The Prairie Author:James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper - first American author to win international literary fame - wrote action-packed stories that evoke America's vanished frontier. The Prairie, published in 1827, tells the story of the last days of Natty Bumppo, a legendary figure in all five of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales. Frontiersman, scout, hunter, and trapper, Natt... more »y Bumppo is the prototype of the self-reliant American hero, who pits his wits and brawn against the untamed wilderness of the old West. He also became world famous as a symbol of every man's fight to preserve his freedom against the encroachments of civilization.« less
Typical Fenimore Cooper read -- a manners novel, but one of the first depictions of the American West, and the germ of an entire genre. If you are reading outside a class, check the scholarship online, it will help immensely.