I just finished reading The Pioneers (1823) by James Fenimore Cooper. Although the fourth and penultimate volume in the narrative chronology of The Leatherstocking Tales, it was the first published.

I had a wonderful time reading this chapter of the life of Natty Bumppo. The reader feels as if they are adventuring along with him and Chingachgook in the woods and mountains, always assured of Hawkeye’s simple good nature and deep friendship.

Like the other novels in this series, the reader is introduced to and gets to know a number of characters, as well as the landscape in which the plot unfolds. The tension between the old ways and the new (in the form of European settlement) is a strong undercurrent running throughout the narrative. There is much humor, often at the expense of a few of the characters, as well as pathos, sadness, and a certain steadfastness. The ending is moving, especially having read the previous books; the last scene is just as it should be.

“The meanest of God’s creatures be made for some use, and I’m formed for the wilderness. If ye love me, let me go where my soul craves to be agin!”