Summary – The Last of The Mohicans

Student: Débora Cardoso Martins Santos

The Last of The Mohicans

Magua traveled two hours from Fort William Henry to Fort Edward with news
of Colonel Munro to General Webb, commander of Fort Edward.
He told General Webb that the French commander Montcalm is coming, which left the
inhabitants of the fort and the English who were camped out in fear. And further said
that Montcalm had many soldiers and many native Indians with great destructive power,
advising him to get more men and supplies.
General Webb asked for the amount of soldiers then Magua warned him that they were
many, then General Webb has decided to send 15,000 men to Fort William Henry.
On another journey followed Heyward, the officer, Magua, the two daughters of
Colonel Munro and Gamut, the preacher.
Magua was on this journey as a guide despite being painted for war. The daughters of
Colonel Munro did not feel very safe with him, then asked Heyward as Magua had
become a "friend" of the British.
Behind them came Gamut, just being seen by Heyward. The daughters of Colonel
Munro liked him because he sang hymns and went afterwards with them, but have not
seen an Indian among the bushes in the way he was watching them.
Chingachgook and Hawkeye were sitting in the woods talking about their
ancestors and the oppression of the white man in his territory. Chingachgook told that
his entire family died except him and his son Uncas, Uncas and hopes that will follow in
his footsteps when he dies, Uncas is the last of the Mohicans. At the moment arrived
Uncas and his father asked him how many Hurons had hidden in the forest, Uncas
answered a 10. Hawkeye suggested that they eat something and would go back to the
dawn of the Hurons, then he heard the sound of a deer passing by the place with his bow
and fired, killing the animal. Uncas heard another sound and says it is a herd of deer
coming, but said Chingachgook are white men coming towards them on horseback.
Heyward saw Hawkeye armed with his rifle in his way and asked him how long
until they got to Fort Henry, but Hawkeye told Heyward that they are lost, because they
are the wrong way and asked who was the guiding.
Heyward said that a Huron was leading them so far. Hawkeye said the Hurons are
thieves, but Heyward said the Huron was educated by the Mohawks and their name was
Magua. Hawkeye is suspicious and told Heyward that longs to see Magua.
Hawkeye sees Magua far and told Heyward that Magua is guiding the direction of the
French, but Hawkeye says that could lead to Fort Henry in 1 hour, but with the
company of the daughters of Munro would be impossible, because they would be very
easy targets.
Hawkeye pointed his rifle towards Magua when Heyward said “don’t shoot!”, and he
would speak to Magua while Uncas and Chingachgook disappeared in the woods to
hide.
Magua said Heyward would travel to Fort Henry alone himself because their services
are no longer useful, but Heyward said Magua stay and eat something. While Magua ate
the food, Uncas and Chingachgook are painted to match, Magua left the place and
Hawkeye quickly fired the rifle in his direction, but not hit.
Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook returned from the forest with the group.
Heyward suggested that the group would follow Magua to capture him, but Hawkeye
alerts you that it would be a trap and says that they stay in hiding place for the Hurons,
and decided to hide behind the waterfall of the river, standing in silence at site would be
safe, and then they could continue the trip to Fort Henry.
Spent the night in a cave, and during dinner, Gamut appeared singing hymns with Cora
and Alice.
At dawn Hawkeye took over the cave and once the sun came out, Heyward took
over the group while Hawkeye took the canoe. Hawkeye said Heyward ready to leave
the group until he arrives. Heyward woke up Cora and Alice when they were suddenly
attacked by the Hurons. Gamut was wounded with a small cut. Heyward put it near the
rocks. When stopped, Hawkeye returned and said the Hurons wanted the scalps of their
heads and come back to attack when they had a new plan.
The Hurons attacked the group again in a new battle violent. Uncas Heyward saved the
life of the hands of a Huron who wanted to choke him, killing him with a knife. While
in battle, Hawkeye warned that Heyward search for more ammunition, but the
ammunition was stolen along with the canoe by the Hurons. Hawkeye tells Heyward
that they would be scalped when Cora suggested that the Mohicans and Hawkeye seek
help from Munro as they would with Heyward. At the moment they left, Hawkeye hold
for a few moments the hand of Cora. And she looked at Uncas for a few moments and
they left the place.
