Cooper’s pioneers first encounter Sioux warriors during the course of their first night of their acquaintanceship with the old trapper. Some characters are taken captive while others sleep, but in the end, all suffer losses. At this point, they begin to see the old trapper’s strange relationship with the Indians. They, however, mistake it for treachery. Shortsighted as the pioneers are, they cannot see how much worse their devastation could have been without the kind, if begrudging help of the trapper, Natty Bumppo.
Though he has apparently lived on the frontier for quite some time, it still comes as a surprise to learn how much of the natives’ language Natty Bumppo understands and how deeply he understands the native people. He loves the land as they do, and lives off of it similarly. Perhaps he was once as hot-headed as Paul Hover or as prejudiced, dull, and eager for ownership as Ishmael Bush, but in old age, he has learned better. Natty has learned that it is better to respect human life and to live peacefully, even if it is among a people very different from his own.
