The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757

About the book

Published in 1826, The Last of the Mohicans is set in 1757, during the war between Britain and France for control of North America. Cora and Alice Munro, the daughters of the British commander of Fort William Henry, are travelling to join their father under the escort of Major Duncan Heyward when their guide, the Huron warrior Magua, leads them astray. They are rescued by the frontier scout Hawkeye and his Mohican companions, Chingachgook and his son Uncas, and drawn into the siege of the fort and the pursuit that follows. James Fenimore Cooper’s second Leatherstocking Tale is a story of wilderness journeys, ambush and loyalty, and its romantic picture of Native peoples and of the frontier became one of the most influential in American fiction.

Characters

• Hawkeye (Natty Bumppo) — Scout

  A frontier scout who guides the travelers through contested territory during the French and Indian War.

• Chingachgook — Mohican warrior

  Hawkeye's trusted companion and Uncas's father, experienced in the forest and its dangers.

• Uncas — Chingachgook's son

  A young Mohican warrior whose courage and loyalty help protect the travelers.

• Cora Munro — Colonel Munro's daughter

  The resolute elder daughter accompanying her sister to their father's fort.

• Alice Munro — Cora's sister

  The younger Munro daughter, whose journey brings her into the violence of the frontier war.

• Duncan Heyward — British officer

  A young major charged with escorting the Munro sisters.

• Magua — Huron warrior

  A guide whose private grievances against Colonel Munro shape his hostility to the party.

About the author

JC

James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) was an American novelist, born in Burlington, New Jersey, and raised in Cooperstown, New York, the frontier settlement founded by his father. After being dismissed from Yale, he served at sea and as a midshipman in the United States Navy. He began writing almost by chance, reportedly after telling his wife he could write a better novel than the one he was reading. His second book, The Spy (1821), was a success, and The Pioneers (1823) introduced the frontiersman Natty Bumppo, hero of the five Leatherstocking Tales, which include The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841). He also wrote sea novels and social criticism, and lived in Europe for several years. One of the first American novelists to win an international readership, he died in Cooperstown in 1851.