Early December evening of 1793. Horses slowly pull up a large sled uphill. In the sleigh, father and daughter are Judge Marmaduke Temple and Miss Elizabeth. The judge is one of the first settlers; one of those that has transformed this recent wilderness. Churches, roads, schools appeared. Around the prosperous villages - cultivated fields.
Evening silence is broken by a loud dog barking. A deer jumps out of the forest approaching the road. The judge grabs the shotgun and shoots the beast twice. The deer continues to run. Suddenly a shot rang out from behind the trees. The deer bounces. Another shot - and the beast falls dead.
On the road goes Leather Stocking - Natti Bampo. He is already old, but still looks strong.
Natty greets Temple and makes fun of his unsuccessful shot. The judge gets excited, proves that he got into a deer. But a young man comes out from behind a tree - he is wounded in the shoulder of one of the grains. The judge ends the dispute and, worried, offers the victim assistance. The young man is stubborn. A girl joins the father’s requests, together they persuade the wounded.
When descending from the mountain to a town located on the lake, Marmaduke and her daughter meet four; among them is Richard Jones. The latter - a very limited man, but extremely ambitious, a liar and a bouncer - is the judge's cousin. He rules the horses, and his fault almost caused trouble - the sled hovered over the abyss. The wounded youth jumps out of his sleigh, grabs the unlucky four under the bridle of the horses and returns them to the road with a strong jerk.
At the judge’s house, a self-taught doctor extracts grains from the young man’s shoulder. The young man refuses further help from the Aesculapius, and confides in the “Indian John” who has quietly appeared, his old acquaintance, the sleeping Indian Chingachguk.
Marmaduke Temple offers Oliver Edwards - that is the name of the injured stranger - to compensate for the harm done to him, but he, very annoyed, refuses.
The next morning, Richard will have a pleasant Christmas surprise. Marmaduke's troubles were successful - his brother was appointed sheriff of the district. The money entrusted to the judge on the eve of the Revolutionary War by friend and companion Mr. Effingham bore worthy results - the entire district is in the hands of the judge. Marmaduke offers Oliver the position of secretary. The young man intends to refuse, but Chingachgook convinces him to agree.
The harsh winter has finally passed. The beginning of spring is mud, slush, mud. But do not sit at home ?! And Elizabeth and her friend often ride on horseback. Once in the company of Marmaduke, Richard and Oliver, girls rode along a wooded mountainside. The judge indulged in memories of the difficulties of settling in this region. Suddenly Oliver shouted: “A tree! Slash the horses! ” A huge tree collapsed. Everyone slipped through. Oliver Edwards, at the risk of his life, saved Elizabeth's girlfriend.
The last ice is melting on the lake. Spring dresses green fields and forests. Residents of the town indulge in mass - much more than necessary for food - the extermination of migratory birds and spawning fish. Leather Stocking angrily condemns them. “That's what happens when people come to the free land! He says. “Every spring, forty years in a row, I saw pigeons fly here, and until you began to cut down forests and open fields, nobody touched the unfortunate birds.”
Summer has come. Elizabeth and her friend go for a walk in the mountains. Elizabeth refused the offer of Edwards to accompany them quite decisively. Oliver goes down to the lake, sits in a skiff and hurries to Leather Stocking. Having not caught anyone in the hut, goes to catch perches. It turns out that Natty Bampo and Chingachgook are also fishing. Edwards joins them. Distant barking of dogs is alarming the Leather Stocking. It seems to the hunter that his dogs have broken loose and are driving a deer. Indeed, a deer appears on the shore. Fleeing from dogs, he rushes into the water and swims in the direction of the fishermen. Forgetting everything, Nathaniel and Chingachgook pursue him. Oliver tries to warn them, shouts that the hunting season is not open yet, but, succumbing to the excitement, joins the pursuers. The three of them drive the animal, and Leather Stocking kills him with a knife.
Meanwhile, the girls, accompanied by only one old mastiff, go further and further into the forest. Stumble upon a cougar with a cub. That, playing, comes to the bewildered mastiff, but the dog quickly dealt with the "kitten". But then the mother rushes to the dog. In a desperate struggle, the mastiff dies. Elizabeth with horror looks at the cougar, preparing to jump. A shot is heard behind her - a huge cat is rolling on the ground. Leather Stocking appears and with the second shot finishes off the beast.
Marmaduke is in difficulty: the savior of his daughter is accused - through the efforts of cousin Richard! - not only in illegal hunting, but also in resistance to the authorities (when Doolittle, the justice of the peace and part-time spy of the sheriff, tried to search his hut, the hunter threw the “volunteer” away and even threatened the lumberjack Bill Kerby, who had been taken for reinforcement).
Court. There are no difficulties with illegal hunting: a fine for a hunted deer covers a premium for killed cougars. Resistance to government representatives is much more serious. And if the jury dismisses the charge of insulting Mr. Doolittle, then on the second point - the threat of weapons - of the Leather Stocking is found guilty. Marmaduke Temple sentenced him to an hour at the pillory, a month's imprisonment and a hundred dollars fine.
Elizabeth is upset. Her father convinces her that he could not do otherwise, persuades her to visit Nathaniel in prison and give him two hundred dollars. The hunter is glad for the appearance of the girl, but categorically refuses the money. The only thing he agrees to accept from Elizabeth accidentally learning about the upcoming escape is a can of good gunpowder. The girl happily agrees. After her departure - with the help of Oliver - Nathaniel runs.
The next day, Elizabeth takes gunpowder to a designated place. However, instead of the hunter, there he finds only Chingachgook, who has fallen into a trance. The Indian mutters something about the imminent departure to the ancestors, about the miserable fate of his people. The air that is over-dried by the sun gradually becomes bitter - it smells of burning, and smoke has appeared. There was a loud crack, a flame flashed - a forest fire! The girl was confused, began to call Leather Stocking. Edwards appears. He is trying to save the girl, but the flame is getting closer. There seems to be no escape. In the face of the impending doom, Oliver Edwards explains Elizabeth in love. And, as always, at the right time and in the right place is Leather Stocking. Pulling Chingachgook on the back of an indifferent to everything, he, with the channel of a stream, through smoke and fire leads everyone to a safe place. A thunderstorm begins. Chingachgook is dying.
The secret of Oliver Edwards is revealed. The young man is the son of Mr. Edwards Effingham, who emigrated to England and later died Temple's friend and companion. The grandson of the missing, legendary Oliver Effingham. It turns out that the patriarch is still alive. And it was him, a ruined aristocrat, who tried to hide from human gossip, who once fought under his command, Nathaniel and Chingachguk. Hence their reclusive life, which caused neighbors to rumble and dislike. Grandfather who has fallen into childhood is presented to the assembled. Universal reconciliation. Marmaduke Temple, it turns out, not only preserved and increased the trust entrusted to him, but also bequeathed it to his daughter and the Effingham family equally. Elizabeth and Oliver retire. They have something to say to each other.
Fall. In September, the wedding of Oliver Edwards and Elizabeth took place. A few days later, the legendary Oliver Effingham passed away and was buried on the site of the burnt hut of Nathaniel, next to the grave of the great warrior Chingachgook. On a sunny October morning, the newlyweds visit a small cemetery. They catch Leather Stocking there. Despite all the persuasion of friends, he says goodbye to them and sets off. "The hunter has gone far to the West - one of the first among those pioneers who are discovering new lands in the country for their people."
