but wait, there's Moore... and Silverheels
It wasn't hard finding the autobiography of Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger from the 50s TV series. It was much harder finding any info on the iconic Tonto: Jay Silverheels (aka Harry J. Smith). It amazed me that no one had written more than a few webpages about him. Perhaps it was not in his nature to write his own autobiography, but why no one else had thought of it, I couldn't fathom. Silverheels was a turning point in Hollywood. he was a Native, First Nations actor in a whitebread world, where, to this point, white actors in makeup had portrayed the mainstream cultures stereotype of "Indians". He became the first Native actor to be a household name, a star of a TV series. He changed what he could, battling upstream against the Hollywood tide and the assumptions of what "Indian" should be.
Finally, this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vJCtJLbO74
Tonto: The Man in Front of the Mask
Zig Misiak came to Canada as a small child with his family, from Poland. He has lived in Brantford, Ontario, near the Grand River Six Nations reserve where Jay Silverheels grew up. Zig has been a student of Native/First Nations history and culture and provided curriculum to schools in Ontario and other parts of Canada. He's been a historical re-enactor for decades... in Rangers of the American Revolution, and Caldwell's Rangers of the War of 1812.
This future ranger set out on his own quest in a slightly different way than John Reid. Jay Silverheels came to Brantford in 1957, hordes of kids swarmed his parade, vying for his autograph. Zig, a skinny ten year old, could not get close enough...
...then a grandmotherly woman took his book and wrote her name in it. She was Mabel Phoebe Smith, Jay's Mom. That encounter with a tearful ten year old changed one person's life...
...and maybe, all those who have been educated by his work, to see "Indians" in a different way.
Find his work here: http://www.realpeopleshistory.com/
A Brief Review of The Man in Front of the Mask
(from a posting I made on goodreads and on my tumblr)
What kind of stories will you tell your children?
That's my memory of a line spoken in a program at Gettysburg College many years ago by Onondaga (Six Nations, Haudeenosaunee)leader Oren Lyons.
When the latest film incarnation of the Lone Ranger and Tonto appeared, I went on an archaeological quest for some of the original story: the Clay and Jay TV version of the 50s. I found an autobiography of Clayton Moore (I Was That Masked Man) but, amazingly, nothing but a few webpages on Jay Silverheels, who was, at the very least, an Icon of Hollywood Westerns and of the 50s.
Then this. From a small press in Canada. The author was a kid when the original Lone Ranger aired, and was ten when Jay Silverheels came to town. He could not get anywhere near the Hollywood Icon for an autograph. In tears, he encountered a sympathetic Grandmother…who turned out to be Jay's mom… and signed his autograph book. In the intro of The Man in Front of the Mask, Zig writes a letter to "Harold J. Smith" (Silverheels' birth name), in it the author admits that having Jay's Mom's autograph now means more than having Jay's… because it sent the author on a Quest.
And here is The Grail.
The author has written other historical books. Has done living history. And more importantly, lived near the Grand River Six Nations whence came Mr. Silverheels himself. This is no Hollywood author, this is a local with local knowledge framed in the broader reaches of history and culture.
I only wish the book was longer, with more details, though the ones here will lead the reader on further quests. It is beautifully designed, with copious photos and art, quotes from people who knew, or are related to Jay Silverheels, thoughts on "Sponto" (the latest Tonto portrayed by Johnny Depp), on Jay's impact on Hollywood and the Mainstream view of "Indians", his accomplishments, some controversies,some Haudeenosaunee history (you know them better perhaps as the Iroquois; they gave America's founding fathers the concept of democracy and had women's empowerment eons before the Mainstream culture did).
There's a charming photo of Zig on a pinto pony (a near clone of the one I had when I was five), and while they couldn't acquire photos of Scout or Silver (copyrights???) there are pics of very similar horses in the section on Tonto's outfit and horse…though the chestnut pinto is mislabeled as a "palomino". For the record, Roy Rogers rode a palomino; that golden color is actually a dilute of chestnut (from the creme gene), chestnut is various shades of reddish-brown to chocolate, with mane and tail of the same or lighter color, not black. Various shades of red-brown with black mane, tail and legs is bay. I have seen pics of Tonto on two different pintos: one chestnut and one bay; Breyer Molding Company made a beautiful model of Scout, it is bay pinto…the (elegant) Hartland and (posable)Gabriel Toys versions (as well as the fairly bad ones from the new film) are chestnut. Pinto is a color pattern, Paint is a breed (spotted horses with Quarter Horse ancestry). I won't even dissertate on what color is the Lone Ranger's white horse, I did that here: http://www.swordwhale.com/the-lone-ranger.html as well as delving into the mythology of this Western tall tale.
The Hero's Horse has always been a symbol of the Hero himself, and what he stands for. So the Lone Ranger rides a White Horse of Idealism and Moral Rightness, of sun and sky and lightning. Zig comments that on one level, Tonto appears to be the white ideal of the Indian: a little slower, a little dumber, and riding a darker horse. He also notes that not all the audience sees Jay's portrayal as stereotype ridden: that he inhabits the role (remember, it was the 50s) with dignity, strength and grace, despite the fractured English thrust upon him by Hollywood. As for the "darker horse", it is a pinto, a yin/yang of dark and light, of opposing forces, of two cultures in collision and collusion, it is camouflage (from a distance, pintos tend to vanish into a landscape, especially a desert landscape), it is caught between the worlds of red and white, as was the amazing man at the heart of this tale.
Zig explores the image of Tonto a bit, both the original and the latest incarnation;(on actors)"Their characters words are, by many, taken seriously and accepted as historic fact and their wardrobe as authentically accurate." This is a guy who's written about history, and done historical recreation. I've done a bit of living history myself, and the level of accuracy varies from the faerie tale land of the Society for Creative (!!!) Anachronisms in which we recreate the romantic ideal of the Middle Ages(or Middle Earth)to the Vikings to the Civil War and Buckskinner (black powder rendezvous/French & Indian War)Accurate Down To The Last Stitch. There was a time when people told stories, not with the idea of scientific and historical accuracy, but with the idea of what deep truths the stories would reveal. The Lone Ranger is one of these stories, and the latest film makes that point with its framing story of Tonto telling this "tall tale" (America's version of the faerie tale) to the next generation. It is no more accurate than most Viking films, medieval epics, Tolkien recreations, or Pirates of the Caribbean. It is a faerie tale, and what matters is what's below the surface.
That said, those of us who make the stories have to be aware of these images which have "…incredible powers to influence and yes, change the public's perception of historic events and the people involved in those events".
What kind of stories will you tell your children? Zig Misiak has told a good one here. If you look at his other books, and his facebook page, you will see that he is involved in education, in telling tales which have in them deep truths we all need to know.
But wait, there's Moore...
Clayton Moore did (with the aid of another writer) a charming bio called I Was That Masked Man, which can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/I-Was-That-Masked-Man/dp/0878332162
He spins a tale of the early days of Hollywood, of training as, yes, really, a circus acrobat (on the flying trapeze... this bends the brain, but there are photos...Lone Ranger... in tights...), of good ol'Liver Lip (his favorite Silver), of being the first on the scene at an accident, with his nurse wife, after having done a public appearance as the Lone Ranger... in costume... so the guy opens his eyes and the nurse/wife says; "What do you see?"
Right. I see the Lone Ranger. I must be dead.
He devotes a whole chapter to Jay Silverheels, at that point, the most anyone had written about him.
There are a plethora of websites devoted to fandom of this iconic Hero Team. A google search will lead you on your own amazing quest.