Dear friends, this is Ken Maynard in Tarzan.
["Tarzan Roar"]
Bringing you another 15 minutes of Western Adventure.
You know, we're never too busy here at the Diamond K Ranch to stop and visit with you awhile.
Say, you know I got a letter from some folks the other day wanting to know what a tack room was.
They said they'd heard some talk about it, about mine here at the Diamond K Ranch.
Well sir, I'm going to tell you right now that a tack room is a sort of a hangout where the cowboys just sit around and relax.
They keep their saddles, bridles, and chaps, and well all the riding gear and souvenirs and everything else in it.
It's a sort of a bunk room, a living room rolled all into one.
And I'll tell you this much, it's a mighty cozy place to do some storytelling.
I've got a little yarn for you this time called the Lost Fortune.
From the tack room of Ken Maynard's Diamond K Ranch, we're bringing you stories of adventure, stories of circus life,
fascinating transcribed tales of the Old West where cowboys still follow the cattle trails,
stories of rodeos and parades, colorful legends of the Red Man, hidden gold and buried treasure.
The exciting tales in the Diamond K are told by Hollywood's champion of western stars, internationally famous Ken Maynard.
And Ken's got a real thriller and story for you today, buckaroos.
Speaking of thrills, just imagine Ken coming right into your living room and saying hello to you personally.
Boy, what a thrill, and that's not all. No, sir.
After Ken speaks directly to you, he'll tell you two of his favorite stories about the Wild West.
Now of course you know I'm talking about the Ken Maynard personalized record album that you can have for your very own.
You can't buy it in any store because this is Ken's own Diamond K brand record album.
It's all in color with a big picture of Ken and Tarzan right on the front,
and inside are two big eight-inch unbreakable phonograph records made of expensive pure vinylite.
Ken and Tarzan's picture is right on the record too, and here's the best part of all.
When you put the record on your phonograph, you'll hear Ken talking right to you with a personalized message.
He'll say, hello Susie, hello Raymond, or whatever your name is.
Now this Ken Maynard album will be your very own and nobody else's.
Here's all you do. Just put a dollar bill and your name and address in an envelope and send it to Records and Care of this station.
Isn't that amazing? You get two wonderful records with two real Western stories all in a beautifully colored album for only a dollar.
Send in right now kids and just wait till you see how surprised your friends will be when you play the records and Ken speaks to you.
Now they're standard 78 RPM speed records. You can ask mom and dad about it to play on the regular kind of phonograph that everybody's used for years.
So send your name and address now to Records and Care of this station and enclose just a one dollar bill.
Be the first in your neighborhood to own a real Ken Maynard personalized record album. Now Ken.
Say have any of you folks ever had someone come up to you and ask a strange question without any reason at all?
Well sure it happened to me once in Butte, Montana a number of years ago.
Targe and I were out with old Colonel Rockwell's Wild West Show in Indian Congress.
It was one afternoon three or four hours before show time.
I was sitting on the front porch of the Copperstone Hotel, a favorite place for some of the cowboys to drop in for a bite to eat.
Well that afternoon an old timer sat down with me and whispered a deep raspy voice.
You're Ken Maynard, the cowboy actor of this Wild West Show, ain't you?
I nodded my head and he said, how would you like to have a hundred thousand dollars?
Well for a minute I didn't know whether to laugh or get suspicious.
From the way he sounded I was afraid he might try to sell me the whole town of Butte.
I edged towards the end of the seat but he followed me, talking a blue streak.
You know Mr. Maynard, he said, I've been around these parts for a good many years.
Sam Telley's the name. I've seen a lot and I've heard a lot.
I ain't one to do much talking but if you've got a few minutes to spare I'll tell you something that'll make you a rich man.
There was a young fellow by the name of Mark Dawson.
He was born and raised right here in this neighborhood.
In fact if you was of mine too you could go out and see the old Dawson home right down the block.
Well Mr. Maynard, when young Mark finished school he went into the newspaper business with his dad but he didn't cotton to it.
