Margaret Trappe

CHARACTER
Margaret Trappe
Gender	Female
Nationality	German
Profession(s)	Hunter Courier
Allegiance(s)	Germany Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck

Margaret Trappe, the daughter of the best female aviator of Africa, made her home in German East Africa in 1907. Her family built their home on the slopes of Mount Meru with their farm "Momella".

Biography

An accomplished rider, Margaret Trappe became the first female professional hunter, in order to prove that she is more daring than male hunters. According to Frederick Selous, who had an affair with her mother, Trappe once crept up behind a grazing rhinoceros and wrote mpumbavu (Swahili for "idiot") on his rear.

During World War I, she followed her mother's advice and joined the German army, under the command of Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck as a transport rider and courier.

Trappe taken prisoner.

In 1916, during a mission to capture von Lettow, Selous and his "Old and the Bold" group were disguised as Boer settlers, in a wagon led by Indiana Jones. Selous noticed a courier on horseback, and demonstrating his marksmanship, shot and untied the saddle. The band approached the fallen courier, who was none other than Margaret Trappe, and took her as their prisoner. That same night, Indy offered to feed the prisoner, who had realized that the men were after von Lettow, about whom Indy knew nothing. A reluctant Margaret thought one bite of Remy Baudouin's stew was enough along with Indy's company and spent the rest of the night in silence.

The next morning, the wagon was intercepted by the German army, but not before Birdy Soames hid himself and Margaret in the wagon's cache. The wagon was captured inside von Lettow's camp while the rest of the band were imprisoned to be executed. Birdy left Margaret and moved to free his companions and capture von Lettow, but during his absence Margaret managed to break free and alert the soldiers.

After von Lettow

Trappe shoots at the balloon.

During the ensuing commotion, Lettow was stranded in a hot air balloon alongside Indy and Remy, and Margaret had a sabotaged airplane repaired to fly after them. She attacked and shot down their balloon the next day, sending them to the savannah below, but not before Remy managed to hit her plane with a machine gun. Margaret nonetheless attempted to make another run against the balloon, which von Lettow lauded as commendable.

Margaret managed to land and was found by a company of German soldiers, who helped her fix the plane. The next day she continued flying on their trail until she found von Lettow, Indy and Remy on a clearing surrounded by a hostile African tribe. Firing against them caused the warriors to disperse. She landed and von Lettow managed to run to her. From a distance, she shot away Indy's rifle which in marksmanship ultimately proved not that impressive, as she was aiming at his head.

Stand-off.

Indy took von Lettow at gunpoint with a pistol but realized that although Remy had him covered against Trappe aiming at him, the German army was moving towards them, and he had no choice but to let their captive go free. Thus, he allowing Margaret and von Lettow return to their army while himself and Remy left the field safely.

Behind the scenes

Trappe was played by actress Lynsey Baxter.

Appearances

• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Young Indiana Jones and the Phantom Train of Doom" → Phantom Train of Doom (First appearance)

External links

• Margarete Trappe on Wikipedia (in German)