In the autumn of 1804, along the vast expanses of the American prairies - further west, further from the already inhabited lands - a train of stubborn, unpretentious immigrants (squatters) slowly moved. The head of the family, the phlegmatic bouncy Ishmael Bush, was looking for a place to sleep. But the hill was replaced by a hill, a valley by a valley, and neither a stream, nor at least a bush came across. Suddenly, against the sunset, a human figure emerged. Approaching, the figure decreased, and soon an ordinary old man stood in front of the alarmed family. Trapper - that is, a man who hunts animals with traps and traps - so he introduced himself to the settlers. As for the name of the old man, what does it matter now? The Lord, whose face he is soon to face, is not the main name, but deeds; for people - by the nature of his occupation - he is a trapper, and nothing more.

Ishmael Bush, who didn’t get along with the criminal code, did not try to find out, and asked the old man, if he knew the district, to indicate a place for an overnight stay. Trapper took the caravan to a small poplar grove on the banks of the stream. After sitting a little with the settlers around the fire, the old man, referring to a long-standing habit of loneliness, stepped aside from the camp and settled nearby, on a hill. To his surprise, when the weary travelers fell asleep, a girl appeared from the side of the camp. Having stumbled upon a hermit, she was a little scared, but more embarrassed. The riddle, however, soon opened: a strong, handsome young man appeared from the night darkness. Willy-nilly, the lovers had to trust the old trapper: it turns out that a distant relative of Ishmael, Ellen Wade, whom the squatter intends to marry her eldest son Aiza, has long been fond of Paul Hover, a stranger (a man who extracts honey from wild bees). A brave and enterprising young man, stealthily following the settlers, had thus the opportunity at least occasionally to see his girlfriend.

Meanwhile, while the lovers were talking, not noticing, of course, nothing around, Hector, the trapper's dog, was wary. The old man, hiding in a weed, quietly ordered the young man and the girl to follow his example. Noiseless, like ghosts, mounted Indians from the Sioux tribe appeared. Dismounted, the detachment scattered across the plain. The leader of the Indians discovers a squatter camp. Sons sentinels are sleeping carelessly. Indians steal all cattle - noise rises. Waking up, Ishmael Bush and his sons grab guns and scorch at random, into darkness. Late - robbers, as they say, and the trace has caught a cold. Immigrants are in dire straits: hundreds of miles around the prairie, populated only by unfriendly Indians. Trapper comes to the rescue again - he indicates to Ishmael a natural fortress: an inaccessible rock with a source at the top. Squatter has no choice but to settle in there.

And besides himself blaming Ishmael Bush for only his wife’s brother, Ebiram, not minor differences with the law — such as the murder of a bailiff — could make the squatter get into such a wilderness, no, a serious crime: kidnapping a young woman, daughter wealthy landowner, wife of a major in the American army, charming Frost. And Ishmael knocked Ebiram into this - an avid slave trader decided that the ransom for a rich white woman would be incomparably greater than everything he had previously received for the resale of stolen blacks. However, since the abduction, it’s not that the world, but even the order in the family of the squatter has become increasingly difficult to maintain. Sons, especially the eldest, Aiza, became more rebellious. Not daring to openly dare to father, with the uncle, the culprit of their "good luck", they do not stand on ceremony. The cunning, but cowardly Ebiram pretends that the youth’s taunts do not hurt him, but ... - once from a joint hunt, brother Esther, the wife of Ishmael, returned alone! According to him, he broke up with the young man by the stream, following the deer’s trail. The next morning, Esther insisted that her careless husband go in search of the missing son. Aiza is found in the bushes, shot in the back. Suspicion falls on the old trapper.

