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"Ranger Bill" is a classic Christian radio program from the 1950s, produced by Moody Radio.

The show features over 200 episodes and stars Miron Canaday as Ranger Bill, a forest ranger in the fictional town of Knotty Pine, located in the Rocky Mountains. Alongside his friends Stumpy Jenkins and Grey Wolf, Ranger Bill tackles various adventures and moral dilemmas, often with a strong Christian message.

The show remains a beloved piece of old-time radio history and is still enjoyed by many fans today.

Listen to our radio station Old Time Radio https://link.radioking.com/otradio
Listen to other Shows at My Classic Radio https://www.myclassicradio.net/
Entertainment Radio | Broadcasting Classic Radio Shows | Patreon

Remember that times have changed, and some shows might not reflect the standards of today’s politically correct society. The shows do not necessarily reflect the views, standards, or beliefs of Entertainment Radio

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Fun
Transcript
00:00Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous
00:22trails, fighting the many enemies of nature, this is the job of the guardian of the forest,
00:28Ranger Bill, pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears, rattlesnakes,
00:35mountain lions, yes all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done.
00:51Hi there boys and girls, you know in the course of a year's work a forest ranger's
00:56apt to get a lot of odd and unusual assignments and one of the most unusual is what I'm going
01:02to tell you about today. It has to do with an almost forgotten chapter of American history,
01:08a true story of bravery and sacrifice and yet in part so dreadful that even now over a hundred
01:13years later people still don't like to think about it and yet it really happened to real people,
01:19a group of pioneers known as the Donner Party who crossed our part of the west way back in 1846.
01:27One man thought he could find out and that's where today's story begins, it's the Donner Party treasure.
01:38Hey look out there, you've got the tree almost chopped through. Yeah I know, here she comes.
01:50Now we'll investigate this one.
01:59Well? Nothing, nothing, it's in one of these, I know it is. Mr. DeLong, we've been out here in
02:07Wausau's mountains two weeks now, walk, walk, walk, you point out tree, you say chop down and I chop down.
02:16You look in top of the tree, then we walk, walk, walk and you find another tree, then you say chop.
02:21I'm paying you to chop down trees, not to talk. But I got a right to know. You've got a right
02:27to do as you're told. Now let's get moving, I'm looking for one tree and one tree only
02:34and I'll find it if I have to chop down every tree in these mountains.
02:45What's the name of that one, Stumpy?
03:05Ain't rightly made up my mind, she kind of wanders around. First she's one thing, then she's another.
03:11Sure is pretty though. Sounds like the tune the old cow died on. You just don't appreciate good
03:18music, son. If you're looking for Bill, you're looking in the wrong place, he ain't here.
03:23He's up flying around them Wasatch mountains. Whatever for? There's nothing up there but
03:28wilderness. Wilderness and the craziest pair of lumbermen I ever heard tell of. Lumbermen?
03:33Well that's not logging country. There's no way to get the logs out. I know, but them fellas in
03:38there lumbering just the same. Why? I reckon that's what Bill'd like to know too. The aerial
03:44survey boys reported a whole parcel of trees down and Bill flew up to investigate. I sure
03:49wish he'd taken me along. That's where you and me is different, Henry. I'm sure glad he didn't
03:54take me along. I don't hold them to their very flames, they're only a fad anyways.
04:15Timber!
04:16Yes, yes, maybe this is the one. Maybe this will turn out to be the one.
04:32No, no it isn't. I'll find it though, I'll find it. Caribou? Yeah, Mr. DeLong? Let's get moving.
04:41Hold your horses there, Mr. DeLong. I ain't a mule, you know. I'm a mountain man, born and bred
04:48and proud of it. But even I can't chop down these pines all day long without stopping. All right,
04:52all right, all right. Sit down and rest. A little while, that's all right. Even not too long.
