horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty, hi-yo, silver, the Lone Ranger. For Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early western United States. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoof beats of the great horse, silver, the Lone Ranger rides again. Old Joe Brady sat on the porch of his big ranch house and gazed with pride at the rich rolling land that stretched to the west. The three-hour spread was looked upon as the finest in the territory, and its owner, the aforementioned Joe Brady, as the hardest, most stubborn man for miles around. Joe propped up in a comfortable chair on the porch and fretted and fumed all day because a sprained ankle had kept him at the house. Though the people in the nearby town of Colston called him Old Joe Brady, he was really a sturdy, heavyset man of fifty-odd years, and he ruled the three-hour spread and practically the whole town with an iron hand. As he sat there on the porch, Joe's wandering gaze suddenly focused upon a group of horsemen who had turned into the road leading to the ranch house. He sat upright and called loudly. Buzzer! Buzzer! Angle hurt, you listen to me. Yeah, that dreaded ankle hurts all the time. What I called you for was to see what them pestering folks are riding in here for. As far as I can make out, it's some of the men from Colston. Looks like Lem Jenkins riding in front. Yes, yes. Lem Jenkins, eh, he's the poorest excuse for a bank of any town they were had. Never at the bank. Always traipsing about bothering folks who don't want to be bothered. Now, Joe, hold your temper. Lem's all right in his way. There he is, but I don't happen to like his way. Yeah, who's that with him, you may guard? The one in front's a stranger, and the other two are Mark Demper and Jake Weatherfield. Move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, Come on there, Lem. Come up, all the way. Call me Mr. Brady. That means Lem's after something. Evening, Mrs. Brady. Evening, Lem. I reckon you folks know Mark and Jake here. Of course we know him. We've known him all our lives, almost. All right, stop catching, Lem. Let you come out to get me to do. Uh, Joe, Mrs. Brady, I want you to meet Mr. Sims. Howdy, howdy. Now, Lem, you all just come out here for a visit, you're welcome. Mark will give you a good meal if you want to eat. But if you come out to talk me into something, or to sell something, you might as well get back to town. Now, you do some talking for us, Val. Yeah, Joe, we really came out here to bring you good news, didn't we, boys? Sure did, Lem. It's good news for all of us, that's why. Well, I'm sitting here with my foot stuck in the air, waiting for all that good news. Let's have it so I can settle back and take it easy again. Yeah. Mr. Sims, maybe you'd better tell him. Mr. Brady, I represent the railroad. I take it you know we have tracks into Rockford, but at present, that's our western tunnel. You can't. Railroad, eh? I saw one of them contractions once. Haven't any use for them. Too noisy and goes too fast. Well, I'm still waiting for that good news. Of course. You see, we've decided to extend our railroad further west. We've selected Colston as an up-and-coming town. It'll be the next point to which we'll run our tracks. It's sure a great thing for Colston, Joe. Everybody's all excited about it. We're out for all of us. Dick, you and Mark must be fixing to borrow some money from Lem's bank the way both of you back up everything he says. But, Joe, everybody in Colston agrees we ought to have that railroad. Then go ahead and have it. Why waste time telling me about it? The fact is, Mr. Brady, we can't run our tracks into Colston without your cooperation. What do you expect me to do? Help you lay them tracks? I'm a rancher, not a track layer. Joe, of course they don't want you to help lay the tracks. You know better than that. Lance, say, give Mr. Sims a chance to tell you what it is the railroad does want from you. All right, all right. I'm giving them a chance. What is it they want, Sims? We want to buy a right-of-way through your property. We'd have to have it to reach Colston. Well, what? Have them snorting, smoking contraptions running over my spread and scaring the living day-lates out of my livestock? Not doing your life. No, Joe. Listen to reason. It's to your benefit as well as ours. Think what it'll mean to the town and to all the ranchers round about. Lem Jenkins, this is my spread. And I'm not letting any railroad come on to it. That's final. But if you don't let them, Joe, he'll take the railroad over to Woodgrove, 20 miles north of Colston. That's right, Mr. Brady. There's no other possible way to get into Colston if you'll refuse to let us buy a right-of-way. Of course, we'll pay a good price. I got all the money I need. I'd rather keep my land. Take your railroad to Woodgrove and make them happy. I'm happy enough without it. Oh, grab that, Angle. Joe, why don't you think it over before you say no? Would mean a lot to us, Fred, to have a railroad in Colston. Wifey, you run the house. I'll attend to the business and the things around here. Get our colors and betters. We're all through talking