Natty Bumppo was the main character in James Fenimore Cooper's Leather-Stocking Tales. The Leather-Stocking Tales described Natty Bumppo's retreat from the advancing settlements into the forest and follow him as a young man to old age to death.

The five works that comprise the Leather Stocking Tales are

The Deerslayer
The Last of the Mohicans
The Pathfinder
The Pioneers
The Prairie

These stories are most notable for contrasting two ways of life. Natty Bumppo and his Indian friends are depicted as living a life of freedom that is close to nature. The settlers are depicted as bringing civilization and social order to the wilderness however are also depicted as selfish in their misuse and abuse of the wilderness.

Interesting footnote regarding James Fenimore Cooper - Cooperstown N.Y., home of the Baseball Hall of Fame was named after his father - William Cooper