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What is the chronological order of events in the Leatherstocking Tales?
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James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper, painting by John Wesley Jarvis, 1822; in the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York.
The Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper were not written or published in the order of the protagonist's life. The chronological order of the events in the series, following the life of Natty Bumppo from youth to old age, is as follows:
- The Deerslayer (1841): Portrays Bumppo’s youth in the 1740s.12
- The Last of the Mohicans (1826): Depicts Bumppo in middle age during the French and Indian War in 1757.13
- The Pathfinder (1840): Portrays Bumppo’s early maturity.14
- The Pioneers (1823): Features an aged Bumppo on the New York frontier.14
- The Prairie (1827): Depicts the death of the very old and philosophical Leather-Stocking.14