger" by Dave
Holland:
[4] "Who
Was That Masked Man? The Story of the Lone Ranger" by David Rothel:
[5] "Behind
the Mask: The Making of Republic's Lone Ranger Serials" by Ed Hulse:
[6] The Official Lone Ranger Fan Club Website:
[7] Article by
Paul Fronczek talking about how John R. Hughes is the inspiration for the Lone
Ranger:
[8] Article by Lt.
Dan Marcou talking about how John R. Hughes may have been the inspiration for
the Lone Ranger:
[9] Full interview with Art T. Burton done by Wild West Lawmen Outlaws & Legends:
[10] Article by David Dary about Bass Reeves:
https://www.normantranscript.com/news/bass-reeves-the-most-feared-u-s-deputy-marshal/article_51975df5-516e-5b7e-82ec-bc9fbef1697e.html
[11] "The Lone Rangers of the Silver Screen and Television" by Mario DeMarco:
https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Rangers-Silver-Screen-Television/dp/B001LDAGIG
[12] "Collector's Reference & Value Guide to the Lone Ranger" by Lee Felbinger:
https://www.amazon.com/Collectors-Reference-Value-Guide-Ranger/dp/B001KYLNII
[13] NPR article about The Lone Ranger:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=198781845
[14] The Oxford Lone Ranger Posse Official Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/Home-Of-The-Mask-Oxford-Michigan-Home-of-the-Radio-Lone-Ranger-705754082878387/
[15] "The Lone Ranger: The Classic TV Series" by Clare Sieffert:
https://www.normantranscript.com/news/bass-reeves-the-most-feared-u-s-deputy-marshal/article_51975df5-516e-5b7e-82ec-bc9fbef1697e.html
[11] "The Lone Rangers of the Silver Screen and Television" by Mario DeMarco:
https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Rangers-Silver-Screen-Television/dp/B001LDAGIG
[12] "Collector's Reference & Value Guide to the Lone Ranger" by Lee Felbinger:
https://www.amazon.com/Collectors-Reference-Value-Guide-Ranger/dp/B001KYLNII
[13] NPR article about The Lone Ranger:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=198781845
[14] The Oxford Lone Ranger Posse Official Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/Home-Of-The-Mask-Oxford-Michigan-Home-of-the-Radio-Lone-Ranger-705754082878387/
[15] "The Lone Ranger: The Classic TV Series" by Clare Sieffert:
[16] Library of Congress article about The Lone Ranger by Cary O'Dell:
[17] Article about Texas Ranger John R. Hughes:
