Samuel Ross Mason is the main antagonist of Disney's 1956 live action film Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, the prequel to the 1955 film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. He is the brutal and greedy leader of the River Pirates who is the Harpe Brothers' boss. He is based on the real-life river pirate of the same name.
During Mike Fink's race against Davy Crockett, he comes across Wilson's Cave-Inn, where he spots Mason at the cave. The Harpe brothers shout for them to come over and Fink stops the boat, while Mason assembles the pirates for the attack in Indian disguise. However, as Fink notices Davy and his crew catching up, he decides to continue moving forward. When Mason realizes that his plan didn't work, he orders the Harpe brothers to follow Fink and get the pirates to attack. As the pirates get in their boats and approach Fink's boat, Fink and his crew retaliate by shooting at the Indian-disguised pirates and they retreat, along with the Harpe brothers.
After Davy beats Fink, he drops Davy and George off on an island, where they find themselves captured by a Chickasaw tribe led by Black Eagle. He explains that a group of white men have murdered their brothers and have been persecuting the Kaskaskia tribe without reason. Davy learns that there is no other tribe in the area and that the Indians who were attacking Fink's boat were actually pirates in disguise. Black Eagle explains that the white men are persecuting more tribes and Davy decides to have them turned into the authorities with the help of Fink.
Davy and his friends pose themselves as bankers hauling Spanish gold and come across Colonel Plug, whom they agree to take him next to town. They take Plug with them and the Harpe brothers watch from a hill. Plug mentions about the gold to Fink as he sings a song and the Harpe brothers head to the cave to inform Mason. Plug drills a hole in the boat as he ties the string to Moose's shirt and rummages through the bags, only to find out that they have been tricked when he finds rocks and realizes that Davy and Fink are after the pirates. Plug heads out and sings a song to Davy and Fink, but Davy and George tie him up. Moose comes over to Fink and the cork attached to the string comes off, flooding the boat.
The next morning, Mason arranges his pirates and signals them to attack the boat with a shot. The pirates head out and Fink realizes that the boat is sinking, so he orders his men to open fire. He realizes that the pirates are coming in from the back and fires shots at them with his prized cannon. When Mason realizes that the pirates are being outnumbered, he orders the Harpe brothers to get the powder canoe in the water and they light up the dynamite as they push it towards the boat. However, Davy pushes it away and the trio duck under the water as the canoe explodes. As the trio get back to shore, Fink recognizes them and Davy decides to take care of them with George as they head after them.
The trio head back to the cave and Mason orders Big Harpe to keep watch, while he and Little Harpe head into the cave. They enter their storage room and gather a keg of powder. They plant the dynamite in a hole and pour the keg of powder leading to the dynamite. Big Harpe spots the pair approaching the cave and warns Mason. Mason orders the brothers to hide as the pair enter the cave. Big Harpe tries to decapitate George, but he misses. Little Harpe hides under a table as Davy notices the keg of powder leading to the dynamite. Davy covers the trail and lights it, leading it to Mason. Mason escapes as the explosion occurs behind him. The pair and the three pirates engage in a fight and Davy manages to overpower Mason, while the Harpe brothers are defeated. He accidentally lights the keg and the dynamite explodes, killing him.
Trivia
In real-life, Mason was shot in the head in 1803 during his escape from prison, long before the film's events took place.
Villains
