The Chainbearer; Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts

by James Fenimore Cooper

"The Chainbearer; Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts" by James Fenimore Cooper is a novel published in 1845. The second book in the Littlepage trilogy, it explores land ownership and the displacement of American Indians during westward expansion. Through the figure of the chainbearer—a surveyor who measures land—Cooper examines the cultural divide between European and Native American concepts of property. The novel critiques the growing corruption of civilization and America's treatment of indigenous peoples as the nation expands.