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'Tonto' was the sidekick of The Lone Ranger, the popular American fictional Western character created by Fran Striker. Tonto made his first appearance on the twelfth show (which aired on station WXYZ in February 25 1933). Though he became as iconic as his friend, Tonto was originally created just so the Lone Ranger would have someone to talk to. Throughout the radio run (which spanned twenty-one years), with only a few exceptions, Tonto was played by American actor John Todd.
The back story of how Tonto met the Lone Ranger was included, with very few differences, in both later episodes of the radio drama and at the beginning of the ''Lone Ranger'' television series (arguably the most well-remembered version today). Tonto (played by Jay Silverheels on television) rescues a man named Reid, the sole surviving Texas Ranger of a party who was tricked into an ambush by the outlaw Butch Cavendish (although later reference works referred to the future Lone Ranger as "John" Reid, no first name was ever given to the Lone Ranger in either the radio or TV series). Tonto recognizes the ranger as someone who had saved him when they were both boys. He refers to him by the title "Kemo Sabe"[1], saying that it means "faithful friend" in the language of his tribe. Tonto helps Reid give a decent burial to the other rangers.
(This is actually a retroactive change to Tonto's origin. As originally presented, in the December 7 1938 radio broadcast, Reid had already been well-established as the Lone Ranger when he met Tonto. In that episode, "Cactus Pete", a friend of the Lone Ranger tells the story of how the masked man and Tonto first met. According to that tale, Tonto had been caught in the explosion when two men dynamited a gold mine they were working. One of the men wanted to kill the wounded Tonto, but the Lone Ranger arrived on the scene, and made him administer first aid. The man subsequently decided to keep Tonto around, intending to make him the fall guy when he would later murder his partner. The Lone Ranger foiled both the attempted murder and the attempted framing of Tonto. No reason was given in the episode as to why Tonto chose to travel with the Lone Ranger, rather than continue about his business. A reasonable assumption would be that he felt a sense of gratitude to the man).
The Ranger dons a mask and vows revenge—not so much against Cavendish personally as against all who would break the law in such a manner, and begins his travels of the Old West, accompanied by Tonto. This Native American was portrayed as an intelligent character, almost an equal partner to the Ranger in his work. Together, they seem to be capable of righting almost any wrong within the half-hour time frame. This was by far the highest-rated television program on the ABC network in the early 1950s and its first true "hit".
The radio series identified Tonto as a chief's son in the Potawatomi nation. His name translates as ''wild one'' in his own language. For the most part, the Potawatomi did not live in the Southwestern states, and their cultural costume is different from that worn by Tonto. (This could be explained by some bands of Potawatami being forcibly removed from their lands and being forced to settle in what's now present day Kansas and Oklahoma.) The choice to make Tonto a Potawatomi seems to come from station owner George Trendle's youth in Michigan. This is the traditional territory of the Potawatomi, and many local institutions use Potawatomi names. The phrase ''kemo sabe'', however, was coined not by Trendle but by James Jewell, co-creator and director of the radio series; according to Jewell, his father-in-law ran a camp named Ke-Moh-Sah-Bee in Michigan.
Later, the portrayal of Tonto, in radio, television, and film, was seen by some Native Americans as degrading, including noted Native American author and poet Sherman Alexie. [2] Tonto spoke in a pidgin, saying things like, "That right, Kemo Sabe," or "Him say man ride over ridge on horse." Further, in Spanish the word "Tonto" means "fool" or "idiot". Television actor Silverheels was not above making a little fun of the character himself, as in a classic ''Tonight Show'' sketch with Johnny Carson. (Silverheels was born Harold J. Smith on the Six Nations Indian Reserve, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.)
Tonto also surfaced in the various films, comic strips, and comic books based on ''The Lone Ranger''. Later depictions beginning in the 1980s have taken efforts to show Tonto as an articulate and proud warrior whom the Ranger treats as an equal partner.

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★ Dunning, John (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. pp. 404–409. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507678-8

★ Osgood, Dick (1981). ''Wyxie Wonderland: An Unauthorized Fifty-Year Diary of WXYZ, Detroit.' Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University.