| The Lone Ranger Creed |
| I believe..... That to have a friend, a man must be one. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself. In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. That a man should make the most of what equipment he has. That "This government of the people, by the people, and for the people" shall live always. That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number. That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken. That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever. In my Creator, my country, my fellow man. |
| The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger and Tonto go camping in the desert. After they get their tent all set up, both men fall sound asleep. Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, "Kemo Sabe, look toward sky. What you see?" The Lone Ranger replies, "I see millions of stars." "What that tell you?" asks Tonto. The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, "Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Timewise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it tell you, Tonto?" Tonto shakes his head, then says, "Kemo Sabe, you dumber than buffalo chip. Someone steal our tent." |
| The Lone Ranger It all began on Detroit's WXYZ in 1932, where owner George W. Trendle was trying to develop a hit show to keep his station afloat during the Depression. According to Who Was That Masked Man? The Story of the Lone Ranger by David Rothel (1981), Trendle had the basic idea for a Western with a Zorro-like hero. WXYZ staff brainstormed the key elements of the Lone Ranger's shtick, including the mask, the white horse, the signature line "Hi-yo, Silver, away!" and of course the name "Lone Ranger." Hokey, sure, but it worked. The show quickly became popular and was soon heard nationwide. The term kemosabe--there are lots of spellings, but this one's as good as any--seems to have been the contribution of Jim Jewell, who directed "The Lone Ranger" (and another famous serial, "The Green Hornet") until 1938. In an interview with Rothel, Jewell said he'd lifted the term from the name of a boys' camp at Mullet Lake just south of Mackinac, Michigan called Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee. The camp had been established in 1911 by Jewell's father-in-law, Charles Yeager, and operated until about 1940. Translation of kee-mo sah-bee, according to Jewell: "trusty scout." We know Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee existed because we have photos and newspaper clippings to prove it. (Actually David Rothel has the photos and clippings, but we've taken a proprietary interest in this.) What about the translation, though? No disrespect to Yeager, but just because some wily Amerind told him it meant "trusty scout" doesn't mean we can rule out "chicken guano." We consulted the nation's Native American language experts. (Yeah, they're mostly white folks too, but I figured the wily Amerinds couldn't be BSing all of them.) Initial investigations into variations of "trusty" turned up nothing. But then Rob Malouf, a grad student in linguistics at Stanford, had a brainstorm: "According to John Nichols' Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, the Ojibwe word `giimoozaabi' means `to peek' (it could also mean `he peeks' or `he who peeks'). "He who peeks"? Sounds like something you'd get arraigned for in Perverts' Court. But Rob continued: "There are several words with the same prefix ["giimooj," secretly] meaning things like `to sneak up on someone'.... It is quite plausible that `giimoozaabi' means something like `scout'.... `Giimoozaabi' is pronounced pretty much the same as `kemosabe' and would have been spelled `Kee Moh Sah Bee' at the turn of the century." Bingo. After further consultation with Indian language expert Laura Buszard-Welcher, we've established that Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee was in an area inhabited by the Ottawa, who spoke a dialect of Ojibwe with the same word giimoozaabi. There were also Potawatomi in the region who spoke a closely related language with a similar word. So while the "trusty" part may have been hype, kemosabe probably really was a Native American term for "scout." |
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