In the final pages of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Prairie, the death and burial of Natty Bumppo also known as Hawkeye, Deerslayer, and the Leatherstocking marks the end of one of American literature’s most enduring frontier figures. As the sun sets on the open prairie, a solemn tone takes over the narrative, emphasizing the deep emotional and symbolic weight of Natty’s passing. His burial is not just a conclusion to a life of adventure and principle, but also a poignant commentary on the vanishing wilderness and the closing chapter of the American frontier mythos. This literary moment holds historical, cultural, and emotional significance, and it is remembered as one of the most touching farewells in early American fiction.
The Final Journey of Natty Bumppo
Natty Bumppo’s final moments are imbued with dignity, simplicity, and grace. An aging man by the time of The Prairie, he lies on his deathbed under the open sky, surrounded by Native Americans and a handful of loyal companions. His last breath comes gently, peacefully, as he passes away in communion with nature an environment he had long revered and protected. Natty, who spent his life caught between civilizations, dies not in the confines of a cabin or fort but amidst the natural grandeur of the prairie, a fitting place for a man of the wilderness.
A Ceremonial Burial Among Friends
The burial of Natty Bumppo is simple yet deeply moving. He is laid to rest by the very people whose way of life he had so often defended the Pawnee. These Native Americans, having come to respect Natty for his honor and integrity, give him a burial that mirrors their traditions. They dig his grave with care and reverence, placing him beneath the prairie sod rather than in a fenced cemetery, allowing his body to return to the earth he so dearly loved.
His grave, surrounded by the vast open sky and endless grasses, becomes a symbol of the eternal bond between man and nature. There is no marble tombstone or grand procession only silence, sincerity, and the mourning of those who understood him best.
Symbolism of the Prairie Grave
The burial scene carries rich symbolism. The prairie itself is more than a backdrop; it is a character in the story and a final resting place that encapsulates Natty’s life philosophy. As a man who stood for freedom, solitude, and moral clarity, the open plains represent his values in physical form. Cooper deliberately positions Natty’s grave in a space untouched by civilization, suggesting that only in such a space can a soul like his find peace.
It also marks the death of a certain era in American history. Natty Bumppo’s burial signifies the fading of the frontier spirit, the vanishing of the wilderness, and the gradual encroachment of society into the lands that once teemed with untamed life. As Natty’s body is covered with earth, it feels as though Cooper is burying the romantic ideal of the American frontiersman along with him.
A Man Between Two Worlds
Throughout the Leatherstocking Tales, Natty Bumppo is portrayed as a bridge between Native American and European-American cultures. He speaks the languages of the tribes, respects their customs, and often criticizes the greed and cruelty of settlers. Yet he is also a white man, raised among Europeans, never fully belonging to either world. His burial among Native Americans is a powerful testament to where he felt most spiritually connected.
In this way, Natty’s interment is not only a personal farewell but also a symbolic reconciliation. By choosing to have him buried with the Pawnee, Cooper allows his character to rest in the space where he found his truest self, free from the social and racial divisions that marked his life.
The Emotional Weight of the Farewell
Readers of The Prairie often reflect on the deep emotional impact of Natty Bumppo’s final scene. Cooper, known for his rich descriptions and romantic style, infuses the moment with reverence and quiet sadness. The people gathered around Natty’s grave especially those who knew his legacy understand the magnitude of what is being lost. The mourners speak little, but their presence speaks volumes. Their silence honors a life that was more action than words, more principle than posture.
- The burial is not loud or dramatic; it is intimate.
- There is no religious sermon, only the whispers of wind across the prairie.
- The grave remains unmarked, yet it holds immense narrative and symbolic weight.
This understated scene is one of Cooper’s most emotionally resonant moments. It invites the reader to pause, reflect, and grieve not only for a character but for the ideals he represented.
The Literary Legacy of Natty Bumppo
Natty Bumppo’s burial scene has become one of the most iconic moments in American literature. It is studied for its thematic richness, its cultural resonance, and its emotional depth. In a literary sense, the character’s death provides a sense of closure to the Leatherstocking series, which spans Natty’s entire life from youth to old age. Cooper’s decision to end the saga with The Prairie and with Natty’s death gives the series a full-circle arc and reinforces the passage of time, change, and eventual mortality.
The scene also highlights Cooper’s skill in using setting as a reflection of character. The prairie is not just a setting; it mirrors Natty’s spirit wide, untamed, peaceful. And so his grave becomes a final affirmation of his life’s journey.
The Death of a Frontier Spirit
The burial of Natty Bumppo in The Prairie is more than just the end of a fictional character. It is the symbolic farewell to a disappearing world, a world where nature was sacred, where honor mattered, and where solitude was a kind of freedom. Natty Bumppo lived by his principles, even when they set him apart from the society around him. His death on the open prairie and his quiet burial among the Pawnee serve as a tribute to that unwavering moral compass.
James Fenimore Cooper, in creating and laying to rest this iconic figure, captured the spirit of early America the tension between civilization and wilderness, the beauty of the untouched land, and the complexity of cultural identity. Natty Bumppo’s grave, unmarked and unadorned, stands not just in fiction but in the imagination of every reader who has followed him through forests, rivers, and finally, across the plains. His story ends as it began in nature, with silence, and with a kind of truth that endures beyond the grave.