It is early December evening in 1793. Horses pulled slowly uphill big sled. There are father and daughter in the sleigh - Judge Marmaduke Temple and Miss Elizabeth. Judge - one of the first settlers, one of those, thanks to whom this wilderness transformed. There appeared churches, roads, schools.Evening silence breaks the loud barking of dogs. From the forest jumps the deer. Judge grabs the shotgun and shoots the animal twice. Deer continues to run. Suddenly a shot is heard from behind the trees. Deer jumps. Another shot - and the animal falls dead. There appears Leather Stocking - Bumppo Natty. He is old, but still looks strong.Natty welcomes Temple and slightly jeers at his unsuccessful shot. Judge proves that hit the deer. But from behind the tree comes out a young man - he is wounded in the shoulder by one of the pellets. The referee stops the dispute and, worried, offers victim assistance. The young man is stubborn. The girl joins her father's request, together they persuade the wounded.During the descent from the mountain to the town, located on the shore of the lake, Marmaduke and his daughter meet four; among them - Richard Jones - the person very limited, but very ambitious, a liar and a braggart - a cousin of the judge. He rules the horses, and by his fault sleds hover over the precipice. The wounded young man jumps out of his sleigh, grabs the reins of horses and with a strong push jerks them back on the road.In the judge's house the doctor removes the pellet from the youth's shoulder. From further assistance the young man refuses, and confides himself to a quietly appeared "Indian John" - his friend, drunken Indian Chingachgook. Marmaduke Temple offers Oliver Edwards - the name of the injured stranger - to compensate the harm caused to him, but he refuses.A nice Christmas surprise waits for Richard the next morning. Marmaduke efforts were successful - his brother is appointed a county sheriff. Marmaduke offers Oliver the secretarial post. The young man intends to refuse, but Chingachgook convinces him to agree.The harsh winter finally passed. It is the beginning of spring, and Elizabeth with her friend often strolls on horseback. Once in society of Marmaduke, Richard and Oliver they went along the hillside. Judge reminisces about the difficulties of settling this region. Suddenly Oliver shouted, "Tree! Whip the horses! " A huge tree collapses, but they all have slipped. Oliver Edwards risked his live to save Elizabeth's friend.The last ice melts on the lake. Spring dresses fields and forests with green. Residents of the town commit the mass - much more than are necessary for subsistence, - destruction of migratory birds and spawning fish. Leather Stocking angrily denounces them.The summer came. Elizabeth with her friend goes for a walk in the mountains. From Edward's offer to accompany them Elizabeth refuses quite strongly. Oliver goes down to the lake, sits in a skiff, and hurries to Leather Stocking. Not finding anyone in the hut, he goes to catch perch. It turns out that Natty Bumppo with Chingachgook are also fishing. Edwards joins them. Distant dogs' barking disturbs Leather Stocking. Hunter thinks that his dogs broke down leash and chase deer. Indeed, on the banks appears a deer. Fleeing from the dogs, he throws himself into the water and swims toward the fisherman. Forgetting everything, Nathaniel and Chingachgook pursue him. Oliver tries to warn them, shouting that the hunting season is not open yet, but, yielding to passion, joins the persecutors. 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 deeper into the forest. They stumble upon a mountain lion with a cub. The cub playing comes to sneered mastiff, but the dog quickly cracked down the "kitten".......