05:00That's better. The leaves are turning. Fall weather is at hand. Fall, and I've got to be
05:07finished and done and out of here before winter sets in. Yeah, not getting out of here, but winter
05:15was what hurt the Donner party. What? What do you know about the Donner party? What? What's all the
05:22shouting for? All I said was... I know what you said, I heard you, but I demand to know is what
05:27you meant when you made that remark about the Donner party. Great snakes, I never heard a man
05:31get so excited. I just said winter weather was... Answer my question. Yeah, well, the Donner party
05:39was heading west in 46 and dilly-dallied along so slow and got stuck in the snow, right here in
05:45these valleys, right this minute. Yeah, they got stuck here with snow, 40-foot deep, no food, and
05:53well, then they... They what? They ran out of food. Some of them died, most of them. And then,
06:00when it was left, they... I know all about that. That stuff's all written down in books. It was a mountain man
06:08that got them out in the spring, what was left of them. Yes, yes, yes, but what made you just happen to mention
06:13the Donner party? That's what I demand to know. Well, this being Donner, I can't say it, just
06:19come into my head quick-like, I guess. Very well, I see, but don't mention them again, do you understand?
06:23Now, hand me my binoculars. I'm going to look for another tree.
06:38Where's Bill? He's gone again. He come back from Wasatch Mountain, talk on phone, and take plane to
06:43New York City. New York City? What on earth did he go to New York City for? A lookin' bookstore.
06:49But why? Well, long story, but he hunt for clue. Clue? Oh, wow, that means there must be a mystery
06:56somewhere. Oh, plenty mystery. But there hasn't been any. Say, has all this got something to do
07:02with those men Bill went up to the Wasatch Mountains about? Ah, you hit nail on head.
07:06See our map on wall there? Sure, it's our whole territory. Hey, Bill has a transparent overlay
07:12thumbtack right over the point where the Wasatch Mountains are. Ah, you look good, you get clue.
07:17Let's see, this red line, winding along, Bill has marked, Rod of the Donner Party, 1846.
07:25The black dotted line, he has marked, route followed by timber cutters, DeLong and Caribou.
07:30This year, and both lines are the same. Who are DeLong and Caribou? And who are the Donner Party?
07:38Caribou is what we call a mountain man. Maybe last one left, don't know there used to be hundreds.
07:44They're men who want to live all their lives up in mountains, trapping, fishing, only coming out
07:48once a year in spring for more supplies. And this DeLong? He mystery man, Bill talked to him. Mr.
07:54DeLong get angry. Mr. DeLong have timber cutting permit, all legal, all okay. Permit say Mr. DeLong
07:59can cut timber in Wasatch Mountain. Mr. DeLong only cut old trees, everything okay. Mr. DeLong
08:05pick our tree, Caribou chopped down. Well, what's wrong then? Mr. DeLong gets so mad when Bill
08:10ask question. Bill gets suspicious, something funny. He not sure what. Do you ask him for
08:15identification? You say he lumber expert, but he tell a big lie. Mr. DeLong, New York City book
08:21fella, sell old book in old bookstore. Junk store? No, he sell old, old book. Oh, an antique book dealer,
08:30rare stuff. But Bill phone Mr. DeLong, New York City address. Man there say Mr. DeLong sell him
08:36bookstore. Then DeLong clear out. Take only one book and come west.
08:50I've been cutting timber for nearly 60 years, but I ain't never seen a system like yours.
08:56How many trees I cut down? That one there is the 143rd. You got that all written down that little
09:03book of yours? Yes, yes, I keep a record. Hey, get the saw out of your pack. Oh, certain. Say,
09:10I know I ain't, you ain't told me nothing and I ain't asked you nothing since we had that there
09:15flare up. But, uh, I ain't a woodsman for nothing. I done noticed one thing. Saw across the tree
09:22right there at the top, uh, through that knot. Certain. Why, I noticed it, uh, when we find a
09:29tree with a dead top, you'll get there snorting and cavorting like a, like an old horse and fly.
09:34Saw, saw. Sure, but what do you want with that kind that ain't no blasted good anyways,
09:43especially with dead tops is more than I can see.
09:47Get out of my way.
09:54Uh, nothing. Now let's get going.
10:01I was just admiring them little maple trees over yonder. See them? Leaves is beginning to turn.
10:10One more frost like last night. Hurry up, I said.
10:13Yeah, how about that? Get her eyes out of here.
10:24My lad, how come you got on that old beat up outfit? Why, you look like an old time
10:29bush and they had turkey father and all. A gray wolf go on secret mission with Joe Coote.
10:34Joe Coote? Who's Joe Coote? Here I be, all dolled up in my mountain clothes.
