Peter Pitchlynn
| Peter Pitchlynn | |
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Peter Pitchlynn
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| Born | January 30, 1806 Noxubee County, Mississippi |
| Died | January 17, 1881 (aged 74) Washington, D.C. |
| Resting place | Congressional Cemetery |
| Residence | Mississippi, Oklahoma |
| Nationality | Choctaw |
| Other names | Hat-choo-tuck-nee ("The Snapping Turtle") |
| Education | University of Nashville |
| Occupation | Tribal chief (1864-1866) |
Peter Perkins Pitchlynn (January 30, 1806 – January 17, 1881), or Hat-choo-tuck-nee ("The Snapping Turtle"), was a Choctaw chief of Choctaw and Anglo-American ancestry. He was principal chief of the Choctaw from 1864-1866 and surrendered to the Union on behalf of the nation at the end of the Civil War.
Educated in Choctaw culture and American schools, in 1825 he helped found a school for Choctaw boys: the Choctaw Academy in Kentucky. He also worked to reduce the sale of alcohol in their territory. After removal to Indian Territory in the 1830s, he was appointed by the National Council in 1845 as the Choctaw Delegate to Washington, D.C. At the time, the Nation was proposing to be recognized by the US Congress as a territory.
After the war, Pitchlynn returned to Washington, D.C., to represent Choctaw interests and work for concessions from the government for the Choctaw lands sold under pressure to the United States in 1830 during Indian Removal. He died in Washington, D.C. and is buried there.
Peter P. Pitchlynn was born in Noxubee County, Mississippi, January 30, 1806 as the first son of Sophia Folsom, a Choctaw of partly Anglo-American descent; her mother Natika was Choctaw and her father was Ebenezer Folsom, a trader. Sophia's Choctaw name was Lk-lo-ha-wah (Loved but lost). Sophia Folsom and John Pitchlynn married in 1804. As the Choctaw had a matrilineal system of property and hereditary leadership, Peter was born into his mother's clan and people; through her family, he gained status in the tribe.
His father was Major John Pitchlynn, of Scots descent. The father was raised from childhood by the Choctaw after the death of his father Isaac, a widower. John Pitchlynn served George Washington as an interpreter for negotiations with the Choctaw.
One of ten children born to the Pitchlynns, after several years at home, Peter was sent to a Tennessee boarding school about 200 miles from Mississippi. Later he attended an academy in Columbia, Tennessee. To complete his education, he studied at and graduated from the University of Nashville, considered one of the finest institutions of the time. It started small like many colleges; its 1827 graduating class held 12 students.
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