Trooper Maverick - Recap

Bart visits the local Army post to play cards with the troopers after payday. He’s on a losing streak when Captain Berger comes in and informs him that he’s under arrest for gambling. Bart isn’t concerned, noting that Colonel Sam Percy probably wants poker lessons.

Berger locks Bart up and checks with Colonel Percy, who tells the captain to keep Bart locked up for another two hours. Percy’s wife Catherine comes in and complains of spending her nights alone, and her husband says that it won’t take long. When she demands that Berger take care of the matter so they can spend some time together, he reluctantly has Bart brought to his office.

After Berger leaves, Percy warns him that gambling has a maximum sentence of 180 days in the stockade. However, he offers Bart enlistment papers as an alternate and tells him he can serve for 180 days go into the stockade. Bart has no choice but to sign the papers and Percy then explains that the peaceful Indians have recently begun conducting secret raids. He figures that someone in his outfit is working with the Indians and needs someone equally clever to sniff him out. The last man that Percy assigned to undercover work was knifed in the back, so Percy wants Bart to act slovenly so he’ll attract the traitor’s attention.



The next day, Sgt. Schumacher calls the men to attention, including young Albert Heaven. Bart is amused to hear Albert’s name, and Schumacher demands that he follow orders. Bart begins his plan to look like a goldbricker and asks for his horse. Schumacher sends Bart and Albert to muck out the stables. After that, Bart continues to lag behind and ignore orders as much as possible.



That night, Jed Benedict meets with Sgt. Rogers and tells him that he’s ordered a Gattling gun to supply to the Indians. However, they’ll need a third man to handle it, and plans to recruit Bart. They figure they’ll make sure he’s their man and kill him if he isn’t.

Later, Schumacher orders his men out and discovers Bart sleeping in bed. They ride out to search for Indians but find nothing. When they return, Percy and his wife are in the yard. Captain Berger reports that the Indians made a feint toward a settlement and lured them away so they could steal a wagon with a hundred repeating rifles. Bart secretly signals Percy that no one has contacted him. Percy and Catherine continue their walk and the colonel admits that his commanding officer wants him to travel to see him. Catherine accuses him of wanting to kill Indians and disregarding her feelings but Percy denies it.



That night, Bart pretends to doze off on guard duty. Benedict finds him and pretends to sneak out the gate, “waking” Bart up. Bart suggests he’ll take a bribe and Benedict offers him $20. The gambler negotiates for $30 and helps him out the gate. The next morning, Benedict informs Rogers that Bart didn’t hesitate to take a bribe from him. Meanwhile, Catherine sees O’Dell giving some Indians food and tells him to keep all Indians out of the post. The fort’s Indian scout, Dakota Cadman, overhears her and is surprised that she’s talking about the Indians so harshly. He reminds her that Indians raised her for ten years when her parents were killed, but Catherine insists that Percy rescued her and brought her back to civilization.

Bart joins the poker game at the trading post and Schumacher catches him at it. He informs his new recruit that they failed a spot inspection because of Bart’s equipment. Bart dares him to remove his stripes and fight and the sergeant accepts. They fight and Bart wins, but when a couple of officers come in they both play nice to avoid receiving extra duty. However, Schumacher warns Bart that he’ll still be working 40 hours of extra duty. Benedict and Rogers have seen the entire thing and figure Bart is a suitable recruit.



Catherine leaves her quarters and meets with Benedict. He asks for her approval to recruit Bart, and she reminds him that she doesn’t want anyone killed. Catherine tells him to recruit Bart and leaves. Benedict takes Rogers with him to see Bart, who agrees to help them.

The next day, Bart rides out in a wagon to meet with the Indians that Catherine has been supporting. He talks with the Indian raider, Acando, and asks what he hopes to accomplish with the war. Acando finally addresses him in perfect English, telling him that they are both bound by the will of the majority: Acando’s tribal leaders and Bart’s desire for money. As the Indians leave with the guns, a cavalry trooper spots Bart with them.

