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Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper Content last
modified October 2012 The Leatherstocking Tales, by American
novelist, historian, and social critic James Fenimore Cooper,
relate the adventures of frontiersman Natty Bumppo. Known as
Leatherstocking, Hawkeye, and Pathfinder, among other names,
Bumppo is introduced as a young man in The Deerslayer, the first
novel in terms of content but the last to be published. The
novels tell of his adventures living a life of freedom in the
wilderness of New York and of his retreat from the advance of
civilization. They end with his old age and death in the Great
Plains region of the West. Reflected in the series are Cooper's
views on the importance of individual freedom in society.
Considered classics of American literature, the Leatherstocking
Tales set the pace for future writers of western and frontier
stories. They have been widely tra