10:40It ain't war for 40 years. Yeah, this here buckskin never wears out.
10:44Your name isn't Joe Coote. Oh, yes it is.
10:47But this here is a secret mission to me and Gray Wolf are going on.
10:50And we made up the name of Joe Coote. And I'm the last of the old mountain men from Alaska.
10:55They're supposed to be, that is. And this here busted brave is me down and out Indian pal.
11:00What? Well, Bill's on telegram and tell us dress up like old forest pack rats
11:05and go find DeLong and Caribou. And then we don't let on we're part of the U.S. government.
11:10Then we get their confidence and we see if we can find out just what they're up to.
11:14Then we report back to Bill. Bill's saying telegram, we keep this secret.
11:18Sure. So you dress up like real old timers and try to get the information Bill needs
11:23without letting DeLong and Caribou know what's up. Hey, Bill, why any new clues?
11:28Just one and it don't make no sense to me. What's that?
11:31After Mr. DeLong's sell story, he went to every single secondhand bookstore in New York and bought
11:36every book that had anything to do with story of Donner Party.
11:39Donner Party. Is that the clue?
11:42I left a history book about the Donner Party on Bill's desk, Henry. You'll want to read it.
11:57I wish that wind had stopped blowing. Winter coming, I guess. Kind of a ghostly sound.
12:05Especially when a guy's all alone in the house. Oh, well. I might as well read about that Donner
12:12Party. Let's see. The Gray Wolf has the place all marked here for me.
12:22In the year 1846, a group of pioneers bound for Oregon found themselves trapped by snow in the
12:29Wasatch Mountains. Winter came early that year and was marked by exceptionally deep snow,
12:35often 40 feet or more. Unable to go forward, the Donner family and their friends made what
12:41camping arrangements they could. And in spite of repeated efforts to get across to California,
12:46most of the unhappy group died of exposure and starvation.
12:51The best record to the terrible adventure was left by Tasman Donner's journal,
12:56Tamsin being a child of eight at the time. Parts of this journal were apparently lost.
13:02The Breen family were reputed to have taken along many thousands of dollars in jewels,
13:08but this fortune has never been found. Overcome by fear and despair, deranged by shock and horror,
13:17some of the maroon party enacted the most dreadful chapter in American history.
13:24To stay alive, they ate the frozen bodies of their comrades.
13:34Oh my, what? Oh man, I guess I'll sleep with the light on tonight.
13:41Bill might come back unexpectedly. It'd look better if I had a light on, just in case.
13:53Oh,
13:59them there trout looks powerful good, sizzling there in that there skillet there. I sure do.
14:04We've been camping with them fellers in five days now. You found out anything yet? Not much.
14:11We make friends. Must have been long. Talk more later, maybe.
14:14Yeah,
14:20the hexes quit. Yeah, they come for supper pretty soon now. I eat good supper and maybe talk more.
14:26Yep, he sure hangs on to that old book, don't he? Never lets go of it, sleeps with it.
14:31Must be clue. Yep, but I can't see.
14:35What's the matter, stuffy? Yeah, I got a crick in my neck,
14:38looking up at the tops of all them trees like Mr. DeLong does.
14:42Crick in neck, clue. What's that? Yeah, why does Mr. DeLong all time look at tops of trees?
14:49I don't know. Hey, here they come.
14:53Now I got to remember my name is Chilkoot. I like to forgot yesterday. We sure got them fooled.
15:00They think we're just trams out to catch fish and loaf. Howdy boys, you drop along and set,
15:06the supper's ready. Thank you, thank you. A well-cooked meal will taste good.
15:10We are lucky you happen to be camping out right where I'm working. Yep, pass your plates,
15:15gents. That there fire feels brutal, beginning to get cold. Nonsense. It gets cold, powerful early
15:22around these parts. There's early cold and early snow that fooled the Donners. The Donners? Yep,
15:29now we're camping right on one of their campgrounds right this very minute. What? It's a fact.
15:35What do you know about the Donners? Well, more than any man living, I reckon.
15:38Well, I've known folks that know the Donners. I've talked to folks that talked to the Donners
15:44before and after. I know more than what's wrote down in the books, I know that. Tell me everything
15:49you know, everything. Well, now, I just might and I just might not. If you can tell me anything
15:56about the Donners, I don't already know anything, just one single fact. I'll pay you $1,000 cash.
