# Hi-Yo Silver, away! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 17, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-yo-silver-away/438004 "2008-02-17T19:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-yo-silver-away/438004/1 "2008-02-17T19:45:02Z")
[In the old Lone Ranger series, what did “kemosabe” mean?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_061.html) is one of those questions that Cecil(praise be his name) got 99% correct. But, with the coming of electronically searchable databases, we can go the last 1%. Facts that Unca Cece got right: l. It almost certainly is from the Ojibwa language. 2. It means “\_\_\_\_ Scout.” More about that below. 3. It was chosen by Jim Jewell, the director of the radio program. Jewell said it was the name of a boy’s camp started by his father-in-law in 1911 in Mullet Lake, MI. A search of Google Books indicates the earliest use of “Kee-Mo Sah-Bee” was by [Ernest Thompson Seton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Thompson_Seton), the famous naturalist, painter, Indian expert, Founder of the Boy Scouts of America, etc. Seton founded, around 1902, the [Woodcraft Indians](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcraft_Indians), an outdoor program for young boys. Seton based much of his program around the American Indian, of whom he was perhaps the largest champion in the period 1890-1940. There is, again using Google Books, a full-text version of his 1912 [_The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore_](http://books.google.com/books?id=GUVIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA134&dq=kee-mo&lr=&as_brr=0). On page 134, we see that he(Seton) said that the title “Kee-mo-sah-bee” meant “Scout Runner.” It was a title that a boy could receive by passing nine tests. There are many other titles, with Indian names, most? of which come from the Ojibwa. As to Jewell’s claim that his father-in-law, Charles W. Yeager, founded camp Kee-Mo-Sah-Bee----he probably did, but did so around 1916. See [A Handbook of American Private Schools(1916)](http://books.google.com/books?id=DlW4BN70woYC&pg=PA267&dq=sah-bee+-japanese&lr=&as_brr=0&sig=AAXoCzs8EcaoAuemjj_LY4ExIIg#PPA267,M1). > [@](#): > > Kamp Kee-Mo-Sah-Bee, a summer camp and school of woodcraft at Mullet Lake, will open this year under the direction of Charles W. Yeager, Gymnasium and Athletic Director at the Detroit University School. For those interested in an interesting profile/biography of Seton(which suggests that Lord Baden Powell blatantly stole many of the ideas that were devised by Seton, [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:mv01uAlwe-AJ:histclo.com/youth/youth/bio/b-ets.htm+"ernest+thomson+seaton"&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us](http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:mv01uAlwe-AJ:histclo.com/youth/youth/bio/b-ets.htm+%22ernest+thomson+seaton%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us) As to where the name **Tonto** was obtained, as Cecil said, > [@](#): > > …have patience. We chip away at the unknown one word at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-yo-silver-away/438004/2 "2008-02-17T21:41:00Z")
Thank you for a lucid, meaningful post on such an important subject as the Long Ranger. Yes, Long. The stories on the radio were so bad that they seemed long to (Me, anyway). My addition to this post is twofold. Definition of class: One: Anyone who can listen to the “Willlam Tell” Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger definitely has class. Two: “Hi-yo Silver gittum up Scout, here comes Tonto with his dick hanging out.” This has no class at all. I now return the post back to whomever. Please keep the conversation on the same high level that has been initiated and I Have tried to continue. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-yo-silver-away/438004/3 "2008-02-17T22:05:46Z")
[QUOTE=Jake] Two: “Hi-yo Silver gittum up Scout, here comes Tonto with his dick hanging out.” This has no class at all. [/QUOTE] Since you’re obviously my age(63) or older, can I ask how far back you remember that little ditty? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-yo-silver-away/438004/4 "2008-02-22T17:34:20Z")
[QUOTE=Jake] Thank you for a lucid, meaningful post on such an important subject as the Long Ranger. Yes, Long. The stories on the radio were so bad that they seemed long to (Me, anyway). My addition to this post is twofold. Definition of class: One: Anyone who can listen to the “Willlam Tell” Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger definitely has class. Two: “Hi-yo Silver gittum up Scout, here comes Tonto with his dick hanging out.” This has no class at all. I now return the post back to whomever. Please keep the conversation on the same high level that has been initiated and I Have tried to continue. [/QUOTE] It was “Sliver”, not “Silver”.