A Life Pretending as The Lone Ranger

Note — The reference to ‘Cowboys and Indians’ is intended only as a historical reference to a game played by children. It is in no way meant to be derogatory or offensive to Native Americans.

The early years

I spent much of my life growing up in the pleasure of my own company. It wasn’t planned that way; it just happened. I guess I have always been a bit of a loner.

When I was 6–7 years old, the age when all good cowboys were born, we lived in a suburban house. It had a reasonably-sized garden with lots of bushes at the back, which was ideal for hiding in to ambush those savage Indians that I had invented in my head.

The ideal set-up for a ‘Cowboys and Indians’ game was to have at least three or four people, two on each side. It was only called ‘Cowboys and Indians’ in those because of TV sensationalizing the Wild West.

My Hero - The Lone Ranger

If you were playing alone, you would always be one of the good guys, like The Lone Ranger. No one wanted to be the bad guys because, thanks to vintage TV, they always got captured, shot, and generally had a bad time.

I played for hours by myself, reliving the latest episode of The Lone Ranger that I had seen on TV. I was a solitary cowboy. The Lone Rangers’ trusted sidekick, Tonto, seldom appeared, except in my childhood imagination.

If you are unfamiliar with the TV show, The Lone Ranger and Tonto fought outlaws in the American Old West. Characterized by his two guns and the telltale mask that hid his true appearance, he was known as ‘kemo sabe’ by Tonto, which means ‘trusty scout’ in Indian talk.

Together, they ‘always got their man,’ although sometimes it was up to Tonto to rescue the Lone Ranger.

In today’s world, it would be viewed as too violent or too prejudiced. It was all make-believe, and it was good wholesome fun!

In reality, it was a much better game than today’s equivalent of blowing up people and destroying whole cities or countries in games on video or mobile phones. It required imagination.

It must have been for my 8th birthday; I got an entire cowboy outfit — the whole works, including a hat, waistcoat with tassels, chaps, and two silver guns with holsters. (That’s me in the image above).

The guns were unreal!

They rapidly replaced the sticks I had been using for guns and were actual cap guns that took a roll of caps you loaded into the chamber. They didn’t fire anything but made a pop when you fired it. My fantasies now had substance.

Time passed, and we moved into the country several years later. It was a cowboy’s paradise!

We lived on an acre of land next door to a stockyard with proper corrals. The first year we were there, my father (pretending to be some sort of farmer) cut all the grass on our land and made a big haystack.

Suddenly, I had a whole TV setting. There were places to hide, a haystack to tie the bad guys up to, and stock corrals for the final shoot-outs; it was amazing.

I even ended up having an Indian to chase — our family dog. He was good at hiding and a worthy opponent for The Lone Ranger. I never taught him to play dead, so he was the immortal bad guy.

There was even an old quarry about a mile down the road, which, on a couple of occasions, I convinced my friend at the time to come with me for a game of hide-and-seek (aka ‘Cowboys and Indians’). You don’t get much better than that in a real-life setting.

We were kids, invincible, but in hindsight, it probably was not the best place to be paying. We always found a way to get in where the fence had broken.

It was probably full of snakes, which now would scare me to death (I hate snakes!), but in those young, innocent days, I didn’t even think about it.

Life in the Mecca cowboy set-up only lasted for a year or so.

Like all good fantasies, it had to end to make way for new ones. We even got a pony, and I could have been a real cowboy.

Unfortunately, the pony and I didn’t see eye-to-eye. When I tried to ride it and hop in the saddle, it would swing around and bite me on the backside, not a good look for a tough cowboy.

I made friends with a girl who lived behind our place. I was in love!

She would have made a wonderful damsel in distress, but by the time I got to know her, I did not want her to see me as someone who dressed up as the Lone Ranger. So, it had to come to an end.

I retired my guns and cowboy outfit when I started playing other games and graduated to the next stage of life, riding bikes and fishing.

Death of a great game

Sadly, ‘Cowboys and Indians’ are games that have diminished in the world of modern children. When I played, it was back when children went outside and had fun, unlike today, where they are glued to a TV screen or, even worse, a computer or mobile phone.

It was a time when you could dream and had to have an imagination.

I don’t know what happened to my two silver guns, waistcoat, and chaps. I guess they got thrown away in one of our many moves. I sometimes wish I still had them in a trunk or something as a memento of days gone by.

At least I have the memories.

Bang! Bang! -The Lone Ranger lives on in my mind.

Until next time,

Calvin