about that railroad. But, Mr. Brady, there's much to be considered if you... You're new from the East. I reckon you don't know me very well, Sims. But I let Lem tell you when I say no, I mean no. I guess it's no use, Mr. Sims. So, Brady ain't one to be argued with. It ain't fair, Lem. We all stand to lose a lot of money by not having that railroad. It's not, Tommy Ross. You can't lose what you haven't had unless we get the whole thing. Will you stay to supper? Glad to have you. Not me, thanks. I ain't hungry right now. We'll be getting back to town, thanks. Mr. Brady, if I could point out the benefits... We're talking about food, Sims. And I know all the benefits there is to good eating. Yeah, we'd better be gone, Mr. Sims. Just as you say, Mr. Jenkins. Evening to you, Mrs. Brady. Goodbye, Lem. Perhaps we'll meet again, Mr. Brady. Sure, sure, any time. But we won't talk about railroads. Joe Brady, I do believe you're the most big-headed man in the West. Man thinks you might at least let him tell you about it. If you were through talking, Martha, you can go get supper on the table, huh? I feel better already just watching the way those hombres sluck away from here. You better said yes. You better stayed to supper and eat in the center of the house and home, I reckon. Railroad? A week had passed since Joe Brady had refused to sell a right-of-way to the railroad. It was dusk when Tonto rode into the Lone Ranger's camp in the hills just beyond Colston. Oh, oh, sir. Oh, fella. Oh, fella. Oh. Tyee, Gemosabe. Tyee. Did you get the supplies, Tonto? Yeah. Supplies and saddlebags. Good. Men in town speak plenty of angry words about a man named Joe Brady. Joe Brady? Yeah. He's the owner of the three-year spread. Well, what complaint do the townsmen have against Brady, Tonto? Uh, me hear him say Brady not let railroad come to Colston. Him not sell land for tracks. Oh, I see. The railroad ends now at Rockford, about five miles east of Colston. Coming to Colston, they would have to cross Brady's land. Wonder why he won't sell a right-of-way. Well, me hear men in town say Brady not have reason. Him just have head like pig. I've heard Brady accused of being pig-headed before, Tonto. He does have the reputation of being very stubborn. Uh-huh. Well, uh, what else were they saying in town? Uh, me hear him say maybe railroad not come to Colston now. It go to Woodgrove. Oh, that's too bad. But it meant a great deal to Colston to have the railroad. Much more than it will ever mean to Woodgrove. Of course, without Brady's cooperation, nothing can be done. Them say him never change mine. Well, in that case, they just, listen, Tonto. You're hoarse. Run plenty fast. Yes. Seems to be coming along the trail from the west. Ah. You see him now? The rider seems to be hurt. Tell me, stop, horse. Here, I'll help you. Lift him from the saddle. Easy, easy there. Get some water, Tonto. Quick. Easy, fellas. Take it easy. Water will be here in a minute. You want it. Thanks. Maybe if he gets a bit of this, you'll... Here you are. Take it a little easy now. Feel better? Chance. Got me in the back. Oh, oh. Rest a bit, and we'll try to remove the arrow. No use. Listen. You got to listen. Go on. Tell me. Cheyenne's... About 2,000 on the warpath. Coming from the west. To be here by morning. Tonto, did you hear that? That's not good. Warn everybody. Cheyenne's killing. Burning. I... There's no time to lose. They've got to get all the ranches to go on the coast, and they might make a stand there. Come on. A man say 2,000 Cheyenne came a sudden. I know what you're thinking about, Tonto. Even only a few hundred fighting together will have more of a chance than they will spread out on the ranches. Here, Silver. Tonto, carry that poor pole to the nearest settlement. Uh-huh. Ready, Silver. Easy. You take the North Valley. I'll go south. Have them all get into coast, and we'll meet them there. Uh-huh. Adios. Come on, Silver. After Tonto rode with the man to the nearest settlement, he started out to warn the ranchers in the North Valley. The Lone Ranger rode southward. The steady, pounding hoofs of the great stallion, Silver, carried the masked rider of the plains from ranch to ranch, and at each he gave the same warning and direction. Come on, Silver. Come on, move. Cheyenne's are on the warpath. Go to Colston at once. Come on, Silver. Warning after warning was given by the Lone Ranger, and then Silver's untiring hoops came to a stop before the ranch halls of the three-hour spread. Whoa, whoa, boy, whoa, Silver. Whoa, yeah. Get the drop out of here. What do you want? Maybe you better explain that mask, too, before we... There's no time for explanations, Mr. Brady. I'll see here. The Cheyennes are on the warpath. Two thousand of them coming from the west. Be here by early morning. Quiet, boys. Quiet. Hey, look here, St. J. Maybe what you say is too... Believe it if you value your lives. All the ranchers are meeting in town to combine forces with the townsmen. Go there as soon as you can. Well, my men can go if they want to, but I'm staying here to protect my spread. All right, then stay. Throw away your stubborn life, Brady. You might at least think of your wife at a time like this. I came here to warn you. You can take it or leave it. Come on, Silver. Well, hold it. Well, listen, men. You heard what that mask number said. Somehow, I think he told the truth, so we'll all go to Colson. Which I might as well know right now, there ain't a living one of us that has a chance of coming through. Them Cheyennes will mask every last person in Colson. We won't have a chance. The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger story. