James Fenimore Cooper was inspired by a tale related to him by neighbor and family friend John Jay. It was more successful and became a bestseller; the setting of this Revolutionary War tale is widely believed to have been John Jay's family home "The Locusts" in Rye, New York. In 1823, Cooper published "The Pioneers", the first of the "Leatherstocking" series. The series features Natty Bumppo, a resourceful American woodsman at home with the Delaware Indians and their chief Chingachgook. Bumppo was also the main character of Cooper's most famous novel "The Last of the Mohicans" (1826), written in New York City where
Henry S. F. Cooper Jr. 14 to 22, Cooper worked on his family's farm in the town. Henry S. F. Cooper attended the Buckley School in New York City and Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts. He subsequently attended Yale University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English in 1956. During his stay at Yale, Cooper was a frequent writer for the "Yale Daily News", and wrote the column "Sound and Fury". At Yale in 1955, Cooper and David P. Calleo anonymously wrote "Inside Eli", or alternatively "How to get on at Yale", which had sketches of Yale organizations, activities, and sports; it is currently held