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
James Fenimore Cooper Ways of the Hour", authored in 1850. He turned again from pure fiction to the combination of art and controversy in which he had achieved distinction with the "Littlepage Manuscripts" (1845–1846). His next novel was "The Crater, or Vulcan's Peak" (1847), in which he attempted to introduce supernatural machinery. "Jack Tier" (1848) was a remaking of "The Red Rover", and "The Ways of the Hour" was his last completed novel. Cooper spent the last years of his life back in Cooperstown. He died on September 14, 1851, the day before his 62nd birthday. He was buried in the Christ Episcopal