THE PIONEERS
By James Fenimore Cooper
Pinnacle Press, 2017, 495 pages
Reviewed by Michael Beach
This work is part of a series by Cooper known as the Leatherstocking Tales. The books share a common protagonist known by different names, but his “Christian name” is Nathaniel Bumppo or “Natty”. The book is subtitled Or, The Sources of the Susquehanna. The Susquehanna is a river that flows from western New York state, through Pennsylvania and empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The time of the story is not long after the American Revolutionary War.
The Pioneers was the first of these works written by Cooper, but is the fourth out of five chronologically in the story line. In the setting Natty is an older man at a time when the wilderness is being tamed as towns spring up in what was once a stronghold for native people and huntsmen. There is something of the conservationist tone in the work as old-timers like Natty lament the scarcity of game and the thinning of trees for farm land.
There is another theme that reminds me of modern-day gentrification issues. Before the Revolution the area in question was not really “owned” by anyone. With the settling of the land, much of the property around the town was deeded into the hands of the local judge, Marmaduke Temple. The town was named Templeton in his honor.
One other aspect of civilization challenged in the story is the blind application of the law. When issues could have been resolved simply, a local constable causes a heated confrontation. He himself creates some infractions blamed on Natty, and he overblows the severity of actual infractions by Natty. Ultimately the problems are resolved not by law, but by skirmishes in the wilderness where some of the characters are put to unnecessary risk.
The tale is a fun read and there is plenty of societal commentary. It was originally published in 1823 and brings some of the sensibilities of that era vailed in the time of characters in the late 1700s.
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