<P> The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend, Tonto . The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture . </P> <P> He first appeared in 1933 in a radio show conceived either by WXYZ (Detroit) radio station owner George W. Trendle, or by Fran Striker, the show's writer . The radio series proved to be a hit and spawned a series of books (largely written by Striker), an equally popular television show that ran from 1949 to 1957, comic books, and several movies . The title character was played on the radio show by George Seaton, Earle Graser, and Brace Beemer . Clayton Moore portrayed the Lone Ranger on television, although during a contract dispute, Moore was replaced temporarily by John Hart, who wore a different style of mask . On the radio, Tonto was played by, among others, John Todd and Roland Parker; and in the television series, by Jay Silverheels, who was a Mohawk from the Six Nations Indian Reserve in Ontario, Canada . </P> <P> The Lone Ranger was named so because the character is the only survivor of a group of six Texas Rangers . While details differ, the basic story of the origin of the Lone Ranger is the same in most versions of the franchise . A posse of six members of the Texas Ranger Division pursuing a band of outlaws led by Bartholomew "Butch" Cavendish is betrayed by a civilian guide named Collins and is ambushed in a canyon named Bryant's Gap . Later, an Indian named Tonto stumbles onto the scene and discovers one ranger is barely alive, and he nurses the man back to health . In some versions, Tonto recognizes the lone survivor as the man who saved his life when they both were children . According to the television series, when Tonto left the Reid place with a horse given him by the boy Reid, he gave Reid a ring and the name Kemo Sabe, which he said means "trusty scout". Among the Rangers killed was the survivor's older brother, Daniel Reid, who was a captain in the Texas Rangers and the leader of the ambushed group . To conceal his identity and honor his fallen brother, Reid fashions a black domino mask from the material of his brother's vest . To aid in the deception, Tonto digs a sixth grave and places at its head a cross bearing Reid's name so that Cavendish and his gang would believe that all of the Rangers had been killed . </P> <P> In many versions Reid continues fighting for justice as The Lone Ranger even after the Cavendish gang is captured . </P>

Why did the lone ranger wear a mask