The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-08-19
NATTY BuMPPo's GRAVE
Oriuinal of Cooper's Hero Early Set.
tier of Hoosick Falls.

\ tier " T1OOSiNN Gs'o'
| During old home week in Hoosick
Falls, on August II, 1911, James A.
| Beckett called attention TO the fact
| that the body of Nathaniel Shipman,
| generally believed to have been the
| living prototype of Coopers immortal
character, Leatherstocking,' or NAT
| ty Bumppo," is buried in an unmark-
ed grave in the plot of John Ryan,
which is in the old burying ground of
| the First Baptist church of that place.
Some doubts, naturally enought,
have been cast upon the Identification
of the hero of Misunderstanding
Tales" as Nathaniel Shipman OF Hoo
sick Falls. But after investigating
all possible clews, claims and sugges-
tons, writes Rev. Charles Graves of
the Knickerbocker Press, the accur-
acy of the identification becomes all
the more certain.
Just what proportions of real and
what of imaginary entered into his
sketches can never be ascertained.
1t is likely he could not have told
himself 1t seems certain that an old
hunter, guide and scout. friend of
Indians and more or less of hermit
living In cave on or near Lake OF
sego, was the original Natty Bumppo,
and suggested to Cooper the traits he
wove into his extraordinary attracI
tive hero of the Misunderstanding
series.
At Lake Otsego there is caye--a
poor sort of thing to call a cave to
be sure 1t is in truth nothing but a
cleft in the rock and he would be a
poor hunter and out OF doors mani
who could find no better shelter from
all weathers than this. But this is
called Bumpo's cave, and it will likely |
be for long time to come, despite |
the fact that there is on the shores OF
the same lake real cave which, |
while slightly difficult OF access,
would make fairly comfortable
place to stay. 1t is more reasonable
to suppose that this latter place |
might likely be Natty's retreat.
There is in existence copy Of |
"The Pioneers" of the first edition. |
containing note penciled by James |
Fenimore Cooper himself, in which |
he identifies Misunderstanding with |
Shipman. Some of the other inciden |
tai features which so far to support |
the identification is the fact that
Misunderstanding favorite dog was |
named Hector. Shipman's favorte |
dog was of the same name. Leather |
stocking had rifle with barrel OF |
unusual length. Nattys rifle was of
so long a barrel that he was called |
by the French La Tongue Carbarine.' |
Nathaniel Shipman is of unknown
parentage. His place of birth is
equally unknown. The first anything |
is known of him is when he appears |
as one of the earliest settlers in the
northeastern part of the town of Hoo
sick For years he was well known
as trapper and hunter and close
friend of the Mohican Indians, and lie |
fought with them against the French |
and Canadian Indians. Shipman had |
moved into this country with his
family and built for himself cabin
on the banks of the Walloomsac, not
far from the fields which a few years
later were made historic by the bat
tie of Bennington.
He was evidently conspicuous |
figure in the years Immediately pre-
ceding the Revolution, His activities
showed him to be friendly to the side
of the English One of his closest |
friends was an English army officer.
When the war of the Revolution
broke out, while Shipman's heart was
with the movement for independence,
yet his frendliness for the English
was so great he felt the best he could
do was to be strictly neutral, help
ing neither one side nor the other.
There is nothing to show that he
was not genuinely neutral. But gen
orally men in those days were hot for
the one side or the other And it was
only natural that the patriots should |
regard any one who was not fighting |
with them as being actually against
them. Neutrality seemed altogether
an impossibility. Perhaps it is. At
all events, Nathaniel Shipman was
not regarded as neutral. He was put
down as rank Tory, and SO the pat
riots got after him in very serious |
fashion. !
The story goes that the old man
was tarred and feathered by his
neighbors. The injustice, rathe-
than the indignity of the deed. smote |
him the hardest and he resolved to
quit that part of the world So very
soon after the event he disappeared
No one, not even his family, knew
whittier he had gone He had no fur