James Fenimore Cooper by an Indian chief and who after several years is eventually returned to her parents. Often, he gives contrasting views of Native characters to emphasize their potential for good, or conversely, their proclivity for mayhem. "Last of the Mohicans" includes both the character of Magua, who is devoid of almost any redeeming qualities, as well as Chingachgook, the last chief of the Mohicans, who is portrayed as noble, courageous, and heroic. In 1831, Cooper was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. According to Tad Szulc, Cooper was a devotee of Poland's causes (uprisings to regain
Henry S. F. Cooper Jr. James Fenimore Cooper and sixth generation descendent of William Cooper, founder of Cooperstown, New York. He had a brother, James Fenimore Cooper IV, and two sisters, Susan and Katherine. James passed away in 2014 and his sisters passed away within the year prior to that. Cooper spent summers throughout his childhood and later life in Cooperstown, and grew up swimming in Otsego Lake and in the surrounding forest and fields. Cooper attributes his interest in science writing to elementary school, where he read a copy of "From the Earth to the Moon", an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. From ages