In the cave where they were hiding, Gamut sings aloud to the group who feel
better, but Cora was concerned that the Hurons could hear the noise. They heard the talk
of the Indians who found the rifle of Hawkeye and thinking he was dead.
Heyward thinks that in two hours after the Mohicans left them they receive help from
General Webb, but the Hurons were close to Heyward, Cora, Alice and Gamut. The
group waits the Hurons pass in silence. Magua entered the cave where they were.
Heyward threw in his direction, but he averted. Magua called the Hurons with the war
cry. The Indians attacked the cave by all sides leaving them without escape.
The Hurons asked Heyward about the body of Hawkeye and Heyward said he had
escaped by swimming with the Mohicans. Magua explained to the Hurons that Heyward
had told him and pointed to follow the river into the land of General Webb. One of the
Hurons threatened Alice with a knife and she scares. Soon left the river and took a way
in the opposite direction to Fort Henry, Cora tried to leave traces but Hawkeye was
prevented by a Huron with a menacing look.
When they stopped to rest Huron Magua made an offer to Cora that she would
marry him and worked for him in exchange for the life of Alice, so he could hurt the
heart of Munro, but Alice does not accept and said they should die to live well. Magua
suddenly gets angry and cuts a piece of Cora's hair with his ax from the grazed her head.
Right now the Mohicans arrived and bravely attacked the Hurons, when he defeated
Magua, Magua managed to get rid of them and flee through the forest. Than after they
ate and left the place.
After they left the camp of the Hurons, the group reached a battlefield with an
old abandoned building. Hawkeye account of the first person killed in his life in that
place, they rests on the old building. Chingachgook stands guard, they soon left the
scene toward the fort Henry, while on the way the group is approached by a French
officer. Heyward posing as friend of France and the officer led them to close the fort.
Chingachgook kills French. They spotted the French toward to attack. Another official
address them and soon after the British went into action against the French, but
Hawkeye could baffle the French, but the group is led by Munro. Cora recognized the
voice of her father, she screamed and Munro also recognizes her, and ordered his men
to cease fire and to protect the group had access to the fort. Munro hugs his daughters
and thanks God for having saving them.
After about five days of battle, Heyward walked with Cora, Alice Munro to the
fort, when Alice and Cora thanked him for having them protected. Soon after Heyward
and Munro are driven by a French officer until the lands of Montcalm, to gently
negotiate his surrender after many days of battle, and without more reinforcements
arrived.
Getting there Heyward sees Magua very angry while the negotiation with Montcalm.
Munro doesn’t want to surrender because he was expecting reinforcements from
General Webb. At this moment Heyward seizes the moment they are alone and asks
Alice hand in marriage to Munro. Munro talks about the origin of Cora and Alice and
his two marriages.
Montcalm arrives soon after, and tells Munro that it was time to surrender, despite the
English army to be strong, but were outnumbered, and therefore should surrender, when
he refuses Montcalm hands him a letter of surrender from General Webb not send more
reinforcements.
Munro had been devastated by the news. Heyward negotiated the surrender with
Montcalm. Munro signed the documents of surrender and returned to Fort Henry to
break the news.
Montcalm walked around Fort Henry when Magua is behind him with his rifle
pointed toward his head, threatening him that the Hurons wanted scalps. Magua flees
through the forest and Montcalm returns to the French camp.
On all the fort Henry’s inhabitants were ready, Magua betrays the French giving the war
cry, calling the Hurons to attack. The Hurons cowardly killed a mother and her baby.
They destroyed the French army and kidnapped Cora, Alice and Gamut.
After the battle, the Hurons were victorious, leaving only Munro, Heyward and the
Mohicans alive. They follow the tracks left by Magua.
