"The Pioneers Or the Sources of the Susquehanna" is the fourth book in the collection of "Leatherstocking Tales," featuring the frontier lands of the New York state and Natty Bumppo, a frontiersman known to European-American settlers as "Leatherstocking." The most popular book of "Leatherstocking Tales" is "The Last of Mohicans." The events in "The Pioneers" occur several years later. The story begins with an argument between the judge and Leatherstocking over who killed a buck and developed into a series of unexpected twists and adventures.