![Chief Patkanim (1815-1860)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Chief_Patkanim_%281815-1860%29.jpg)
Chief Patkanim (variously spelled Pat-ka-nam or Pat Kanim; possibly from Southern Lushootseed: p̓əƛ̓qidəb) was chief of the Snoqualmoo (
Snoqualmie) and
Snohomish tribe in what is now modern
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
.
During the 1850s, he lived at the largest village of his people located at ''tultxʷ'', a fishing village at the confluence of the
Tolt and
Snoqualmie rivers (today,
Carnation, Washington
Carnation is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,158 at the 2020 census. It was historically known as Tolt () and lies at the confluence of the Snoqualmie and Tolt rivers. The city is located east of Redmo ...
) in a complex containing sixteen longhouses.
He was the dominant power from
Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...
to
Snoqualmie Pass
Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 (I-90) through the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington. The pass summit is at an elevation of , on the county line between Kittitas County and King County.
Snoqualmie Pass ...
, between what is today
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
and
King County, Washington
King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...
According to historian
Bill Speidel
William C Speidel (1912–1988) was a columnist for ''The Seattle Times'' and a self-made historian who wrote the books ''Sons of the Profits'' and ''Doc Maynard, The Man Who Invented Seattle'' about the people who settled and built Seattle, Wa ...
, his was the major Indian power on
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...
, in no small part due to control of Snoqualmie Pass and therefore the profitable trade between the tribes on either side.
Whidbey Island
Patkanim first gained notoriety among American settlers by arranging a meeting on
Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...
in 1848, of 8,000 Puget Sound Indians to discuss the rising threat of
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
colonists
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
.
[ As ]Hubert Howe Bancroft
Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published and collected works concerning the western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and British Columbi ...
recounted: Patkanim then opened the conference by a speech, in which he urged that if the Americans were allowed to settle among them they would soon become numerous, and would carry off their people in large fire-ships to a distant country on which the sun never shone, where they would be left to perish. He argued that the few now present could easily be exterminated, which would discourage others from coming...[ Bancroft, Hubert H. rchive.org/stream/washidahomont00bancrich#page/10/mode/2up ''History of Washing, Idaho and Montana, 1845-1889.''San Francisco: The History Company. 1890, p. 11.]
A Steilacoom band leader, Chew-see-a-kit, rejected the considered attack.[ The white settlers residing in his land were seen as deterrent to raids by Northern Puget Sound tribes, such as the Snoqualmies.][
]
Raid on Fort Nisqually
On 1 May 1849 Patkanim led 100 Snoqualmies to Fort Nisqually
Fort Nisqually was an important fur trading and farming post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Puget Sound area, part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department. It was located in what is now DuPont, Washington. Today it is a living hist ...
, a farming and trade post ran by the Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
's subsidiary Puget Sound Agricultural Company The Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC), with common variations of the name including Puget Sound or Puget's Sound, was a subsidiary joint stock company formed in 1840 by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Its stations operated within the Pacific N ...
.[Farrar, Victor J]
''The Nisqually Journal.''
The Washington Historical Quarterly 10, No. 3 (1919), pp. 205-230. Rumors stated a daughter of one of their prominent leaders was being abused by her Nisqually husband, Lahalet, father of Leschi.[ The band also declaimed any intentions of attacking white inhabitants in the area.][ Despite Patkanim being allowed in to Fort Nisqually, relations became tense and a skirmish began. As the fort gate was closing, several Americans unaffiliated with the PSAC remained outside. Fellow American settler Michael Simmons beseeched them to enter the secure station, but they refused to enter.][ During the ensueing fighting, one American was killed and two wounded.][ The officer in charge of Fort Nisqually, Chief Factor William Tolmie, stated that the visiting Snoqualimies likely had the intention to "kick a row with the Fort Indians" and hold a slave raid.][ Thereafter, he found it more profitable to co-operate with the settlers, reportedly turning over his own brothers to be hanged for the raid in exchange for $500.
]
Later relations with Americans
In 1854, Patkanim assisted U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
Captain George McClellan
George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...
(later a Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
major general) in exploring Snoqualmie Pass as part of the Pacific Railroad Surveys
The Pacific Railroad Surveys (1853–1855) were of a series of explorations of the American West designed to find and document possible routes for a transcontinental railroad across North America. The expeditions included surveyors, scientists, and ...
. On January 22, 1855, he signed the Treaty of Point Elliott
The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as Treaty of Point Elliot (with one ''t'') / Point Elliott Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes ...
, trading away several modern counties in exchange for a reservation near Tulalip, Washington
The Tulalip Tribes of Washington (, lut, dxʷlilap), formerly known as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Duwamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish people. Th ...
.
Patkanim maintained excellent relations with the founders of Seattle, such as Doc Maynard
David Swinson "Doc" Maynard (March 22, 1808March 13, 1873) was an American pioneer, doctor, and businessman. He was one of Seattle's primary founders. He was an effective civic booster and, compared to other white settlers, a relative advocate ...
and Arthur Denny. With the approach of the Puget Sound War
The Puget Sound War was an armed conflict that took place in the Puget Sound area of the state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington in 1855–56, between the United States Military, United States military, local militias and members of the ...
, they persuaded him to ally himself, for a fee, with the forces of the United States. He assisted in constructing forts and encamped at Fort Tilton with 100 of his troops to block Snoqualmie Pass. After the Battle of Seattle in 1856, Governor Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represen ...
put a bounty on the head of raiders, $20 for ordinary Indians and $80 for a "chief". Patkanim obligingly provided a great many heads, until the Territorial Auditor put a stop to the practice. According to Speidel, there was a suspicious number of "chiefs" among the heads and many of them were probably nothing more than Patkanim's slaves from raids on other tribes.
Legacy
Chief Kanim public middle school in Fall City Washington is named after one of his nephews, Chief Jerry Kanim
Jerry Kanim was a chief of the Snoqualmie people from 1914 until his death in 1956. Chief Jerry Kanim was the most influential and most recognized political figure of the Snoqualmie in the 20th century. Kanim was appointed chief of his people in 19 ...
. Kanim Falls
Kanim Falls () is the major waterfall on the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River. It is located at the outlet of Lake Kanim and is near the source of the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River. The falls were named after Chief Jerry Kanim who was the le ...
and Lake Kanim
Lake Kanim is a set of small freshwater lakes located on a clif of the south skirt of Lennox Mountain, in King County, Washington. Lake Kanim is the nascent source of the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River. The lake and its accompanying waterfall ...
in the heart of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness
The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is a large National Wilderness Preservation System, wilderness area spanning the Central Cascades of Washington (state), Washington state in the United States. The wilderness is located in parts of Wenatchee National F ...
are also named after the same nephew.
Reportedly, Patkanim had three daughters, Julia, Susie and Elizabeth (Lizzie).
A marker was raised to his memory, near Tulalip, but appears not to include a date of birth or death.lib.washington.edu
/ref>
The descendants of Patkanim and the tribe he led are divided today between the Snoqualmie and the smaller Snoqaulmoo bands.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patkanim, Chief
Native American leaders
19th-century Native Americans