16:04That's a heap of money. You must be mighty, mighty interested in them Donners and their
16:09party. I am, yes, I am. Are you looking for that green jewelry of any chance? Oh, yes, yes, yes,
16:15I am. That's it, the green jewelry, of course. Certainly, that's what I'm looking for, yes.
16:19Many men hunt for that. Some say Swiss hid it and come back and got it. Some say Indians took it.
16:25Some say it lost in snow. Many men hunt but never find. The Donners, what about them?
16:29There's plenty of green still in California and that jewelry'd be there. They could have it.
16:35What? I mean, we could share it and make some sort of arrangement. I'm just interested from a
16:41historical point of view. Is that all you can tell me about the Donners? Yep. Now do I get the
16:47thousand iron man? You've offered nothing, I pay nothing. Sun's setting. Oh, half hour daylight
16:52yet. Oh, good, good. Hand me my binoculars. I'm going to try to find that tree. I don't want to
16:57waste any time. I'll be back by dark and maybe I'll find it before then. Oh, Mr. DeLong, plenty
17:03worried. Yeah. Sooner or later, he's going to run out of trees and even I can't chop down every tree
17:12in the Wasatch. Why is having me do all this chopping beats me? Well, we sleep now. We go
17:21home tomorrow, Joe Coolt. What? Are you talking to me? Oh, yeah, a little hard to hear since I fought
17:27them there grizzly bears. We going back to Alaska tomorrow, huh?
17:41And so I reckon Bill will give me a medal or something for being the best international
17:45secret agent anywhere. Why don't you find out? Well, not much. We found that thing Mr. DeLong is
17:51after. It's something he's ready to give his life for. Correct. A small piece of old-time parchment
17:56paper with some old writing on it. But he values above everything. Correct. This big clue. But he
18:02don't let us see. Also, he lie when he say he look for lost jewelry. Correct. I wire all this to Bill.
18:09Maybe he fit puzzle pieces together. Did you tell Bill about them trees? I did. Correct. Even I
18:15thought of that. But the caribou ain't never gonna figure it out. That crazy DeLong critter is looking
18:20for something. He thinks maybe one of them donners hid in a hollow tree. But he'll climb up 60 or 70
18:26feet or more to hide. Say, that snow was over 40 feet deep. And they was on top of the snow.
18:34And the trees has grown since then. So 40 foot of snow plus the way a tree will grow. Are you sure
18:40anything hidden in a hollow tree back there in 1846 winter? Might be, might be 50 or 60 feet up.
18:45Sure, I had that figured out all along. Stumpy, you know what? What? I think maybe you are the world's
18:52greatest secret agent.
18:54🎵
19:00🎵
19:05Cold this morning. Cold. Colder than before. Yep. Winter due pretty soon. Yep. I don't have too
19:13many days left. I think I... Hey, that tree. That tree over there. Look. The top is bent and twisted.
19:22Cut it down. Cut it down. No.
19:24🎵
19:34Hurry up. I'm not paying you to loaf. Get busy. Faster. Get a move on. Don't just stand there.
19:40🎵
19:44Faster. This is the tree. I know it. I just know it. Hurry up.
19:49🎵
19:59Ah. Here it is. Right where it's been for a hundred years. Hidden in this hole in the tree. A little
20:07lead cylinder sealed tight.
20:09🎵
20:13And now to read what's written on this little scrap of paper.
20:18Yes. Just as I thought. Yes. Yes. Now we can get started. Caribou, get ready to...
20:26What are you pointing that rifle at me for? Put it down. We've a journey to make.
20:29Not till you do some talking. Stand still, Abe.
20:31Why, I'm...
20:32Stand still, Sad.
20:34While you were scrambling over them there bushes, this here little book fell out of your pocket.
20:40And this here old paper. I done read it. It was read by Thames and Donner. It tells how they hid
20:48the instructions in an owl's nest in a hollered tree, wrapped up in a sheet of lead.
20:53Caribou, I don't know what you're talking about.
20:54You had me chop down all them there trees until you found them instructions.
20:58Now, you read me what's read on your paper.
21:03All right. I imagine we'll need each other.
