A TALE
Appearing in 1827, this is the third ‘Leatherstocking’ story to be published and the last in terms of chronology. The final tale to feature Natty Bumppo, the novel never actually refers to him by name. Instead, references to events in Cooper’s two previous ‘Leatherstocking’ books allow the reader to infer that Bumppo and the enigmatic ‘trapper’ are one and the same man.
In 1803, France had sold to the U.S.A. its claim to an enormous tract of what is now the central or ‘Midwestern’ part of the latter country – an event known historically as the Louisiana Purchase. Set in 1805, The Prairie deals with frontier life in this new territory and focuses on Natty Bumppo’s assistance of Ishmael Bush and his family as they journey across the Midwest in search of a new home. The novel revisits some of the ecological concerns of The Pioneers and continues Cooper’s account of Native American culture as Bumppo and the Bush family become caught up in the war between the Sioux and Pawnee Indians.