Cooper's Cave

A bridge crosses the Hudson River in the village of Glens Falls. Under the bridge there is a cave that gave inspiration to James Fenimore Cooper when he was writing “The Last of the Mohicans.” Cooper’s Cave is the fictional site in the book and movie set during the French and Indian War.  In the book Col. Duncan Heyward of Virginia is transporting two girls to their father, Col Munro, who was a commander at Fort William Henry in Lake George. If you

haven’t read the book, not to worry, in 1992 it was made into an action packed movie depicting life in New York State in the late 1700s and it will make you realize how good we have it today. The cave actually has two parts. There is a handicap accessible view platform with several story boards. 

While the story of the two girls is fictional the fort where their father was a commander, Fort William Henry, is not.  A reconstructed Fort William Henry is located at the southern end of Lake George. It was constructed in 1755 during the French and Indian War. It was successfully attacked by General Montcalm. The fort was destroyed. The siege of Fort William Henry by the French under Montcalm is accurately portrayed in the book and the movie including the participation by the Iroquois nation.

The Mohicans, not to be confused with the present-day Iroquois, were an Algonquian-speaking Native American group who lived in the upper Hudson River area and in the Catskills. Also the Mohicans should not be confused with the Mohegans who once lived in what is now Connecticut and were related to the Pequot. In the late 1600s after a war with the Mohawk of the Iroquois Confederacy the Mohicans were forced to move to what is Stockbridge, Massachusetts. They sold their land. Some merged with other tribes and one group moved to Wisconsin where, today, they have a reservation. 

James Fenimore Cooper served in the military and one assignment brought him to Oswego. He served under Lieutenant Woolsey and oversaw the building of the brig USS Oneida. The vessel was intended for service on Lake Ontario in case of a war with Great Britain. During his leisure time he would explore the forests of New York State and the shore of Lake Ontario as far as the Thousand Islands.  He incorporated his knowledge in “The Pathfinder.” In fact, it is thought that his characters along the Oswego River were based on fact. 

Fort Ontario was a frontier outpost at the mouth of the Oswego River, not to be confused with Fort Ontario.  Fort Oswego no longer stands but there is a stone with a plaque at the end of West 1st where the fort once stood. Cooper portrays the area as an “Eden” with a perfect climate, limitless games, and kind of frontier democracy where people are judged on merit not their wealth. 


In Oswego he lived in a home on West Second Street and the word “Pathfinder” is now used by a bank and the dining hall at the Oswego college.  Cooper’s books referred to as the “Leatherstocking Tales” brought the American frontier alive for people around the world.