Running from 1942 to 1951 on the NBC Blue Network, Red Ryder was an American radio western series based on the popularity of the comic strip Red Ryder by Stephen Slesinger and Fred Harman. Red was a tough cowpoke who lived on Painted Valley Ranch in the Blanco Basin of the San Juan Mountain Range with his aunt, the Duchess, and his juvenile sidekick, Little Beaver, who rode his horse, Papoose, when they took off to deal with the bad guys.