James and his brothers roamed and explored what was then a frontier village with a freedom that most children today would find enviable. The wilds of the forests and mountains beckoned the boys and aroused their unrestrained curiosity. It was here in the Hudson River region that James became acquainted with the Indians of central New York state, the art of wilderness survival, the game-bearing Hawkeye prototype who, along with his long rifle and canine companions, visited the Cooper home, and the settlers whose wasteful tendencies disturbed the youth who had fallen in love with the natural beauty of the surrounding wilderness. It was here, during his innocence, the future author developed his sentiments regarding the very things that would later serve as central themes of The Last of the Mohicans . Cooper attended Yale from 1803 to 1805, a stay that was cut short by the school's invitation that he leave.
Mischievous behavior appears to have been a family trait.
Though James is not known to have burned down any buildings at Yale, the school's request for his premature departure was the result of a series of pranks and violent confrontations. Perhaps Hannah was accurate in her description of her wild brothers. Hannah, the pride of the family, who had penned her words in 1798, died two years later of injuries received by falling off a horse. Perhaps this loss, along with the events surrounding the capture and murder of Jane McRae, influenced Cooper's creation of Cora and Alice whom he presents as delicate and vulnerable. Jane, the fianc e of a British officer, was captured by Indians in 1778.