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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
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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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Transcript
00:00Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails,
00:24fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the guardian of the forest,
00:29Ranger Bill. Pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears,
00:35rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done.
00:43You know, boys and girls, I've introduced a lot of Ranger Bill stories in the years gone by. But
00:56the one we're going to hear today is without a doubt the strangest and most hair-raising of all.
01:01Bill and the fellas tangle with brute strength so powerful that they almost get... Well, I'm not
01:08going to tell you all about it now. Bill Stumpy, Henry, and Gray Wolf have faced some terrible and
01:13strong adversaries and come out on top every time. But this time they're going to fight a terrible
01:19physical force. So powerful is this creature that strong men run the other way when they hear it's
01:25near. But let's get on with the story. Here it is. The Crusher. A large freight plane is heading
01:43toward the Knotty Pine airfield. It has some air freight to unload there, and just now the plane
01:48is slowly dropping down as it squares off to hit the runway. Wait a minute. The control tower crew
01:55sees something wrong. The wheel. Miles, the port wheel isn't down. Oh, man. Tower to air freight. Tower
02:01to air freight. Don't land. Your port wheel isn't down. Boy, Donald, sure glad you saw that. Air
02:21freight to tower. Thanks, fellas. You saved us from a nasty spill. Would have been bad because we
02:28really got a full cargo this trip. Thanks again. Over. Glad to be able to help. How much gas you
02:35got? Not enough to stay up long. We'll try to get the wheel down and locked into place while we
02:41circle. I'd say we can stay up about an hour. Then we'll have to come down. We'll keep circling so
02:47you can tell us if we've been successful or not. Okay, air freight. We'll be watching your landing
02:52gear. I'll keep the radio open until you land. Over and standing by. I don't know about this
03:12messed up contraption, Rudy. I can't get it to lock in place. Yeah, I know. Pull the landing gear up. Then
03:19turn on the hydraulic and let it build up quite a bit of pressure. Suddenly release the horizontal
03:24lock and try to slam the gear into lock position. Maybe you've got something there. I'll give it a
03:29try. Okay, I'll begin circling back over the field. I'm building about all the pressure the hydraulic
03:37can take. Let him go, Mort. They slammed good this time. You said it. That port wheel's gonna stick. This
03:47ought to do it. I'll find out what the tower boys have to say. Air freight to tower. How's it look
03:54now? No good, fellas. Your port wheel's still undone. We saw you try to slam it into place. Sorry, it didn't work. Okay, tower. We'll try
04:04something else. It's no use, Miles. Those fellas are gonna have to come in in one wheel. And how? Tower to air freight, you've still got only one wheel. Yeah, and we've got ten minutes worth of juice left. We're circling once more. Then I'm gonna try it on a
04:34one wheel and a belly flop. Well, I hope it works. Give us all the time you can. We'll get ready for you now. Over and out. Seven minutes. That's all I can spare. Over and out. Sound the alarm crash, Don. Seven minutes and the air freight's coming down for good. Hello,
04:51rescue. A crippled plane's coming in on runway two in six minutes.
05:04Oh,
05:08oh,
05:10oh,
05:13oh,
05:15oh,
05:17oh,
05:19oh,
05:21oh,
05:23oh,
05:26oh,
05:29oh,
05:32oh,
05:34oh,
05:36oh.
05:40Mhm.
05:42Mhm.
05:44Yeah.
05:46Mhm.
05:48Mhm.
05:51Mhm.
05:53Mhm.
05:56Mhm.
05:58Mhm.
06:02Mhm.
06:04Mhm.
06:06Mhm.
06:08Mhm.
06:11Mhm.
06:14They're down in one piece. Let's go over there and give him a hand.
06:18Mhm.
06:21Mhm.
06:24Mhm.
06:27Mhm.
06:28Mhm.
06:31I'm miles. I didn't think we'd get the chance to shake hands with you, Rudy.
06:35Lloyd, you weren't alone with that idea. I'll say so. Thanks for all the help you've
06:40given us. Oh, we're glad to do it. Boy, I'm sure glad you fellas made it down.
06:44All right. So are we. Rudy made a whopping good belly flop. Of course, the
06:48plane won't be any good now until after it's fixed up. That reminds me, we've
06:52got to find some place to store the cargo until a new plane can be flown in
06:56tomorrow. Oh, don't worry about that. We'll have the ground crew get the lift
06:59trucks busy and put your cargo in the empty hangar over there. That'll be fine,
07:02Don. I don't know what's in the cargo. All we do is fly. The ground crew bosses
07:06take care of the bill of lading. As soon as Don gives the boys the word, we'll
07:10go have some coffee. Then we can make arrangements to get another one of your
07:13planes in for you. Sounds good to me. I could use some coffee about now. My
07:17stomach's really got the butterflies. Yeah. Hey, I'll be over after I check
07:20the cargo crates. If there's anything damaged, we've got to make a report to
07:23the insurance company right away. We don't want to be blamed for damage that
07:26didn't occur while the cargo is being stored. Oh, be sure and close the hangar
07:30doors when you leave. I sure will.