21:07This paper has four words on it, that's all. Here they are. Cave on Hastings Ledge.
21:14Well, come on.
21:16Where are we going?
21:16Well, Hastings Ledge, of course.
21:18🎵
21:27Is Bill back yet?
21:28No, but he sent letter. Say, he think he know what Mr. DeLong look for.
21:32That old jewelry?
21:32No. Bill say Mr. DeLong talk too much and brag. Tell how he find paper in all book.
21:37Give him clue. Start look for what he try to find.
21:40What? Did the paper say what it was?
21:42No. Bill think paper not safe. Bill ask all men, book men. They tell on Mr. DeLong read
21:47all book about Donner party. Then Mr. DeLong talk too much. Bill read book too. Hunt for clue.
21:53He find clue.
21:54The jewelry clue?
21:55No. Mr. DeLong book fellow, book expert. This give Bill idea. He find out Donner family take
22:01along Bible. This Bible never found after trouble.
22:04Oh, but you don't mean to say that Mr. DeLong...
22:07Mr. DeLong hunt for that Bible. Donner family have old Bible 400 years old by now.
22:13Very old Bible called Coverdale Bible.
22:17But...
22:18Mr. DeLong want that Bible. He want it bad.
22:20But what's...
22:21Coverdale Bible. It worth 60,000 dollars.
22:24So when you come across that first paper, you figured it was a clue to them there jewelry.
22:40Yes. Yes. That's it. The jewelry. We can only get...
22:43That look like your cave right up ahead there. See it?
22:47Yes. Yes. Hurry.
22:48There she is. And there's your box.
22:56Up the way back here on that little shelf around.
22:59At last. At long last. High and dry and safe and secure after a hundred years.
23:08And I found it.
23:10Yeah. And I just decided to give you one ten to the value.
23:15What?
23:15Yep. And this here sharp rifle is my argument.
23:19You get one tenth value of them there jewels and that...
23:22Oh yes. Yes. Sure. That's fair.
23:24Yes. You can have most of the money from what jewelry we find.
23:28Huh? Well, bust it open.
23:38And there it is. There it is.
23:41What do you mean? Ain't nothing but an old book.
23:44Where's the jewelry?
23:46There isn't any, I guess. Just this old book, as you say.
23:51Give me that.
23:54All this work for nothing. I'm going to fling this old book into the cave.
23:58No. No. No. Give it back. Give it back, I say.
24:05What's that?
24:07A rock slide. Our find in Yellen started a slide.
24:10Let's get out of here fast. I'm saving mine.
24:13I don't matter what. I can't move.
24:15My foot's gone. Help me. Oh, please help me.
24:39Two days.
24:40Two days pinned under this rock.
24:44No water. Dying of thirst alone in the wilderness.
24:52I can't move.
24:57And here's the Coverdale Bible.
25:01Worth $60,000, but worth nothing to me now.
25:09Nothing.
25:15That's odd.
25:17The Bible lays there under my hand, open at the Book of the Psalms.
25:24I am weary of my crying. My throat is dried.
25:32Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
25:37Oh, God, Thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from Thee.
25:48Oh, God, I've been wrong all along.
25:53I wanted this Bible not for the word it contains, but for the money I could sell it for.
25:59For the money I could sell it for.
26:03Oh, God, forgive me.
26:22Oh, thank you, God. Thank you.
26:30And then what happened?
26:35As soon as I determined that DeLong was hunting for that Bible, I flew out to talk to him and
26:40try to reason with him so he wouldn't senselessly cut down all those trees.
26:43And?
26:44I found the caribou down in the canyon with two broken legs. He'll recover all right.
26:49A sadder and wiser mountain man.
26:52I found DeLong pinned under a big rock. I pried him loose, and he was better than ever.
26:56Better than ever?
26:57Before he was pinned by that rock, he was a pagan. But when he got out, he was a Christian.
27:03Lying there, helpless, dying, hopeless, he read the Bible and was converted.
27:08And now?
27:09And now the Coverdale Bible is back with the Donner family with DeLong's blessing.
27:14DeLong plans to write a book about the last secret of the Donners and his Christian adventure.
27:19In fact, he's already hired a man from the West to help him.
27:23Who?
27:24The caribou.
27:28So
27:37we'll see you next week for more adventure with Ranger Bill!