"Relic of Fort Tejon" was based on the 1947 short story of the same title by Kenneth Perkins. It first appeared in the December 20, 1947 issue of Collier's.[4]
The original short story has little in common with the Maverick episode, but there are a few similarities. The hero, Jeff Magoon, takes his pet camel across the desert to track and apprehend a feeling outlaw guilty of killing a man.[4]
Back in town, the law is holding an innocent but unlikeable vintner burdened with a lot of circumstantial evidence against him. The townspeople are prepared to lynch the man until Magoon returns from the desert with the real killer.[4]
The story features the last well before miles of desert as a story point but in this case, Magoon knows the well is dry so elects to take his camel instead of his horse. In a shootout between Magoon and the outlaw, the camel takes four bullets for his owner.[4]
Fortunately, camels are so onery, it takes five bullets to kill them. Magoon returns with the outlaw, proves the vintner's innocence, wins the love of the girl who has now also developed a respect for the camel and plans to nurse it back to health.[4]
The opening scene of Maverick's "Relic of Fort Tejon" of Bret Maverick riding into Clayville was repurposed footage from the opening of the series pilot, "War of the Silver Kings."
MAVERICK
Season 1, Episode 7[1]
ORIGINAL AIRDATE
November 3, 1957[2]
TELEPLAY
Jerry Davis
Based on the short story by Kenneth Perkins
DIRECTOR
PRODUCER
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
CAST
CREW
Director of Photography
Art Director
Supervising Film Editor
Film Editor
Production Manager
Sound
Set Decorator
Makeup Supervisor
Assistant Director
SOURCE REFERENCES
01. All credits, unless otherwise noted: Maverick, Relic of Fort Tejon (1957), Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
02. Robertson, Ed, Maverick: Legend of the West (1994), Pomegranate Press
03. Maverick: Relic of Fort Tejon — Full Cast & Crew; International Movie Database
04. Relic of Fort Tejon; Colliers; December 20, 1947; The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company (retrieved March 15, 2015)
ABOVE: Iillustrations by Mario Cooper and title graphic from the December 20, 1947 issue of Collier's for Kenneth Perkins' "Relic of Fort Tejon."[4]
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