The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea Great Lakes. The sobriquet "The Pathfinder" was subsequently attached to explorer John C. Frémont. The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea is a historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in 1840. It is the fourth novel Cooper wrote featuring Natty Bumppo, his fictitious frontier hero, and the third chronological episode of the "Leatherstocking Tales". The inland sea of the title is Lake Ontario. "The Pathfinder" was written 13 years after Natty Bumppo had ended his career in "The Prairie". Cooper had questioned the wisdom of reviving this hero, and he was at the
James Fenimore Cooper was virulent in its comments about him, and Cooper filed legal actions for libel, winning all his lawsuits. After concluding his last case in court, Cooper returned to writing with more energy and success than he'd had for several years. On May 10, 1839, he published his "History of the U.S. Navy", and returned to the "Leatherstocking Tales" series with "The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea" (1840) and "The Deerslayer" (1841) and other novels. He wrote again on maritime themes, including "Ned Myers, or A Life Before the Mast", which is of particular interest to naval historians. In the late