Tonto (Lone Ranger Character) - Character

Character

Two conflicting origin stories have been given for the character Tonto, and how he came to work with the Lone Ranger.

As originally presented, in the December 7, 1938, radio broadcast, Reid had already been well-established as the Lone Ranger when he met Tonto. In that episode, Cactus Pete, a friend of the Lone Ranger, tells the story of how the masked man and Tonto first met. According to that tale, Tonto had been caught in the explosion when two men dynamited a gold mine they were working. One of the men wanted to kill the wounded Tonto, but the Lone Ranger arrived on the scene and made him administer first aid. The miner subsequently decided to keep Tonto around, intending to make him the fall guy when he would later murder his partner. The Lone Ranger foiled both the attempted murder and the framing. No reason was given in the episode as to why Tonto chose to travel with the Lone Ranger, rather than continue about his business.

A different version was given in both later episodes of the radio drama and at the beginning of the Lone Ranger television series. Tonto rescues a man named Reid, the sole surviving Texas Ranger of a party who was tricked into an ambush by the outlaw Butch Cavendish (although later reference works referred to the future Lone Ranger as "John" Reid, no first name was ever given to the Lone Ranger in either the radio or TV series). Tonto recognizes the ranger as someone who had saved him when they were both boys. He refers to him by the title "ke-mo sah-bee," explaining that the phrase means "faithful scout" in the language of his tribe. Tonto buries the dead rangers, and The Lone Ranger instructs him to make a sixth empty grave to leave the impression he, too, is dead.

This Native American was portrayed as an intelligent character, an equal partner to the Ranger in his work. Together, they seem to be capable of righting almost any wrong.

The radio series identified Tonto as a chief's son in the Potawatomi nation. His name translates as "wild one" in his own language. For the most part, the Potawatomi did not live in the Southwestern states, and their regalia is different from that worn by Tonto. The choice to make Tonto a Potawatomi seems to come from station owner George Trendle's youth in Mullett Lake, Michigan. Located in the northern part of the Midwest, Michigan is the traditional territory of the Potawatomi, and many local institutions use Potawatomi names. Other sources indicate that Camp Kee Mo Sah Bee belonged to the father-in-law of the show's director, James Jewell. According to author David Rothel, who interviewed Jewell a few months before his death Kee Mo Sah Bee and Tonto were the only two words that Jewell remembered from those days. Tonto's name may have been inspired by the name of Tonto Basin, Arizona.

"Tonto" is also a common Spanish word meaning "stupid." Interestingly, "Kee Mo Sabe" comes pretty close to "que no sabe," roughly Spanish for "clueless one" (i.e. "tonto"). For this reason, the character is called "Toro" (Bull) in Spanish language versions.