In 1757, England and France have been at war over the control of the American colonies
for three years.
The last three members of the Mohican tribe -Chingachgook, his son Uncas, and his adopted
son Hawkeye- are on the frontier west of the Hudson river, hunting for food that they later
share with their friends the Cameron family at their farm.
That night, they are visited by Jack, who is looking for people to join the New York
militia, although Hawkeye doubts the locals will want to join that fight.
The next morning, a group of British soldiers arrives to gather any volunteers that may
want to join them.
Most people agree with Hawkeye and decide to stay behind, but Jack manages to convince
a few men to come with him to see what General Webb has to offer.
Meanwhile, Major Duncan returns to the city to also see General Webb, who is in the middle
of his negotiations with Jack.
The agreement they reach is pretty simple: Jack and his friends will join the militia
at the local fort as long as they are allowed to leave to defend their lands if they are
ever attacked.
After Jack is gone, Duncan calls out Webb for allowing the crown to negotiate with commoners,
but Webb thinks they must do whatever is needed to win the war.
Next, they discuss Duncan's mission, which is escorting Colonel Munro's daughters to
the fort so they can see him again.
To do safely, Munro has sent one of their Mohawk allies, Magua, who will be their guide.
Afterward, Duncan visits Munro's daughters, Cora and Alice, to tell them to get ready
for the trip.
Duncan is in love with Cora and asks her to marry him, but Cora confesses she only sees
him as a friend.
Not willing to give up this soon, Duncan begs her to at least think about it.
Later, Magua, Duncan, the two women, and a group of soldiers left for the fort, but even
after long hours of riding, Magua does not let them rest, claiming it is better to do
so when they find clean water.
Chingachgook and his sons are in the area as well, following a set of suspicious footprints.
Once the party makes it to the river, Magua shows his true colors: he is not from the
Mohawk tribe that has allied with the British, he is a Huron, a tribe that has allied with
the French.
A group of Hurons is waiting for the party in order to ambush them, and they do so as
soon as Magua kills the first soldier.
Duncan defends the sisters while the rest of the soldiers meet the Hurons in a fierce
battle that leaves Duncan as the only standing English man.
Fortunately, they are saved by Chingachgook and his sons, who scare Magua and the few
Hurons left with their guns.
They agree to escort Duncan and the sisters to the fort, but they leave the horses behind
because they are too easy to track.
Before leaving, Cora steals a gun from one of the bodies and hides it in her skirt.
During the journey, Uncas can not stop looking at Alice as he develops a crush on her.
Duncan tries to understand why Hawkeye and his family were in the area when they should
be fighting, so Hawkeye reminds him he is not a scout or militia, they are just a group
of men looking for a new place to live.
When they reach the farm, they are shocked to see the building has been destroyed and
the entire Cameron family has been killed.
Nothing was stolen though, which means this was done by the French army and not by mere
robbers.
However, Chingachgook and his sons refuse to stop to grieve or to prepare a proper burial,
which makes Cora think they are cold and inconsiderate.
The party keeps going and only stops to rest when night falls.
Cora asks for an explanation again, and Hawkeye finally points out that digging graves would
have given a sign to the French of their location.
Now that Cora understands they have only been protecting her, she takes her time to bond
with Hawkeye and listen to his tale of how Chingachgook adopted him after rescuing him
from the French men that killed his parents and sisters.
There is a group of Hurons nearby, but they do not dare to come closer because they have
made camp on burial ground on purpose.
When they finally make it to their destination, they find the fort under siege and notice
the Hurons have been following them, so they sneak in by crossing the river and approaching
the fort from behind.
Colonel Munro is only half happy to see his daughters because he had sent a message asking
them not to come and requesting reinforcements, but Magua never delivered it as part of his
original plan.
They will have to send a new message and hope this one does arrive in time because they
only have three days left before the French reach the fort.
Hawkeye and his family are thanked for their services and are allowed to stay the night
with access to food and gunpowder.
They tell Munro about what they saw at the farm and how French armies are moving to attack
civilians, but Munro refuses to honor the agreement they had with Webb.
Meanwhile, Magua reports back to French General Louis to tell him Duncan and the sisters escaped,
so they need to get ready for the British to send another messenger.
Later, Cora helps Uncas take care of a wound, and when Hawkeye comes to pick up his brother,
he takes the chance to flirt with her.
Afterward, Hawkeye and his family provide cover for the new messenger, killing any Huron
that dares attack with perfectly timed shots.
Once they are done, Hawkeye joins Jack to try to convince Munro to let them go defend
their lands as Webb had promised, but Munro refuses to weaken his army based on only speculation.
He asks Duncan if they can be sure it had been French soldiers that attacked the farm
and not just wild thieves, but Duncan lies and denies having seen anything suspicious
because he is jealous of Cora's bonding with Hawkeye.
Munro decides that nobody leaves, and if anyone even dares to try to escape, they will be
executed.
Cora overhears this whole conversation, so when later Duncan comes to ask her if she
has given his marriage proposal some thought, Cora turns him down again.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye helps Jack and the other militiamen to escape the fort, giving them
tips on which roads to take to reach their lands safely.
