Originally Aired: January 25, 1939
The Lone Ranger #936, "Indian Hostage," tension erupts in the Western frontier when Bull Eckert, a dishonest trading post agent, kidnaps the son of Chief Lame Bear in a reckless attempt to force the tribe to trade with him. When the masked rider encounters Eckert and his men transporting the young hostage, he warns them of the catastrophic consequences their actions will bring. The damage is already done, however, as war drums begin echoing through the territory. Despite the Lone Ranger's advice to bargain with Lame Bear using the boy's safe return, Eckert stubbornly refuses to see reason.
The situation becomes desperate when the tribe retaliates by kidnapping young Dale Atkins, son of Jim Atkins, an Eastern visitor staying at the trading post with his wife Bess. Now two innocent boys are caught in the crossfire of Eckert's greed and deception. As tensions mount and violence threatens to engulf the post, the masked rider must find a way to negotiate peace between the wronged tribe and the settlers before tragedy strikes both families.