Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is a fictional character and the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.
1989 Soviet postage stamp series depicting The Leatherstocking Tales
Natty Bumppo sculpture in Edenkoben, Germany
James Fenimore Cooper was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought him fame and fortune. He lived much of his boyhood and his last fifteen years in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William Cooper on property that he owned. Cooper became a member of the Episcopal Church shortly before his death and contributed generously to it. He attended Yale University for three years, where he was a member of the Linonian Society.
Photograph by Mathew Brady, 1850
Otsego Hall, Cooper's home
The young Cooper, in Midshipman's naval uniform
The Last of the Mohicans Illustration from 1896 edition, by J. T. Merrill