On the Two Front Wheels | The Lone Ranger (03-24-43)

Old Time Radio Westerns

The episode begins with the legendary storyteller Pop Hendricks recounting a tall tale about driving a stagecoach on two wheels at Black Canyon Pass. The

Key takeaways

Austin Crowley is identified as a wanted murderer and bank robber through a handbill found in the Sheriff's office.
The outlaw Bart Lester plans to rob the Cattleman's Bank by moving the heavy safe out of town via wagon.
The Lone Ranger uses physical confrontation and interrogation to extract the location of the gang's hideout from Crowley.
Pop Hendricks' old Concord stagecoach is used as a strategic blockade to plug the stone bridge below his ranch.
The plan successfully traps the outlaws by preventing them from passing through the narrow gap at the bridge.

Main topics

Pop Hendricks' tall tales
The murder of Sheriff Kirby
The Cattleman's Bank robbery plot

Notable quotes

I drove on into Denver on the two front wheels.

Conclusion

A classic western adventure that masterfully weaves comedic character

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:15) Welcome to the Old Time Radio Westerns. I'm your host, Andrew Rines, and I'm excited to bring you another episode. This is one of over 80 episodes released monthly for your enjoyment. You can find more Western shows at our website by going to otrwesterns.com. Now, let's get into this episode. Speaker 2 (2:36) With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early western United States. The stories of his strength and courage, his daring and resourcefulness, have come down to us through the generations. And nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. Come on, Silver! Faster, boys, faster! Speaker 2 (3:17) Pop Hendricks owned a small ranch in the foothills of Red Rock Range. It fronted the main road between Clemens and Buena Vista. And although the distance in either town was equal, Pop generally rode down to Buena Vista whenever he bought supplies. The reason for his choice was simple. Pop loved to talk. He liked to tell and retell stories of his adventurous youth. But what good is talking unless there's someone to listen? There was usually a small crowd lounging around the iron stove in Sam Paxton's general store. As he entered the front door, Pop Hendricks gave his potential audience a cheerful greeting. Hiya, boys! Speaker 6 (3:56) Biggest liar in Speaker 4 (3:57) Clemens County. Speaker 6 (3:59) What's that? Speaker 4 (4:00) Oh, Speaker 2 (4:00) no, no, no, nothing, Pop. Just picking out a brand that'll fit a cagey old critter like you. Speaker 6 (4:06) Where's Sam? He's right here, Pop. What can I do for you? I've got some trading to do. Here's a list. Here's a dinero to pay for it. All right, let's see. Bacon, beans, flour. Cornmeal? Oh, yeah. Before you start putting all that truck together, Sam, better throw me a slab of chaw in the back of you. Here you are. Thanks. Well, your tastes good. Ran out of the stuff about four days ago. Put your order in the bag, Pop. Will you wait? Sure, I'll wait. Hey, that plug Speaker 2 (4:40) in the back is kind of a tight fit Speaker 6 (4:42) for your shirt pocket, ain't it, Pop? Yeah, it is sort of a tight fit. I'll get it. Tight fit. Say, that reminds me. Oh, here you go. Did I ever tell you fellas about the time I was driving the overland mail from Smoky Hill to Denver? We've heard it about 15,000 Speaker 4 (5:00) times. I know every word of that Speaker 6 (5:01) story by Speaker 4 (5:02) heart. Speaker 5 (5:02) No, no, no, no, not every word. Pop adds a hundred more engines every time he tells it. Speaker 6 (5:09) It's the truth. And if you young whippersnappers would just... What is this story, Pop? I've never heard it. Oh, Angel? There you are, Pop. Most likely this is the only hombre in the United States and Kennedy that ain't heard about how he used to drive the Overland. Go on, Mr. Hendricks, tell me about Speaker 5 (5:27) it. Speaker 6 (5:28) Well... Speaker 6 (5:30) This tobacco being a tight fit in my shirt pockets, what made me think of it? You Speaker 2 (5:34) don't need anything to make you think of that tale. Speaker 6 (5:37) Like I was saying, I had an experience back in 53 that ain't never been equal. Speaker 2 (5:42) It sure ain't. Well, Speaker 6 (5:44) go on, go on. Well, I was driving a stagecoach for the Overland Company. Had the run between Smoky Hill and Denver. Lots of wild Indians in that country in those times. So touring the stage was a pretty dangerous job. Took a cool head and plenty of nerve. Speaker 5 (6:01) I'll bet he did. Speaker 6 (6:02) Some of the drivers were scared of that smoky hill to Denver run. But not me. I had a team of six of the finest horses west of the Mississippi. And a Concord stage that was built like a baby buggy. Still got that old stage, too. It's out of my ranch right now. You ought to come out there sometime. Speaker 2 (6:18) Stick to the story, Pop. Oh, Speaker 6 (6:20) yeah. It was one morning in the spring of 52. I just drove into Smoky Hill from Denver. Hadn't even unhitched the team yet. The superintendent walked up to me and he says, Hendricks, he says, we've got a lot of United States mail piled up here that has to leave for Denver right away. Why ain't somebody taking it out, I says. Because every driver here is afraid to make the run, he says. Real disgusted like. Well, then he went on and explained the reason. There'd been a lot of engine raiding at Black Canyon Pass. Stages wrecked, drivers killed. So you offered to take the mail to Denver? Sure I did. Even though I'd just come back from a trip. You see, the overland had a kind of slogan. United States Mail, Moscow... Well, Speaker 4 (7:05) if there was danger from the engines, weren't you afraid? Oh, not a bit. Speaker 6 (7:09) The redskin never lived that could scare me. I just fed and watered my team, turned the Concorde around and told the boys to load her up. And then what happened? Well, I pulled out of Smoky Hill that morning and drove steady for three days and nights. Never slept a wink. How Speaker 5 (7:23) about the horses? Speaker 6 (7:24) Oh, that team of mine was used to things like that. I'd train them to settle down to a steady jog for two or three hours so they could sleep. Speaker 4 (7:33) What? You Speaker 6 (7:34) mean to say horses pulled a stage Speaker 4 (7:37) and slept Speaker 6 (7:37) at the same time? Why, sure. I trained them to do Speaker 4 (7:39) it. Speaker 6 (7:40) Go on, go on. Long about sundown on the third day, I come to the head of Black Canyon Pass. That's where the engines were. But I didn't know it right then. I was touring along at a good clip when all of a sudden I heard a blood-curdling yell high up on the mountain to my right. It was Indians, all right. Hundreds of them. How many hundred, Pop? Oh, must have been at least 500. What were they doing? Rolling a big boulder down onto the road. A rock that was four times bigger than the coach I was driving. They blocked the road. That was the idea. Because the pass right at that point was just wide enough for states to get through. Did they do it? Not quite. That big boulder rolled right down plumb into the middle of the road. and it only left a narrow gap between there and the mountain. So Speaker 4 (8:19) you were forced Speaker 6 (8:20) to pull up and stop. Maybe that's what an ordinary driver would have done, but not me. What do you mean? I took in the situation like a flash and decided what to do. I just grabbed all the lines in my left hand and reached for the whip with my right. I sent it spinning out over the heads of my team, and it cracked like a pistol. Well, the horses knew what that meant. They stretched their legs and we headed for that narrow gap like we were shot