I reckon the only thing the boy thought about was money.
So he planned a stage during bank robbery right here in town and before anyone realized what had happened he was miles away from Butte,
heading for a little ghost town south of Cripple Creek.
He had a mighty good reason for going there too because while he was making his plans to rob the bank he'd been statching away provisions in one of the empty buildings in the old ghost town.
Well he hid out in the top room of the Gooseneck Hotel.
Sam Tully looked over at me while he was catching his breath and shook his scrawny finger in my face as he said,
You know Mr. Maynard, that young Mark Dawson was a pretty smart boy.
He didn't miss a trick when he was planning all this.
That old hotel was the only building in the ghost town where you could see anybody coming into the town from either direction.
Months passed by and loneliness and melancholy of the deserted old mining camp began to affect young Dawson.
He had to get back to civilization.
As the days went by the loneliness became unbearable.
Night after night he sat looking at the money he couldn't spend and his food was almost gone.
He had to go into town.
As the sky grew light the next morning he sat on his horse and started for Cripple Creek.
The town was almost deserted as he pulled up in front of the general store.
A tired packed mule was tied to the hitching post across the street and a shaggy old dog laying in the warm sun wagged his tail in a friendly greeting.
Mark Dawson felt good then like a man who was free.
He went inside and a storekeeper smiled at him and said,
What can I do for you young fellow?
Then as Dawson looked up at the stock on the shelves he saw it.
He wanted signed with his picture and underneath it said,
Five thousand dollars reward for the capture of Mark Dawson wanted in Butte Montana for bank robbery.
Well Mr. Maynard this kind of stopped the young fellow.
He tried to keep his face down as he ordered his supplies but this only made him look all the more suspicious.
He saw the storekeeper eye on him and he heard him say,
Hey there son haven't I seen you someplace before?
Mark Dawson's face turned ashen gray and he reached for the counter to steady himself as the storekeeper started toward him.
Well telling this story sure gets me excited.
While we rest here just a minute let me interrupt the story to tell you about something I'm mighty, mighty proud of.
Have you heard about my K-shirt?
It's a real western shirt that a friend of mine designed especially for me.
It started like a T-shirt you know in nice cotton but the color of the desert sand.
The flaming red diamond K-brand centered on the front.
It's got our picture on it too, me and Tarzan.
Well the kids in my neighborhood took a fancy to it and one one liked it.
So my friend made them up special.
Kid said I would tell you about them so that's what I'm doing.
If you figure you'd like to have a K-shirt like I wear when I'm practicing tricks and fooling around,
I'll see that you get one if you drop me a note.
Full of setting to fix you up, one for only a dollar.
Not sure surprise me.
Just name your sizes, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12.
And if you want a K-shirt like mine just send me your name and address and the size
and slip a dollar bill in the envelope too and send it to K-shirt and carry of this station.
Well so let's get back to the Copperstone Hotel in Butte and hear the rest of Mark Dawson's story.
It was getting kind of close to showtime but I wanted to hear the end of old Sam Tully's story.
He was getting a little excited now.
He got off of his seat and walked to the porch rail.
Then he said you know Mr. Maynard as a storekeeper started toward young Dawson.
Mark forgot all about his supplies and ran out of store.
Jumped on his horse and high-tailed back toward Ghost Town.
Well as soon as the storekeeper watched him ride away he scratched his head and sort of mumbled himself.
Now what would make a feller act like that? I wonder.
Then turning back the counter he saw the picture tacked on the wall.
Five thousand dollars reward.
Now it all made sense.
Well it didn't take long to get the sheriff and the posse together.
There was no trouble to follow Dawson's trail back to the old Ghost Town mining camp.
As Mark Dawson hurried up the steps of the Goose Deck Hotel he was trembling with fear.
He knew now he'd have to find another hiding place.
With a sack of stolen money clenched in his hand he started for the hills east of the camp.
As he stumbled over the rocks and bushes he heard the sound of horses in the distance.
He forced his way up the side of the steep rocky mountain with the voices of the posse echoing in the narrow valley below.
