By Tim Robinson

Sometimes I think back to the old TV cowboy heroes and wonder what how they survived financially.

"Hi-Yo Silver..away!” called the Lone Ranger as Silver reared up on their way out of town. We know he and Tonto, a faithful Indian companion,thwarted bad guys across the American West. We suspect they camped out each night. We never saw them get a hotel room.
                 
Wikipedia claims the Lone Ranger (John Reid) was one of six Texas Rangers attacked in an ambush with John Reid, the only survivor. Tonto, a childhood friend of Reid, finds him near death and nurses him back to health. 
              
     
Together they ride from town to town doling out justice as necessary. The trademark silver bullets are all the town folk learn about the masked man and his trusted partner. 
               
We never saw them eat dinner, take a nap or even sip a glass of whiskey. The creed of the Lone Ranger was a moral code for youngsters. Never use poor language, never drink, never smoke, always have a clean, pressed outfit and leave behind a silver bullet as a symbol of your code. 
             
Somehow, they managed to find a scuffle, bank robbery, horse thief, boundary dispute, or angry townspeople who resented a big railroad interest.  They rescued damsels in distress, ranchers fighting a bandit takeover and stolen gold shipments from the stage line. 
               
At the end of every show, they rode off as the sun set to the delight of a few appreciative citizens.
 
Maybe they got just outside of town and tied up their horses. Clayton Moore or Brace Beamer (the Ranger) would send his faithful companion (Jay Silverheels-a true Mohawk Indian) out to get some firewood. You had to figure this, as many Indians were very good at living off the land. 
           
So they’re sitting around a nice fire: “Tonto..did you bring the beans and hardtack from the general store?,” the Ranger asks. “Oh, darn it, Kemo Sabe, I thought you stopped and got them. I should remind you. I don’t eat beans and hardtack. l love fresh possum and smoked cactus patties with a little range dust, as you know,” Tonto replied.
 
Where did the Ranger get the cash for the food Tonto thought he was going to use to pay the general store clerk? His job was saving lives and shooting guns out of bad guy’s hands. He had no visible means of support. There were no Ranger pensions in those days. He probably did not own a wallet. He’d have to keep gold nuggets in his saddle bags. And where did he get the endless supply of silver bullets for his gun belt?  
         
Open for discussion are the private lives of Cheyenne Bodie, Maverick, Hop-along Cassidy, Tom Mix, Palladin, and Lash LaRue. For putting bread on the table we know Gene Autry and Roy Rogers sang for their supper. The biggest star of them all, who played many heroes like Davy Crockett, McClintock and Rooster Cogburn but otherwise was known as John Wayne, never had a home. The penultimate range rider/marshall/man on the white horse; Wayne was Wayne. You’d see him on the screen and say” Oh, John Wayne.” We’d never call him by his portrayal. i.e. “Hey!, it’s Rooster Cogburn. When he goes home, where does he go? Who pays the mortgage?