The men followed the footprints until he found the river, and carefully follow
without a trace. They find the camp of the Hurons and their canoes, but they had already
been seen by the Indians who try to attack, but Hawkeye is far from the firing line of
them. At the right moment, Hawkeye shot a Huron who fell dead in the river, giving
them greater distance from the canoe to those of the Hurons.
They get farther and reach the northern part of the river to Ticoderoga, rested at night
and the next day Uncas led the canoe to land, pick up their supplies and they left the
place.
Hawkeye guided the group to an open area where he saw a footprint of a large
animal. Soon the evening they found traces of the camp of the Hurons.
When the group found the camp of the Hurons, were hidden and very cautious whithout
be discovered. They found Gamut strolling through the camp and asked him why he
could walk freely through that area and as Alice and Cora were. Gamut responded that
the Hurons liked the songs he sang and that Cora and Alice were fine, but in different
locations. While Alice was around, Cora was in a cave in the mountainside. Gamut said
the men went hunting and left Alice with a Huron woman taking care of her.
Heyward asks that Chingachgook could paint him like an indian so that he could
disguise and infiltrate the camp. After the transformation work, they could put into
practice the plan.
 In the center of the village there were a big house where the chiefs and warriors
gathered, Gamut and Heyward managed to get dressed when the chief asked him to
Montcalm is proud of its soldiers, if they would paint their skins. Heyward said that
when an Indian chief comes among his white brothers yes, wearing a shirt that "white
men" have offered him, he also said that gave him ink and he was using.
The warriors are very happy and celebrate outside. Some scalps threw up, and at the end
of the queue was a prisoner ready to be killed.
The warriors leave the prisoner to run for a short time, they tried to attack him but
nobody did. Soon after they captured the back, and released him. The prisoner went in
another direction trying to reach the forest, when a warrior looked at his ax in his
direction, Heyward puts his foot to the warrior falls. The prisoner forward to the big
house that was a sacred place and no one attacked him at the moment. Heyward
recognized the prisoner, was Uncas.
The Huron chief recognized the courage of Uncas and allowed him to rest until the
other day to be dead, after a witch dance in front of him saying incantations, but he does
not pay attention to the woman.
Magua enters the big house, recognizes Uncas but not Heyward, filled with hatred,
threatens him and says he will die the next day.
The Huron chief, believing that Heyward is doctor tell him to visit a woman possessed
by an evil spirit, she was housed near the mountain.
They enter a cave with many rooms in the company of a bear, which were raised as
pets, go into a bedroom where woman was. They left in the room: the woman,
Heyward, the bear and Gamut. Gamut whispers that Alice was in place close to them.
The bear was Hawkeye in disguise.
Hawkeye explains how he and Uncas entered the camp stealing the bearskin of
an Indian doctor. He warned Heyward to find that Alice was near. Not far away was a
room with lights on where was Alice. While Heyward soothed her, Magua found him,
he threatened them with torture, but the bear the immobilized with pieces of leather and
fabric. They left the cave leaving Magua locked in the room. Heyward told the chief
that the cave must be closed because the evil spirit was locked, and the woman who was
dying should take fresh air to get stronger.
They retreat quickly and Hawkeye says that they should seek Delawere village near the
river to get help while Hawkeye could help Uncas.
Gamut and Hawkeye entered the big house, the warriors wanted to hear what the doctor
would do with the prisoner. Heyward warning that they should leave the big house
because the procedure would take out the courage of them, then everyone leaves the
room.
Were Hawkeye, Heyward and Gamut in the big house. Hawkeye gives a knife to Gamut
and says release Uncas. Gamut and Uncas exchange of disguise and Uncas mimics
Gamut. Hawkeye comes out dressed as a bear and Gamut is the place of Uncas.
The warriors were outside the big house anxious to know. When they came in to
see the prisoner, they saw it was Gamut in place of Uncas, were very brave, and they
missed the presence of Magua.
Warriors assess what happened in the cave with the woman possessed by evil spirit,
when the woman's father came and told the warriors that the doctor’s advice didn’t
work and the woman died. They are interrupted by Magua, who indignantly asks the
Mohican prisoner. The chiefs say they were deceived by the evil spirit and that let get
away. Magua tells them that the evil spirit has a name, and that his name was Hawkeye.