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. Now to continue our story. After learning that 2,000 Cheyenne Indians were on the warpath and heading toward the town of Colson, the Lone Ranger and Tonto rode from ranch to ranch, warning everybody and telling them to gather in town. That night, all the menfolk met in the town's largest building to make what plans they could to defend themselves and their families. Joe Brady was talking to the gathering. If what that masked man told us is true, we're up against an almost hopeless fight. But every man has to do the best he can. The nearest army post that I know of is at Fort Griffin, some 150 miles northeast of here. Even if we could get word to them, they couldn't get here in time. There is an army post nearer than that. There's one a hundred miles to the east. They still couldn't get here in time. Let's get on with some plans. The army can't help us now. Quiet in class! Mr. Sims, if there is a post that close, I never heard of it. I saw the post with my own eyes, Mr. Brady. On my way out here two weeks ago. Just a minute, Mr. Brady. I'd like to ask Mr. Sims a question. Well, go ahead, stranger. You brought us all here. Thank you. Mr. Sims, how did you make the trip out here from the east? On the railroad, of course. And the army post you mentioned must have been near the railroad. Is that right? Yes. In fact, General Sherman and over a thousand men came out to the post on the... Ah, let's forget the railroad and talk over what plans we have. Just a minute, Brady. We are making plans. I think we can meet those Cheyennes with a force almost as large as they have. How can you do that? General Sherman's army post is only a hundred miles away from here. On the railroad. Say, that's right. I'll ride to the railroad terminal at Rockford, which is only five miles from here. I can telegraph the army post from there, and they can be here before morning with all the men at the post. But there won't be a train coming west through the army post before early morning. Well, it looks like that railroad idea is hard. Oh, wait a minute. Mr. Sims, would there be any railroad equipment at Rockford? Only an engine there. Oh, wait a minute. There's some stock cars there ready for loading cattle. Good. Maybe we can work it. Mr. Sims, you represent the railroad, so you'd better come with me. You'll never make it, stranger. We can try. Tonto, you stay here and do what you can. All right, Mr. Sims, come on. Well, I forgot to ask you, Mr. Sims, do you ride? Fortunately, yes. Good. Take Brady's horse, that one over there. All right. Brady might not like it. The railroad brings those troopers through. Joe Brady may change his mind about a lot of things. Mon Silver. Get up. A short time later, the Lone Ranger and the railroad representative arrived in Rockford. While the Lone Ranger telegraphed the army post, Mr. Sims made hurried arrangements to start a train of stock cars on the trip to the post. It was almost 10 o'clock when the Lone Ranger, astride Silver, was talking to Mr. Sims as the railroad man prepared to swing aboard the train. How long do you think it will take to make the trip there and back to Sims? That trip one way usually takes almost four hours. Four hours? That means eight hours at the least before the troops get here in Rockford. It may be too late. Don't worry, stranger. I'll have the engineer open the throttle wide, even if it means a wreck. That's a chance we'll have to take. We'll make the best possible time we can. Good. I'll hope for the best. I'll be waiting here. Adios and good luck. Goodbye. Steady Silver, steady boy. That noisy iron horse made you not to be the best friend we've ever had. Back in the town of Colston, weary and anxious men watched and waited as the hours went slowly by. It was after 5 a.m. and dawn was breaking when Tonto, who had gone westward to reconnoiter, hurriedly drew rain before the hotel baranda on which Brady and others were waiting. Oh, Oscar, help her. Oh, help her. Find out anything. Missy Cheyenne scouting party. Two, three miles to west. Then the mass man did tell the truth. Ah, him always tell what true. Did you hear that, man? The Indian says he settled the Cheyennes. Guess all we can do is fight till they pull us down. Heavy troopers come to help soon. Now, man, don't set your heart on them truthers. I know from the first it wasn't possible to get him here. No contraption like that railroad train could go there and get back in a matter of hours. That mass man just had high hopes, that's all. Well, get everybody together and be prepared for whatever happens. Joe, you haven't got a chance, looks like. Yeah, that's right, lamb. I mean, I guess I might