07:44Don hasn't come yet, Miles. Oh, that's strange. There's Hal over at the corner
07:50table. Maybe he can tell me. Why is it so important that you find him? Well, he's
07:55supposed to relieve me in the tower when I go in for supper. He's never done
07:59this before. You mean he doesn't usually take off like this? No, he's always close
08:03by. Don's a good man, works hard, dependable as the day is long. Maybe he
08:07went home for supper. No, he goes home right after I come back from supper. He
08:12starts early in the morning and then I spell him off for breakfast. At night, we
08:16reverse the procedure. I'm going to talk with Hal. Hello, fellas. What can I do for you?
08:25Why, we're looking for Don. You seen him? Yeah. Well, that is about 20 minutes ago.
08:30I left him at the hangar. He was going to check the cargo for insurance damage.
08:34Should have finished that by now. Maybe there's something wrong. I don't think so,
08:38Mort. I'll take a walk over to the hangar and see what's keeping him. Okay, we'll
08:42wait for you here. See you later.
08:46Don, you in here? Don, where are you?
09:16Don! Don, are you all right? He's dead.
09:46All right, all right, break it up. Come on, move back so we can get in here. Where is he, Miles?
10:00Inside the hangar, Sheriff. Do you mind if I stay out here? He's almost like a brother
10:08to me. We worked together a long time. I understand. Don't let anybody in the
10:13hangar. I haven't so far. Fine. Come on, Pat, let's find out how this happened.
10:18Aye, and that we better be doing right away.
10:26This is unusual. There isn't a mark on him, nor are there any signs of heart attack or
10:33some other natural cause of death. Ah, but look at his clothes around his torso. They
10:39look like they went through a wringer. Yes, left arm is as limp as a dishrag. Arm bones
10:45must be broken in a dozen or more places. I'd say this man's been murdered all right,
10:50but not by a human being. You're right, Pat. Poor Don was killed by some animal with brute
10:58strength. Aye, the strength of a steamroller. Well, I'm going to call Bill Jefferson on the
11:02radio telephone. You come along, too. I don't want you in here alone. Neither do I. I think
11:08calling Bill is a smart idea. He's had lots of experience with all kinds of animals. Now,
11:13let's go. Keep everybody out of the hangar until we're sure this crusher isn't in there.
11:17And ask Bill to bring along some shotguns.
11:20Now, you know as much as I know about this, Bill. What's your opinion? I think the first thing we
11:42ought to do is disperse this crowd, Cal. We're going to have to do some shooting with these
11:47shotguns. Somebody might get hurt. You're right. Hey, Pat, send the crowd home. That I'll be doing
11:52right away. All right, folks, move along. Henry, get the boat lights out of the car, will you? On
11:59the double. Hangar plenty big. There are a lot of crates in there for animal to hide behind. If
12:04there's critters in here, we'll find it. Say, what makes you think it's an animal, Cal? Well,
12:11you see poor Don's body. Here are the lights. Thanks, Henry. We've got the crowd broken up and
12:17on their way home. Now we can get down to brass tacks. That's fine, Pat. Are you fellows ready
12:22to go in? Yeah. Let's take a look at Don's body first. Keep a sharp eye and a ready trigger finger.
12:29Gives a fella a spooky feeling. I don't know what we're looking for, but we do know that whatever it
12:42is, it can kill. If I ever get this thing in the sights of my shotgun, it won't kill anymore. Don's
12:49body is right around the corner of this big crate. Get a blanket out of the car, will you, Pat? I'd be
13:00glad to do. I didn't want to cover the poor fellow up until you saw him. What's it look like to you,
13:06Bill? He's been crushed, all right. Badly crushed. Well, that put it mild. Animal plenty strong to
13:14do this. Merit is strong as we've ever come up against, isn't he? What's the verdict? Same as
13:21ours, Pat. You better search this hangar. Henry, I want you to stay out here in the open. Okay,
13:28Bill, but I'm not afraid to go behind those crates. I know that, Bill. I'd rather play it safe than wish
13:34I had. Pat, you stay out here with Henry. This animal we're looking for is in here and tries to
13:42make it to the hangar door. Cut it down with your shotguns. I will be ready and watching. Come on,
13:48Henry. We'll get our backs to the hangar wall over there so we can see every which way at once.
