Cooper’s Cave

Cooper’s Cave. . , Cooper’s Cave is a natural chamber in a small unnamed limestone island at the bottom of Glen’s Falls. The cave is open at both ends, and, as the water rises below the falls, it flows through Cooper’s Cave from the channel on the north side of the island to the channel on the south side of the island. Cooper’s Cave is nationally significant for its association with James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans. In The Last of the Mohicans, Cooper placed his heroes in the cave early on the novel; later in an important sequence, Cooper made extensive use of the rugged and picturesque terrain surrounding Glens Falls, utilizing the tumbling waters and the many recesses in the rocks for the characters to maneuver and skirmish. In footnotes, Cooper noted the setting in and around the falls to be real., James Fenimore Cooper was a successful novelist, publishing novels, nonfiction works, a play and several articles. Five of his novels, The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841), are collectively called the Leaatherstocking Tales. These narratives depict the American frontier during the second half of the eighteenth century and became the scholarly embodiment of the American spirit. , Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales and their themes have become part of the national heritage in both literature and films., New York State Department of Transportation , George E. Pataki, Governor , Joseph H. Boardman, Commissioner , September 2003