as well have let that railroad have that land. I won't be left to enjoy it much longer. Too bad we listened to that mass man. He got everybody's hopes up high and now it's going to be worse for all of us. Wait. Wait. Let me hear sound. It's your hands. This is it. Come on, Nene. Get your horse. Wait. Wait. Sound come from east. Like many horses. They don't hear anything. Hey. What was that? Must be. They can't be. Troopers come. And they got their horses with them, too. Must have brought them on the railroad. Look at them come. Come on, sir. Hey, Cindy. The mass man. He did it. Come on, Nene. To your horses. We're going to help them fight them, Nene. Fight. With colors flying and a raid for battle, the troopers went onward toward a rendezvous with the Cheyennes. And riding in the lead on his magnificent white stallion was the Lone Ranger side by side with General Sherman. You'll fight them before long, General. I can bring only half my men due to the lack of train space. Rest the fellow on the early morning train. You have the advantage. Your mounts are fast thanks to the railroad. The Cheyennes have been riding all night. Look ahead. There they are. Yes. We'll be meeting them on the plane, which is part of the Brady spread. You go. Sound the charge. Gradually spreading out, the troopers rode into battle with the Cheyennes. The Cheyennes, taken unaware of the troopers, had no time to make plans. They fought furiously and recklessly, but the troopers moved in, cool and relentless. The plane was soon covered with fallen horses and redskins. Still, the troopers moved forward. And in and out, first at one end, then at the other, could be seen the flashing white of silver superb body carrying the Lone Ranger into the thickest part of the battle. Then the Cheyennes faltered. They moved back, and first slowly, then in complete rout. The din of battle died down, and a group of men stopped on the hillside to discuss the exciting victory. Cheyenne, did you see that masked man in the white stallion? He fought like a madman. General Sherman's troopers sure showed those redskins what real fighting is. They sure did. Did you see old Joe Brady in there doing his part? Well, if they hadn't have been for the railroad, we'd have all been dead by this time, including Joe Brady. Yeah. See, I wonder if Joe's thought of that. Maybe. But I don't think even all this could change old Joe much. He's too stubborn to admit he's ever wrong. Here comes Joe Brady. Oh, boy! Hey, golly, that was some fight, wasn't it? Never saw the light before, Joe. Hey, looky. Come over to my ranch house later. General Sherman's coming there with that mad stranger. Sure, Joe. Be glad to. I want to meet them, too. We'll be there, Joe. Good. Good. Well, then, I think maybe you'll all get a surprise, so don't forget to come. Get him down. Later, Joe Brady stood on his porch looking at the lone ranger who was talking to General Sherman. What is he? See that masked man there talking to the general? Of course I see him, Joe. Land sakes, I can't take my eyes off him. What about him? What is he? He took that stranger to show me what a darn old fool I've been all my life. Oh, now, Joe, why didn't you just ask me? I could have told you. Yeah, well, I guess you could have at that, Marty. Well, anyway, he risked his life and spent all that time helping us when he really didn't have a thing to lose by just riding away from our trouble. I overheard what you were saying, Mr. Brady. Might I say that the masked man puts duty to his fellow men above his personal safety or gain? Well, that's why he didn't ride away and leave us to our trouble. By the way, we've taken up an option on right-of-way to Woodgrove. That is, I'll go over to sign the option papers this afternoon. Option on the right-of-way for the railroad to go to Woodgrove, you say? That's right. Oh, no, you don't. Not on your life. What do you mean? I'll show you what I mean. I ain't letting you do me out of the one thing I can do to show my appreciation to that masked man. Listen, listen, everybody. Last week, Mr. Simms from the railroad told him to ask for a ride-of-way through my property to run the railroad to Colson. Well, me being the stubbornest mule head in this territory, I told him no. Well, then at that time, I meant it. But now, well, a bloody battle was just fought on my plane out there by the troopers that the railroad brought here to save our skins. What I'm trying to say is, I'm letting the railroad have all the land they need for a right-of-way, and it won't cost them a dime. They come through when we needed them, so I'll give them what they want. Mr. Brady, that's wonderful. Nope. Ain't anything wonderful about it, Jim. You know, the thing that is wonderful to me is the way that masked man does things. I want to see him and shake his hand, and if there's anything I got he needs, I'll... He's riding away, given that Indian friend of his. I don't even know who he is. I do. I found out from General Sherman. Well, you nitwit, don't stand there grinning like an ape. Tell me who he is. General Sherman said he's known as the Lone Ranger. You have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.
