Jailed For Rustling

Originally Aired: August 26, 1938 The Lone Ranger #871, "Jailed For Rustling," finds the masked rider and Tonto investigating a mysterious cattle rustling operation in Crow Valley. For three years, ranchers like Bill Owens and his foreman Utah Simpson have been losing cattle, yet no one can figure out how the rustlers are moving the stolen herds. All suspicion falls on Nate Finch, owner of the Circle G ranch, since he's the only rancher in the valley who hasn't lost any cattle. The Lone Ranger learns that Soaplike Pass is the only practical route out of the valley, and it's been carefully watched, yet cattle continue to disappear without a trace. When Bill Owens and the other ranchers join the sheriff for a systematic search of Nate's property, they find nothing suspicious—no blotted brands, no hidden cattle, no evidence of wrongdoing. The frustrated ranchers begin to wonder if one of their own might be the real culprit, using Nate as a convenient scapegoat. As tensions rise and Nate himself arrives to confront the searchers on his land, the Lone Ranger must solve a seemingly impossible puzzle before an innocent man is accused or the real rustlers escape justice.