The old man, meanwhile, is engaged in the exact opposite - he seeks to restore, if not life, then freedom. From the first meeting he became friends with Paul Hover, he learns from that about the mysterious "beast" transported by the squatter family. Such mystery guards the trapper, but before meeting with Major Duncan Uncas Middleton there was nothing to worry about, but after ... Having learned from the major about his wife who disappeared immediately after the wedding, the old man quickly realized what was happening, he understood who Ishmael Bush carries with special precautions in a separate van. And of course, he was eager to help Middleton, Especially since it turned out: the major was named Duncan in honor of his grandfather, and Uncas - in honor of the Mohican, Swift Deer. The memories of those unforgettable days moved the old man to tears. And besides, two of the descendants of Alice, whom he had long saved, bear the name Nathaniel. And this is already in his honor. Good deed has brought good results - evil now seems especially vile. Nathaniel Bampo - so unexpectedly here in the wilderness the name returned to the trapper - by all means helps the release of the captive. (Paul Hover managed to learn from his beloved Ellen that Ishmael Bush and Ebiram were not hiding anyone, but Inea, Middleton’s wife, who had abducted them.) And while the squatter family was looking for the missing Aise, Paul Hover, major and trapper release the prisoner. However, the power is on the side of Ishmael Bush, and the liberators, alas, have to flee. Ellen, hesitating a little between kinship and feeling, joins the fugitives.

After many adventures, experienced together with the noble leader of the Pawnee Indians who became friends with them - with mortal dangers, miraculous deliverances and other things, almost a must for adventure novels, a coincidence of improbabilities - the liberators, together with the released Iney, fall into the hands of a squatter. He intends to administer a righteous court according to the Old Testament principle of "an eye for an eye." True, the presence of the Solid Heart - the leader of the Pawnee Wolves - forces Ishmael to be as objective as possible. And it turns out that everything is far from as simple as it seemed to squatter. In the case of Major and Iney, it is generally unclear who should judge whom: rather, Middleton Bush. With Ellen - also confusing: the girl is not his slave and not even a daughter, so, a very distant relative. Remains the suspect in the murder of Aiza Nathaniel Bampo. But the trapper, tracking the stolen Iney, saw with his own eyes what really happened. It turns out that Ishmael’s son had a big argument with his uncle; and Ebiram, thinking that they were alone, struck a wayward youth with a treacherous shot in the back. The bastard, taken by surprise, does not know how to make excuses, and begins to beg for mercy. Ishmael Bush is secluded with his wife. Esther listlessly tried to intercede for her brother, but her husband reminded her that when they thought that the killer was an old trapper, there was no hesitation - life for life. The death of a son requires revenge! After freeing the captives and hanging the killer, the squatter family - having beaten the horses from the defeated Sioux tribe - sets off.

Recently, hiding and pursued fugitives, then captives of the Sioux and, finally, the defendants of Ishmael Bush, friends finally become honored guests of the magnanimous leader of the Wolf-Pawnee, the Solid Heart. But not for long - Major Uncas Middleton with his finally found wife and flight attendant Paul Hover with a “scratched” bride are in a hurry to return to the familiar world: to relatives and friends, to the service, duties, joys and concerns of “ordinary Americans”. Nathaniel Bampo, to the amazement of young people, remains among the Indians. At sunset - and the trapper at that time was over eighty-seven years old - he did not want a "calm old age." To God, there is one road from everywhere. There is nothing to do - the major with Iney and the flight attendant with Ellen have to return without Nathaniel.

The following fall, Duncan Middleton and Paul Hover with a small detachment of American soldiers visit the village of Wolf Pawnee. They send a messenger in advance, but - against all expectations - no one meets them. This is alarming for the major, and in tension, with the soldiers who are prepared for defense, the detachment drives up to the house of the Hard Heart. The leader is separated from a large group of Indians and quietly welcomes guests. It turns out that Nathaniel Bampo at death - wariness gives way to sadness. An old trapper sits in an armchair, facing the sunset, next to the Hector's stuffed animal - the dog did not survive the owner. He still recognizes the arrivals, speaks with them, manages the things remaining after himself, asks to bury him as a Christian, suddenly stands up and, raising his head, speaks only one word: “Here!”

Nathaniel Bampo no longer needs human concerns. And, it seems, it is most appropriate to say goodbye to St. John's Wort, Hawkeye, Ranger, Leather Stocking and - finally - a trapper in the words of an old Indian: “A kind, fair and wise warrior has already stepped on a path that will lead him to the blessed fields of his people! When Vakonda called him, he was ready and immediately responded. Go, my children, remember the fair leader of the pale-faced and clear your thorn of thorns! ”