Well sir, Sam Telley stopped talking then and I looked over to see what was the matter.
He was looking out across the mountains in a direction where I imagine Cripple Creek must have been.
But before I had a chance to ask him he said,
Maynard, it's mighty strange how things work out.
When a man is backed up against the wall and it looks like there's no chance to escape something always turns up.
And it sure did for young Dawson.
Right there beside him was a narrow opening in the rocks.
Looked like it might have been the entrance to an old mine or cavern of some kind.
It was pretty well filled in but still there was room for Mark to squeeze through.
It was dark and damp inside and as he crawled along his hands and knees he could feel the soft moist earth give away under him.
Frantically he clasped at the walls of the cavern, the rocks dirt crumble like shale covering his feet and legs.
Slowly he dug himself free.
And as he forced himself back toward the opening he heard it thunders crash and the cavern closed in about him.
Well Maynard tell you said, the posse passed right by the old cavern but no one heard Dawson's cries.
One of the riders asked the sheriff, didn't you hear someone or something call out a few minutes ago?
Sheriff shook his head, there ain't no one around here but Dawson is dead certain he's not going to call out and attract your attention.
You're just hearing things.
That's the way it is in a ghost town.
I reckon if you listen right close you'd hear a lot of voices.
Then the sheriff chuckled, maybe some ghost voices huh?
Well sir the posse rode them hills for weeks but never found a trace of Dawson or the money stolen from the bank.
Some had gone down when old Sam Tully finished his story.
I looked at the old fellow for a minute and some didn't just ring exactly right.
Then I headed.
I said to him, say old timer, how come you know so much about this fellow Dawson?
Well sir his eyes dropped for a second.
Then he said, well I see it's no use Maynard might as well tell you.
I'm Dawson.
You see I finally clawed my way free after a few days.
But I was so weak I could hardly walk so I left a heavy sack of money in the cavern.
I figured I could easily find it whenever I wanted it.
But I never did.
Well sir I gave myself up then, I wanted a chance to go straight.
I served twenty years in the pen and ever since then I've been looking for the money.
When I saw you I thought if I could get this western stranger to help me I could find the place again and restore my good name before I die.
Now if you're looking for a little excitement Mr. Maynard we could ride out that way tomorrow.
Well sir I stopped him then and pointed down toward the arena where a few floodlights were flashing on.
Colonel Rockwell would soon be ready to start the big show.
Then I said to him, if you're looking for some excitement Mr. Tully here's a complimentary ticket.
Tarzan and I will do our best to see you don't go away disappointed.
Gee Willikins can.
You know that was a humdinger of a story and I felt like I was really right there doing all that excitement.
And say kids how would you like to have Ken really there right in your living room anytime you want.
Why it's just like having Ken in person when you own one of his wonderful Diamond K record albums made especially for you.
Remember what I told you earlier?
You got a whole record album with two complete Ken Maynard western stories and a beautiful album for only one dollar.
Both album and records have colored pictures of Ken and Tarzan blazing right across the front.
And don't forget these records are personalized with a message from Ken just for you and he'll call you by name.
Now they're real high quality records too made from pure vinyl light the finest material that money can buy.
And it's impossible to break one of these records and you can play them over and over as many times as you want.
So be sure to send in your name and address right now to records and care of the station and close the dollar bill.
The records in the album will be sent to you postage prepaid from Hollywood.
Hurry now the quicker you write the sooner you'll have your western record album to hear and enjoy.
Now let's get back to Ken.
Well folks it's time to bring our story round up to a close.
This is Ken Maynard and Tarzan.
Closing up our tack room with the Diamond K. Ranch till I see you next time when I'll tell you the story about the Devil's Kitchen.
We'll be looking for you and in the meantime get your one dollar bills in the mail now for some real western fun.
So long.
You've been listening to Tales from the Diamond K.
Stories of adventure told by Ken Maynard and the nationally famous cowboy and Hollywood's champion of western stars.
Tales from the Diamond K. was produced and transcribed in Hollywood.