He and his family are staying though, because the brothers are worried about the sisters.
Afterward, Hawkeye meets with Cora and the two of them spend the night together.
In the morning, Hawkeye is arrested for sedition.
Cora tries to make her father see some sense, calling out Duncan for his lie, pointing out
that this is nothing like justice and perhaps they would be better off with the French winning.
If Munro thinks Hawkeye is guilty of sedition, Cora thinks then so is she.
Later, Cora visits Hawkeye at his cell and stays with him while the French finally reach
the fort.
Louis and Munro meet in order to parley.
It turns out the French captured the messenger on his way back and have a letter from Webb
saying they have got no reinforcements to send and advising Munro to surrender.
Then, Louis offers a deal: if they surrender now and fight no more anywhere in the colonies,
they will be allowed to return to England instead of becoming prisoners.
Munro asks if they can keep their arms and their colors, and when Louis says yes, Munro
decides to accept the deal.
He used to think there was honor in death met in battle, but now that he has seen that
the higher-ups do not care about their lives, he would rather keep on surviving than fighting
for them.
While the British get ready to leave, Louis meets with Magua in secret.
Magua is not happy with this turn of events because he still wants revenge on Munro for
what he and his army did to his people - burning villages, killing children, and even giving
Magua to the Mohawks as a slave.
Louis points out that he must honor a political agreement for the sake of his country, but
there is nothing stopping Magua to do whatever he wants in his own time.
In the morning, the British army leaves, and once they are far enough from the fort, Magua
and the Hurons attack.
It is absolute carnage, so Cora grabs Alice and takes her with her to hide while everyone
else fights, shooting any Huron that tries to approach them.
Magua captures Munro alive, only to use his knife on the colonel's chest to take his heart.
Hawkeye and his family kill enough Hurons to escape the fight and reunite with the sisters,
then take them down the river to escape together with Duncan and two other soldiers in the
boats they steal from the Hurons.
Unfortunately, they are still being followed, so Hawkeye makes them ditch the boats and
throw them off the waterfall as a distraction.
Then, the group takes a hidden path behind the waterfall and stays in the cave in order
to hide until the Hurons are gone.
Hawkeye comforts Cora as he tells her what happened to Munro while Uncas hugs Alice after
he saves her from almost falling through the waterfall.
A few moments later, the group hears some noises: the Hurons have found them.
Their gunpowder is wet and useless, so Hawkeye and his family are going to jump through the
waterfall to escape and avoid a fight, knowing the British will be captured and taken to
the village instead of killed.
This means they could have a chance to rescue them later.
Duncan calls them cowards but Cora approves of them saving themselves, and Hawkeye reminds
her to submit to survive, promising he will find her sooner or later no matter how far
he has to travel.
Chingachgook and his sons leave while Duncan's soldiers are killed for trying to fight back.
As Hawkeye predicted, the sisters and Duncan are captured as prisoners and taken to a Huron
settlement, unaware that Hawkeye and his family are tracking them.
Once they reach the village, Magua presents the prisoners to the Chief, explaining they
can send Duncan to the French for a reward and burn the sisters in honor of all the Hurons
the British have killed.
At that moment, Hawkeye enters the village, and after being hit a couple of times for
being white, he approaches the Chief to ask for mercy with Duncan as his interpreter.
After pointing out that killing the sisters would be more murdering of the innocent, he
explains the French and the British had made peace and Magua broke it, thus it is highly
doubtful the French will continue to be friends with the Hurons.
Magua thinks this is a good idea because it shows the Hurons are stronger than the French,
so they can make the new terms of trade with them.
They can become full traders and take the land of other tribes - they shall be as powerful
as the whites, not lesser.
Hawkeye thinks following the ways of the whites is betraying the tribes and that Magua's heart
has been twisted and infected with the sickness of greed.
Before the argument can go any further, the Chief reaches a decision.
Magua has fought bravely but his new methods go against the path of the Hurons, so he will
be allowed to keep Alice, Hawkeye can take Duncan, and Cora will be burnt in the name
of her father's crimes.
Desperate to save his love, Hawkeye offers his life over Cora's, but Duncan translates
something else and offers himself instead.
While Magua and his men leave with Alice, Hawkeye takes Cora with him to the hills.
Once they reunite with Chingachgook and Uncas, he decides to offer one final act of mercy
and shoots Duncan from afar in order to cut his suffering short while being burned.
Hawkeye, his family, and Cora follow Magua to try to rescue Alice.
However, Uncas rushes ahead without proper backup and is killed by Magua, who throws
his body off the cliff.
Inspired by his sacrifice, Alice thinks it is a better future than staying as Magua's
slave, so she walks to the edge of the cliff and jumps as well.
Hawkeye comes in next, and while he distracts the Hurons with his weapons, Chingachgook
fights Magua, getting to kill him to avenge his son.
After the battle is done, Chingachgook and Hawkeye say a prayer for Uncas' soul while
Cora listens respectfully.
It is during this prayer that Chingachgook proclaims himself "the last of the Mohicans."