13:52That's a good idea, Pat. Cal, you and Stumpy take the north end and around back of the crates.
13:57Gray Wolf and I'll take the south end. All right, we'll do that. Let's go.
14:13I was hoping we could have gotten the animal in here and ended this thing in a hurry. It was a
14:27good dream, Sonny. Now we'll have to hunt it down. How are we going to know what kind of an animal
14:33we're looking for? That's what I'm wondering. Got any ideas as to how we can determine the identity
14:39of the animal we're looking for, Bill? No, I haven't. I'm sure we can find out from one of
14:44these crates. Huh? I don't follow you. Me too, Sonny. I fell off the wagon on the last curve.
14:50Let's reconstruct a bit. Don stayed here to check the cargo after it was removed from the wrecked
14:57plane. We haven't any animal around here that could crush Don so badly. Cargo is made up of
15:05large, strong crates, but one of them could have broken open enough for the animal inside to get
15:12out. Now, it's my opinion that we should check all the crates from the wrecked plane and see
15:17if we can find a damaged one. If we find a damaged crate, I'm sure you'll find it empty.
15:24Well, that makes sense. Let's get started.
15:35Hey, there's a broken crate. Oh, it ain't busted open enough. Just a couple of boards. It's...
15:48Hey, I've smelled that smell before. It's sure familiar. Stay back from the crate until we're
15:58sure the snake's gone. Snake? Huh? What do you mean, snake? Sure. Now I know where I've run
16:04across that odor before. If you get close to a rattlesnake, then you'll pick up an odor like that.
16:10What kind of a snake? A constrictor? Great day in the morning. I hope not.
16:15It has to be, Pat. Give me a boat light, pal. I'm gonna take a look. He could have gone back
16:23into the crate. Here. Why don't we just cut loose with shotguns and make that crate look like a sieve?
16:29Henry's got a good idea there, sonny. Maybe you ought to listen. I think so too. I'll be all right.
16:35If the snake is in there, he's got to come out headfirst. My 45 will take care of that if it
16:42happens. Now, here goes. I'll slide the boat lamp along in front of me. Be careful, Bill.
16:57What's inside? Nothing, pal. Absolutely nothing. Not good. Do you see a label or anything to tell us what kind of a snake it is?
17:10Yeah. This crate was on its way to Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. I'm sure a phone call would tell us
17:18what kind of snake we're after. Well, there's one thing we know for certain. What's that,
17:23sonny? Look at the size of that crate. We're after a whopping big reptile.
17:28Hello, Brookfield Zoo? Yes, this is Brookfield Zoo. I'm Ranger Bill Jefferson calling from
17:50Notty Pine Airport. Are you expecting a snake to be shipped to you by air freight? Hold on,
17:56I'll find out. Okay. What's the answer? He's checking. Hello? Yeah, go ahead. We're expecting
18:03an 18-foot reticulated python by air freight. They'll have to ship you another one. What? What
18:11do you mean? This one's escaped. We'll probably have to kill it to capture it again. I'll call
18:16you later and give you the details. Be sure you do. Please. Goodbye. Goodbye. Well, maybe we can
18:24send them the skin. What kind of a reptile is it, sonny? An 18-foot reticulated python, old-timer.
18:35What are we gonna do? Track it down and kill it before it gives us more trouble.
18:46What's your plan, Bill? Hey, we've got to do something and do it fast. Well, it'll be a slow
19:04process for us to track the snake. It might run into it in five minutes or it might take us five
19:10hours. I think we'd better spread the word by radio and newspaper. I think you're right,
19:17it's sound, Bill, but won't it create hysteria in town? Yeah, probably will, Pat. However, I think
19:24the folks around should know for their own protection. And it might save us some trouble
19:29if the reptile's seen. There'll be some level-headed folks who could help us wrap this up. Sure, I see
19:36your point. We'd best get on with the job. Right. Cal, will you and Pat spread the word? The boys
19:42and I'll start after the python. Okay, Bill, there's just one thing. Aye, when you see the snake,
19:48shoot and shoot straight.
20:06Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin from Knotty
20:25Pine. All citizens are urged to stay in their homes until a large python is caught by the
20:31rangers and the police. For your own safety, stay behind locked doors until the reptile is caught or
20:37killed. Do not become panicky. The snake is being hunted now by capable men and it's only a matter
20:43of hours until the danger will be over. If you see it, do not try to capture it or kill it. Call
20:49the rangers office or the sheriff. Keep tuned to this station for further bulletins. Extra, extra,
21:08read all about it. Large snake loose in Knotty Pine area. Extra, extra, 18-foot python crawling
21:16around Knotty Pine. Remember, folks, keep calm. Don't panic. Stay inside. We're telling you about
21:30the python for your own protection. Don't panic. The snake will be caught or killed in a matter of
21:37hours. If you see the reptile, call my office or the rangers. This is the sheriff speaking. Keep
21:45calm and stay inside until the dangers pass. Henry, my boy, how are things going out there? We're making
22:10progress. Trail is fairly easy to follow most of the time. Python's heading toward town right now.
