Red Ryder began on the Blue Network's West Coast stations in February of 1942, but the network dropped the program when it acquired The Lone Ranger program away from Mutual in May 1942. Mutual, in return, picked up Red Ryder and programmed it in direct competition with The Lone Ranger. In the early Hooper reports, Red Ryder beat The Lone Ranger in listening attendance and established a strong following for the next decade. Throughout the 1940s, Red Ryder was called "America's famous fighting cowboy."

The red-haired cowboy was created by Fred Harman. As a comic, it debued on Sunday, November 6, 1938. A daily strip was added in March of 1939. In the opening Sunday episode, Red became attached to Little Beaver, an orphaned Navajo kid. The kid stayed with him through the rest of his career.

Red Ryder was actually Bronc Peeler from an earlier Harman comic strip. Bronc had a sidekick named Little Beaver. It was the merchandising agent Stephen Slesinger who recommended that Harman change Peeler to the red-headed Ryder. The popularity of the strip was high into the mid-1950s, and during this time Red Rlyder was the official spokesperson for the Daisy Carbine air rifle. The strip diminished in popularity in the late 1950s and Harman retired it in December of 1964.