The Deerslayer

The Deerslayer: The First War Path (1841), a novel by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, is the first installment in his famous Leatherstocking Tales chronologically, though the last to be written. The series follows the adventures of Natty Bumppo, an American frontiersman partly raised by Mohican natives, as he navigates the tensions between the natives and the European settlers against the backdrop of the American wilderness.

In terms of the story’s continuity, The Deerslayer is followed by what is probably the most famous of the Leatherstocking Tales books, The Last of the Mohicans. While the latter tells the story of Natty — by then known as Hawkeye — in 1757, during the French and Indian War, The Deerslayer takes place around 1740, introducing a Natty who has not yet had to kill or fight for his life — thus the subtitle, The First War Path.

As the book begins, Natty, known as Deerslayer, is traveling with Harry March, or Hurry Harry. They are both heading to Otsego Lake (also called Glimmerglass Lake). Deerslayer is going to meet his longtime friend and Delaware chief Chingachgook, while Hurry Harry is on his way to see his friend Tom Hutter and his family. The two men don’t have much in common; they are traveling together for safety and protection from the local natives.



They arrive at Muskrat Castle, where the Hutters live, only to find it empty and abandoned. The travelers find the Hutters at their second family home, an ark sitting on the shore of the lake. Tom Hutter lives with his two daughters, Judith and Hetty. Hurry Harry is in love with Judith and wishes to marry her, but Judith does not feel the same way. Hetty, a simple-minded and devout young girl, welcomes both travelers warmly.

With Hurry Harry and Deerslayer’s help, the family sails the ark into the lake to escape some natives who try to board the ship. For their protection, the men decide to go fetch the canoes that Hutter left hidden on the shore. At night, Hutter and Hurry Harry scheme to sneak into the nearby Huron camp and take some scalps, which they can sell for profit. Deerslayer, morally against the idea of white men taking scalps as it is not part of their culture, agrees to wait in a canoe for the men to return from their expedition. The two men are captured, and Deerslayer, powerless to help them, decides to secure the canoes and go to sleep.

During the night, one of the canoes drifts to the shore. As Deerslayer is trying to recover it, a native tries to take it. Deerslayer attempts to reason with him, saying the canoe is his, but the native attacks him. He shoots the man in self-defense, treating his enemy with respect by not taking his scalp; the Indian calls him Hawkeye, the recognition of a great warrior, before dying.



Deerslayer successfully meets up with Chingachgook as they had arranged. Chingachgook, being pursued by Huron natives, escapes by jumping aboard the ark. He says he has seen Hutter and Hurry Harry; they will likely be scalped. He also explains that his beloved, a woman called Wah-ta-Wah, is being held in the same camp. Hetty, deciding to rescue her father and Hurry Harry by herself, heads off with one of the canoes; Deerslayer is unsuccessful in his attempts to stop her.

As Hetty is going through the woods, she comes across Wah-ta-Wah, who agrees to take her to the camp. She tries to convince the Hurons to free the two men with Biblical arguments, but they are not convinced, pointing out the hypocrisy in the European’s use of the Bible to justify slaughter. However, they refuse to hurt her, believing that those with mental disabilities are protected by the Great Spirit.

Meanwhile back at the ark, Deerslayer and Judith, going through Hutter’s belongings to find something they can barter for the captured men, find some beautifully carved ivory and brocade items. A native man, sent to return Hetty in peace, is enthusiastic when shown the precious objects. They eventually agree on an exchange, and the two men are released. As soon as they are free, they start planning another raid for scalps, but their plans are foiled when they find the tribe has moved camp.



Deerslayer and Chingachgook plan to save Wah-ta-Wah and eventually find the new camp. While they succeed in rescuing her, Deerslayer is captured in the struggle. Chingachgook and Wah-ta-Wah find safety in the ark with Hutter and Hurry Harry. Meanwhile, Judith sends Hetty to negotiate for his freedom but the Hurons refuse, claiming this prisoner is too important to barter with. When Hetty returns, the girls have to row the canoe in search of the ark, having become separated from the rest.

Hutter and Hurry Harry decide to go to Muskrat Castle, despite warnings from Chingachgook that it has been taken by natives. Predictably, the two men are ambushed and captured soon after entering the house. Chingachgook and Wah-ta-Wah, who are still on the ark, can only sail the boat out of sight. Hurry Harry manages to roll into the lake, where he is rescued by those on the ark. The Hurons pursue the ark in a canoe but, spotting the girls in another canoe nearby, chase them instead.

The girls narrowly escape the enemy canoe, landing back at Muskrat Castle, where they find their father scalped but still alive. Hutter admits to the girls that he is not their real father before dying and being buried in the lake. Deerslayer is released to negotiate terms of surrender on the condition he returns once everything is settled. The natives offer to let Chingachgook go but to keep the three girls captive, which the Delaware chief refuses.



Hurry Harry, who has been trying to court Judith all this time, is once again rejected; he asks to be taken ashore where he can join a local garrison. Judith and Deerslayer, going through Hutter’s possessions, discover he used to be a pirate. Judith confesses her love to Deerslayer. She is surprised when he refuses her advances, claiming he intends to keep his promise to his captors and return.

Impressed by his honesty, the Huron chief asks Deerslayer to join the tribe and to marry the widow of the man he killed in the canoe. Deerslayer refuses both and is sentenced to a trial, which involves throwing tomahawks at him to make him nervous. Instead, he grabs one of the weapons and escapes, before being recaptured due to his canoe drifting back to shore. Deerslayer is then tortured for his transgressions.

Judith attempts to save him by pretending she has soldiers at her disposal, but Hetty, who does not understand the plan, gives it away. Chingachgook and Wah-ta-Wah try to fight for their friend but fail. As the protagonists are being overtaken by the Hurons, men from the nearby garrison, led by Hurry Harry, appear and save them, killing most of the natives. Hetty is killed during the battle and, being once again rejected by Deerslayer, Judith goes with the soldiers. Deerslayer and Chingachgook return to Delaware territory. Many years later, they return to the lake with Chingachgook’s son Uncas — the eponymous character from The Last of the Mohicans.



The Leatherback Chronicles and The Last of the Mohicans have become American classics, being studied in schools and given several film and television adaptations. However, the books have received their fair share of criticism. Mark Twain was famously critical of Cooper’s writing, dedicating a whole essay to the “offenses” in the latter’s writings. Furthermore, some interpretations of the books take issue with their depiction of First Nations people as savage and inherently violent.