22:16That's bad. The folks here seem calm right now. But I'll let you know if anybody sees the snake.
22:22Okay, Pat. I'd say that varmint is moving right along. Snake moved plenty fast. He seemed to head
22:30right for town. Yeah, I've been noticing that. Why don't we take it on the run and try to cut
22:36around in front of the python? Oh, that's plenty a good idea. I'll say we might catch the critter
22:41out in the open. It's worth a try. Let's spread out on either side of the trail about 50 feet and
22:48take off at a dead run. Henry, take good care of the walkie-talkie. We might need it suddenly. Okay,
22:54let's go. All right, cut in. We should be in front of the python now. Look at that. We haven't
23:21beat the reptile yet. I thought for sure that we'd cut in front of it, but the trail goes right
23:26along. We have to do this hard way. Looks that way, Graywolf. Now, let's go after it. Henry,
23:32Henry, tell Bill the python's been seen at the river. You hear me? Yes, I hear you. Bill, the
23:38python's down at the river. Where? Where, Pat? Outside the can company's warehouse. You'd better
23:44get a move on. The snake's at the can company's warehouse. All right, let's get back to the car
23:49and head for the riverfront. Here comes old Dad Graham. Hello, Dad. Where's the snake? Inside,
24:17Bill. Don't go in after it. I've seen a lot of them in my day, but nothing so terrible as that
24:23python. Don't go in there. We have to, Dad. It's our job. Let's go, fellas. Kill it before
24:29it gets a coil around you. You're a dead duck. Hold it, fellas. This is it. Yep, in more ways
24:43than one. Oh, I'm ready now. We'll push the door open the rest of the way. I'll go in first,
24:51then Graywolf and Stumpy on either side and back a little.
24:55Henry, you stay directly behind me about 10 feet. Okay, Bill. All right, Henry, open the door.
25:02Wow, look at all the cats. Yeah, that python feller is in there among them.
25:13Let's get him. Keep a sharp eye overhead as well as on the floor, fellas.
25:19Careful, Stumpy. Where is that varmint? He ain't that small. Look out above.
25:30I missed him.
25:34Henry, play. Don't let him coil.
25:40Hold on. Don't let him coil. Keep it stretched out.
25:44Hold on. Don't let him coil. Keep it stretched out.
25:51Grab hold of that beam, Henry. Pull your gun and blow his head off. I'll try.
26:02Good work, pal. Thank the Lord, this python is dead.
26:15Looks like the doc did a good job on your leg, pal. How do you feel?
26:31Oh, it hurts a little, but otherwise I feel fine. As I live and breathe, I'll never forget
26:37seeing you fellas wrestle that snake. You're brave boys. We all stood by helpless.
26:42I guess we looked like a bunch of fellers walking on tacks the way we hopped around
26:49trying to keep that hunk of muscle from coiling his crushing machine. I guess we did look pretty
26:55funny. Boy, we sure were busy there for a while. I'm glad we can laugh about it now.
27:01A snake plenty strong. If you ever got one coil started, then we have worse battle than we did.
27:07You said it, sonny. That dead python is one crusher that ain't gonna do no more crushing.
27:14Yes, sirree. The crusher's gone out of business.
27:28I don't know about you boys and girls, but the chills are traveling up and down my backbone a
27:33mile a minute. Boy, when the python grabbed Henry, I thought sure he was a goner. Praise the Lord,
27:40the fellas were able to keep the snake from getting good leverage. And Bill and the fellas
27:44keep in tip-top physical condition. So when they need reserve strength, they have it to use.
27:49See you next week for more adventure with Ranger Bill!
28:19Hi fellas and gals, Ranger Bill again stepping in here for less than a minute
28:28to invite all of you out there to another half hour of adventure next week at this special spot
28:35on your radio dial. We've gathered a pile of stories for you with mystery and adventure and
28:41all kinds of excitement, and we don't want you to miss a single one. So next time, call up your
28:48friends, or get together with them, and join all of us rangers for a session of fighting forest fires,
28:55grappling with grizzly bears, or just plain trying to help somebody out. I'm sure you'll enjoy the
29:02story, and you might just learn something that'll be of real help to you in later life.
29:07So next week, be sure to listen!