The next day Magua part with his warriors to the village of Delawere when they passed
on the way Chingachgook disguised watched.
Arriving in the village of Delawere, Magua questioned about his prisoner. The chief
tells him she's fine, but the council of the tribe worries when Magua speaks about
Hawkeye, his mortal enemy.
The chief then decided to form the council to know what others thought leaders, among
them Tamenud, the eldest of all, with more than 100 years, considered the link between
the people and the Great Spirit.
The council was formed with the Tamenud among the people in a circle, and then
brought Magua’s prisoner.
At the council meeting, one of Tamenud questioned who was the "Long Rifle"
(Hawkeye), but no one answered, because Hawkeye was hidden.
Magua hold strong Alice’s arm and tries to pull her out them when Cora kneels in front
of Tamenuds and begs for the life of Alice and asks them to listen to Uncas. She says
that Magua is bad and that thirsts for blood.
Uncas is presented to Tamenud and says he is the son of Chingachgook. The Tamenud
recognizes him as the descendent of Unami, with a blue turtle tattooed on his chest.
Uncas presents Hawkeye to the Tamenuds and interceed for Cora, Magua’s
prisioner. But Magua says Cora belongs to him and that he wants to marry her. The
Tamenud asks Cora who refuses to live with Magua.
The Tamenud allows Magua to take only Cora, because he brought her. Heyward offers
a much money to Magua in exchange for Cora, but he refuses. Cora sees Alice falling
down so weak and comes over to her to say goodbye. She says goodbye and follows
with Magua, but Heyward promised that he would kill him, Hawkeye warns if he
follow, he would fall into a trap. Uncas promises that the dawn will hunting Magua.
Magua rejects Delawere, cut ties with them, calling them thieves, spit on the floor as a
sign of disgust and leaves.
The next day the warriors were ready. Hawkeye was in command of about 20
men, the rest was with Uncas. All were ready for combat. In the woods toward them
Gamut appears warning them that the Hurons were everywhere and that Cora is hidden
in the cave of the side of the mountain. He says that Magua is among the Hurons and
that they are surrounded.
Hawkeye expects the slightest sign of the Hurons to start the match, when one of his
men was wounded. He gives the signal. At first glance it seems that his group will be
defeated by the Hurons, however, the slightest sign Hawkeye warns Delawere to attack
the Hurons.
Struggled violently as equals, the Hurons retreated before finish surrounded with
nowhere to hide, scatter and escaped through the forest, but many of them die.
Chingachgook was waiting for the right moment to attack. In the second attack, they
killed more Hurons, but one group is surrounded and among them was Magua, who
escaped to the cave on the mountain.
In the cave, Uncas followed Magua and his men, who was holding Cora. Uncas throws
his ax against Magua whithout hit. Magua asks Cora to die or live with him, but she
says she prefers to die than live with him. Magua doesn’t has sure if he kills Cora or
not, so he let her in the hands of one of his man, who kills her. Magua is angry and tries
to kill the other Huron, Uncas hold him and kills the Huron. Magua hit Uncas from
behind with his knife.
After this Magua hits with force his knife Uncas’ chest several times, the Uncas looks
very angry and falls dead.
Heyward begs mercy of Magua, who gives a cry of triumph. Magua escapes near a
small cliff, he tries to escape through the rocks. Hawkeye sights on his rifle and shoots.
Magua dies.
 The next day in the village of Delawere only had funerals. Colonel Munro was
desolate beside the body of her daughter. Chingachgook remains motionless next to
Uncas dead. Tamenud listened to the Chingachgook words who said that Uncas has
fulfilled its duty as a leader with honor and the Great Spirit wanted a warrior named
Uncas to join him. Chingachgook says he is now alone, but Hawkeye says no. They
weep at the grave of Uncas.
Tamenud says the day was very long, that your day is near, and he lived to see the last
warrior of race of the Mohicans.