The Life and Adventures of Nat Foster / Bookcrop (ePub)

"Nat Foster...was the best known hunter and trapper in the northern wilderness...took a deep interest in panthers, particularly their pelts." -The Buffalo Commercial, Nov. 28, 1921

"Foster was certainly one of the best-known woodsmen, but he had a side to him that we in the modern age could say was rather brutal." - Wicked Adirondacks (2013)

"Byron-Curtis is best known for his text on Nat Foster, the legendary trapper many feel was James Fenimore Cooper's model for the Hawkeye character in 'Last of the Mohicans.'" -The Post-Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.), Nov. 8, 2008.

"Nathaniel Foster...famous Adirondack guide and trapper declared by many to be the original Natty Bumppo...Cooper knew Nat Foster." -Binghampton (N.Y.) Press, July 6, 1937

What is the true real life story behind the famous character "Natty Bumppo" in James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of famous novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales?

Why is Nathaniel (Nat) Foster Jr. (1766-1840), famous pioneer hunter and trapper in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York widely credited with being the model for Natty Bumppo?

Famous Adirondacks resident and historian A. L. Byron-Curtiss (1871-1959) has surprising answers to these questions and more in his well-known book "Nat Foster: Trapper and Hunter of the Adirondacks," originally published in 1912 (and republished here in e-book format)

In introducing his book, Byron-Curtiss writes:

"The hardy race of men who followed the chase for a livelihood in the wilds of Northern New York, has passed away. With the men has gone the knowledge of many of their exciting adventures. It is not too late, however, to gather from old residents and descendants, many of the experiences connected with their profession. This is what I have endeavored to do in this book; taking pains, as the reader will see, to gather only such notes of Foster's life as the trustworthy sources assured me of their genuineness. The assumption that Foster is the hero of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales I think is well founded...."

About the author:

Known as the "Bishop of North Lake" in Herkimer County, author A. L. Byron-Curtiss arrived in the Adirondacks in 1892 at age 21 to take on a wilderness mission. Over the following six decades, Byron-Curtiss, mingling with descendants of the original pioneers and authored books on the Adirondacks.