Most people today – when they think of The Last of the Mohicans
– might cite a reference to the 1992 movie with Daniel Day-Lewis or the fact
that the Hawkeye character from M*A*S*H was nicknamed that by his father as a
tribute to the book.
That book is a real powerhouse and was published way back in
1826 by James Fenimore Cooper, who can safely be called the first major novelist
in U.S. history.
Cooper notably came of age on his father’s huge property
along the Susquehanna River in Upstate New York. As more people moved in around
this land, the village eventually was named Cooperstown – now home of today’s
baseball Hall of Fame museum.
Cooper grew up around both Indians and pioneers, so he brings
a great first-hand knowledge of what life was like in the area during the war
between France and England that had spilled into North America.
A small group
of British settlers is trying to make it from one British fort to another
before French troops can attack them.
Hawkeye, a brave and savagely civilized white scout is
recruited – along with some of the dwindled Mohican tribe – to lead the group
on their dangerous journey. At one point, they are trapped in a cave by the
enemy when Hawkeye and the Mohicans are persuaded by two British sisters Cora
and Alice to escape by swimming underwater down river.
Cora and Alice are captured, by Hawkeye and the Mohicans
survive and track their captors, led by Magua, a displaced Canadian Huron
Indian who had once been beaten by the sisters’ father. He swears to capture
them and take Cora as his wife and slave. Cora, a tough chick to say the least,
wasn’t buying it, and just as Magua is about to massacre his prisoners,
Hawkeye and the Mohicans swarm in, killing all the Huron gang except Magua,
who escapes.
They make their way to their intended destination and the
women are reunited with their father, but it is not long before Magua and the
French invade and a bloodbath ensues. Again Magua kidnaps Cora and Alice and
takes them into the woods. Again Hawkeye retrieves them and also saves Uncas,
who is the “last Mohican” of the title. Believe it or not, there are more
back-and-forth kidnappings of Alice, Cora, and Uncas before this epic tale
ends.
Magua and his cronies kill Cora and Uncas before Hawkeye is
able to use his rifle to shoot and kill Magua as he dangles precariously at
the edge of a cliff. A sad ending and, as we knew it would happen, “the last of
the Mohicans” expires.
Except for the slightly wordy and outdated language within
the book, frontier tales don’t get much more important, adventurous, and rollicking than
this.
****1/2 out of *****
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