Cooper's Legacy at Lake George

The words “Lake George” always makes me think of childhood memories of going to the beach and taking some of the boat tours. So in honor of Cooper’s work, I decided to look into the websites of two historical attractions of the area.

The first thing that jumped into my mind was the Lake George Steamboat Company. They run boat tours of the lake, with the longest tour being a four to five hour round trip. The name of the boat that does that tour, interestingly enough, is named The Mohican. Sadly enough, the website has no information on how the boats were named. It’s possible that the boat was named after the tribe from the area. Still, it is an interesting parallel to consider.

The Fort William Henry website, in comparison, looks much better. The fort is now a museum, and a tour even comes with actors and cannon firing demonstrations included. There are a few pictures on the website of some British and French soldiers, as well as two “Native Americans.” In good humor, the website does mention The Last of the Mohicans as an inaccurate historical retelling of the events of the massacre. It acknowledges that people recognize the fort from the novel, and may even rely on that for some number of the visitors.

The legacy of the area lives on through the novel, despite the novels numerous flaws. Cooper was not only recreating history from his own point of view in time, but something that has lasting impacts on our understanding of history today. Literature has a far reaching hand, and seems to be able to shape reality in ways that Cooper likely didn’t anticipate. This only makes me wonder about how many other things we are surrounded by without realizing the literary influence it feels.