Hawkeye and the Birth of the American Myth

This year, as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of America, let’s not forget other important events that shaped our nation, not politically, but culturally.

Two hundred years ago this week, one of the most important novels in American literature was published: “The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper. This novel helped create one of our most enduring and uniquely American genres.

While English writers in America go as far back as John Smith in Jamestown, a truly American literary style did not emerge until the early 19th century. Before that, several novels were written, most famously “Charlotte Temple” by Susanna Rowson (1791), “The Coquette” by Hannah Webster Foster (1798), and “Edgar Huntly” by Charles Brockden Brown (1801). Though notable in their time, these works lacked a distinctively American voice; they could have been written just as easily in England, and they largely reflected European literary styles. For me, the first truly American writer is Washington Irving.

Irving was one of the first full-time professional authors in the United States, and he created a uniquely American voice, largely through his choice of setting. His two most important works are “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.”(1819) and “Tales of a Traveller” (1824), both collections of short stories. Six stories stand out for their influence: Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Traits of Indian Character, Philip of Pokanoket, The Devil and Tom Walker, and Wolfert Webber (Golden Dreams). While these tales are set in America, more specifically, they occur on the boundary between civilization and wilderness, a place where people encounter the unknown, the supernatural, and must explain the bump in the night. By 1819, such wilderness no longer existed in Europe, making these stories distinctly American.

While Irving set the stage for American frontier fiction, it was Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans” that truly shaped American culture. Though there are several changes from the book, the 1992 movie adaptation remains one of my personal favorites. Cooper’s novel created one of America’s most iconic genres: the Western. The other uniquely American literary genre, the rags-to-riches story, wouldn’t be popularized until later by Horatio Alger Jr. in his Ragged Dick series, beginning in 1868.

The Western is arguably the most American of genres. Rooted in the only nation with a vast west, a land of unknown wilderness ripe for adventure and legend, most Westerns follow a familiar formula: a man rides into a small Western town, rugged yet with a heart of gold, strong yet principled, capable of violence when necessary but guided by a moral code. He sees injustice and stands against it, often against overwhelming odds, before riding off into the sunset.

In the novels and movies that followed, this hero became the cowboy, self-reliant, capable of living off the land, often solitary with only a companion or two, embodying rugged individualism — a cornerstone of American identity.

Before Roy Rogers or John Wayne, there was Natty Bumppo, also called La Longue Carabine (“Long Rifle”) by his Native American brethren, or simply Hawkeye. Though white, he was raised by Native Americans and embodies the strengths of both cultures. Hawkeye is an expert marksman and tracker, deeply knowledgeable about nature and survival. Honest, brave, and moral, he mediates between European settlers and Native Americans.

Hawkeye is accompanied by Uncas, his adopted Mohican brother and heroic romantic figure, and Chingachgook, his adopted father, representing wisdom, tradition, and cultural continuity.

Set during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the novel portrays a frontier where warfare has shifted from traditional European tactics to guerrilla-style combat, where European rules of engagement and honor no longer apply. Hawkeye and his companions rescue the daughters of Colonel Munro, Cora and Alice, and agree to escort them to their father through dangerous territory. Though they have no loyalty to the British, they agree to escort the daughters out of a sense of duty and personal moral code.

In this way, Hawkeye and his companions are the forerunners of the modern cowboy hero. Their courage, independence, frontier skills, and moral integrity set in the wilderness make “The Last of the Mohicans” the first great Western, setting the stage for a distinctly American literary and cultural tradition.

Newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani pledged to “replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” Maybe we need Hawkeye more than ever to remind the next generation of the independence, moral courage, and personal responsibility that once defined the American character.

While many of the books from this era have faded from public memory, perhaps now is the time to revive them.

James Finck is a professor of American history at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. He can be reached at james.finck@swoknews.com. Thanks to the Southwest Ledger and the Lawton Constitution for sharing his column.