Back at the fort, Bart tries to get to Percy’s office but Rogers intercepts him. Bart goes to his quarters and talks to Heaven, wondering if there’s another way to get a letter to Percy. He starts to write a letter for Percy, but Benedict comes in and sends Heaven to see Schumacher. After lights out, Bart tries to sneak out when Benedict leaves, but Rogers catches him at it and Bart is forced to claim he has trouble sleeping. Meanwhile, Benedict goes to see Catherine and wonders if Percy ever gets jealous. Catherine assures him that Percy trusts her implicitly and asks if everything is arranged. She gives him an envelope with money to pay for the Gattling gun and tries to go, but Benedict says they’re not finished. Catherine warns him that they’re done and this will be the last time they see each other.



The next day at the trading post, Benedict and Rogers tell Bart that they’ve set it up so they’ll be assigned on patrol together. Bart asks what he’s supposed to do and Benedict explains that he’ll pick up the Gatling gun at Twin Forks. As Bart goes to the barracks for the night, Benedict insists on following him.

Bart and Heaven are on detail in the compound when Catherine and Percy come out of their quarters. Before Bart can approach him, Benedict interrupts him again and insists on paying him in the quarters. Meanwhile, Percy tells Catherine that he’s been ordered to report to Fort Smith. As they talk, Percy unwittingly walks over the dirt where Bart wrote the first three letters of “Gatling.” The colonel tells Catherine that he’ll be gone for two or three days and suggests she come with him. She refuses, and Percy finally notices Bart’s letters. However, he assumes that someone wrote their initials and rubs them out.



Percy leaves Berger in command and rides out for Fort Smith. Once he and his men are gone, Berger tells Schumacher that he’ll be implementing some changes and checking on the efficiency of his men, including Bart’s patrol.

Bart, Benedict, and Rogers ride out to deliver the Gatling gun to Acando and Bart tries to stall without success. Acando and his warriors meet the trio. Benedict turns over Bart and Acando ties him up. Meanwhile, Berger, Schumacher, and then men have ridden out to check on their efficiency and see Acando with the Gattling gun. They don’t see Benedict, Rogers, and Bart. The trio takes cover and the two traitors open fire along with the Indians. Rogers is hit by a stray shot and Bart orders Benedict to surrender. Benedict prepares to shoot but is shot himself. Acando and his men ride off and Bart hails the soldiers. However, Berger assumes that he’s a traitor and has Schumacher put him under arrest. Bart realizes that Percy didn’t tell Berger about his undercover scheme.



Later, Berger comes to see Bart in his cell and presents him with the indictment papers. Bart refuses and explains that he was working for Percy, but Berger doesn’t believe him. He tells Bart that the court martial board will meet in two days to hear his case. Percy’s party returns and Berger learns that the colonel was killed. The captain tells Bart that he might as well sign the papers now.

The next day, Bart watches as the troops build a scaffold. Catherine, wearing widow’s black, comes to see Bart and asks for an explanation. She assumes that Bart was playing along with her husband and really was a traitor, and unwittingly gives away that she was the one backing Benedict. Catherine promises that she’ll find a way to get Bart cleared. However, when she returns to her quarters, she finds a letter that her husband left confirming Bart’s innocence.



The court martial board quickly finds Bart guilty and orders his execution the next morning at 7 a.m. Meanwhile, Catherine rides out to meet with Acando. They embrace and she tells him that she’s free. Acando is shocked at how quickly she has tossed aside her husband’s memory. He doesn’t believe that she’s free of the hatred she has for the white people. Catherine insists that she was fighting for their people but Acando explains that he went to the white man’s school, understands their point of view, and no longer wishes to war. He plans to lead the younger tribesmen away from his father’s plans for war, much to Catherine’s surprise. As she prepares to ride off, Acando asks what happened to Bart and realizes that he was working for peace. When Catherine refuses to save Bart, Acando wonders which of them is the savage.

The next morning, Bart watches the gallows from his cell window. As the troops assemble, O’Dell escorts Bart to the gallows. Berger reads the charges and Bart realizes nothing he can say would help. As he walks up the stairs to the noose, Catherine rides in and shows Percy’s letter to Berger. The captain announces Bart’s innocence and suspends the charges, and Bart faints in relief.



As Bart is released, he asks Catherine why she waited and then changed her mind. She explains that she made a decision about hate, love, and where she belongs, and walks off. Schumacher comes over and tells Bart that he still has Bart signed up for another 122 days, and until then Bart is nothing but a miserable private. He assigns Bart to the newly-promoted Heaven, who takes his duties very seriously and orders Bart to work.

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