Natty bumppo biography graphic organizers images

The latest episode of A New York Minute In History podcast explores the mystery of who is the inspiration for Natty Bumppo, one of the most recognizable characters from James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales series of novels.

Bumppo was described by Cooper as a rugged frontiersman who dressed in tanned leather and was a skilled hunter and scout.

His character was famously ridiculed by Mark Twain.

Natty bumppo biography graphic organizers for kids He began in by creating a handful of rather unsophisticated chapbooks intended to impart historical and moral lessons. In , Goodrich published the first of his so-called Peter Parley books, which are narrated by a fictional grandfatherly Bostonian of that name. When we talk about Samuel Goodrich today, it is usually within the context of his dealings with Nathaniel Hawthorne, who — along with other literary notables such as N. Goodrich, always a savvy businessman, probably saw underpaying his authors as a sound financial decision. It would be a mistake, however, to peg Goodrich as merely a printer who took unfair advantage of authors.

A trip to Hoosick Falls in Rensselaer County, NY, wouldn’t be complete without a drive down Main Street. As you pass the cemetery, with row upon row of stone monuments dissected by shade trees, an interesting red and gold marker catches your eye. The title reads “Natty Bumppo” a name that is familiar but you can’t quite place it just yet.

Reading the marker’s text, those hazy details come streaming back:

NATTY BUMPPO
IN THIS BURIAL GROUND LIES
NATHANIEL SHIPMAN
THE INSPIRATION FOR JAMES
FENIMORE COOPER’S FAMOUS
“NATTY BUMPPO” CHARACTER

So according to the marker, this is where Cooper’s inspiration came from, a man named Nathaniel Shipman who lies buried in Hoosick Falls.

But, if you drive about miles to the west to Fly Creek, near Cooperstown, NY, there is another red and gold sign with the same title, but the story is different.

Natty bumppo biography graphic organizers For the full text, see Introduction to The Deerslayer. The clan is reported to have numbered some three hundred warriors when the Germans arrived among them. A tortoise and a serpent were the tokens of this clan. Documents, chiefly sales of land to the Germans, still exist bearing their signatures in this shape. Here in some rude frontier home, in a log-cabin, under a bark roof, the boy had grown up to a simple, hardy, brave, and kindly manhood.

This one reads:

“NATTY BUMPPO”
DAVID SHIPMAN, CA.
BURIAL SITE OF LOCAL HUNTER
KNOWN BY & INSPIRATION FOR
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER’S
LITERARY CHARACTER

So what’s the story here? Was David Shipman the true inspiration or was it Nathaniel Shipman? What was their connection to James Fenimore Cooper and what led to a war of words in which threatened a lawsuit over erecting a monument?

Co-hosts Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts explore this mystery on the second episode of the podcast&#;s series Legends and Lore of the Empire State.

You can listen to the podcast here.

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