Another take on 'Tonto'

[Wilson Gray]

So, Jay Silverheels didn't have much more to say that "Unh. That
right, kemosabe," and "Get-um up, Scout!", either.
Oh, well. What can you do?

-Wilson

On Feb 18, 2008 8:29 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Another take on 'Tonto'
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Just to respond to Geoff,
>
>   I thnk I recall (hazily) seeing the Lone Ranger's "origin" episode on TV, but I know for sure that I read the story in illustrated kids' book form no later than 1954. The Texas Ranger detachment had been massacred in a blind canyon by the Butch Cavendish gang.
>   Ranger Reed (can't recall his first name) barely survived. Tonto found him and nursed him back to health.
>
>   I have no recollection, though, of Geoff's "take" on Tonto's naming,
>
>   Finally - my last word on the subject - the only Tonto I'm much familiar with was Jay Silverheels on TV in the early to mid fifties.  He was taciturn, serious, smart, and dignified.
>
>   JL
>
>   Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: Another take on 'Tonto'
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Unh. That probably right, kemosabe. (I'm not familiar with the TV
> show, but, on radio, Tonto didn't have much to say beyond, "Unh. That
> right, kemosabe" and "Get-um up, Scout!")
>
> I *very* vaguely remember a version of this from 'Forties radio. The
> only part that I clearly remember was that the Lone Ranger was
> originally a Texas Ranger and that he and Tonto had become buddies
> after Tonto had nursed the ranger back to health.
>
> Be that as it may, I'm more than willing to accept your memory of how
> things happened as the last word on this topic.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Feb 17, 2008 10:09 PM, Geoff Nathan wrote:
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> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Geoff Nathan
> > Subject: Another take on 'Tonto'
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I'm apparently the only person in this august body who has a distinctly
> > different memory of the reason the sidekick was called 'Tonto'. I
> > distinctly remember an episode in the fifties/sixties (not sure when) in
> > which the origins of both the Lone Ranger and Tonto were explained. The
> > Lone Ranger was the last of a squad of Texas Rangers who was wiped out
> > (although I don't remember now how or why, there was something
> > dishonorable about the event). He was injured, and nursed back to
> > health by Tonto, who was a identified as an outcast from a tribe who had
> > been rejected by his fellow Indians as being 'stupid', and he adopted
> > the name 'Tonto' as a badge of honor. It was explicitly stated that
> > both men were outcasts or remnants, or maybe both, and each had his own
> > reason for rejecting society and adopting odd names. There was no
> > question that Tonto knew what his name meant, and that it had been given
> > to him by whatever Native American tribe rejected him.
> > Does anyone else remember this?
> >
> > Geoff
> >
> > --
> > Geoffrey S. Nathan
> >
> > Faculty Liaison, Computing and Information Technology,
> > and Associate Professor of English, Linguistics Program
> > Phone Numbers (313) 577-1259 or (313) 577-8621
> > Wayne State University
> > Detroit, MI, 48202
> >
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>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam'l Clemens
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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