Sanpitch (killed April 18, 1866) was a leader of the Sanpits tribe of Native Americans who lived in what is now the Sanpete Valley, before and during settlement by Mormon immigrants. The Sanpits are generally considered to be part of the Timpanogos or Utah Indians He was the brother of famed Chief Walkara and the father of

Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...

, for whom the Black Hawk War in Utah (1865–72) is named. In 1850, after

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

from newly arrived Mormon settlers decimated their tribes, Walkara and Chief Sanpitch asked the Mormons to come to the Sanpete Valley to teach the band to farm, though this was met with little enthusiasm. In March 1866, as a ploy suggested by Brigham Young to bring Black Hawk to the bargaining table, the elderly Chief Sanpitch was taken into custody and incarcerated in the jail in Manti. A month later, while he and other jailed Indians were escaping, Sanpitch was shot and wounded. On April 18, 1866, he was found and killed in Birch Creek Canyon (in San Pitch Mountains, between Fountain Green and Moroni). The two Mormon men responsible for the chief's death buried his body under a rock slide by shooting at the canyon wall overhead. Sanpitch's interactions with early Mormon settlers are chronicled in Gottfredson's ''History of Indian depredations in Utah''. Sanpitch is almost certainly not the same person as the Shoshone chief of the same name who was alive in 1870. The

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

and Utes were enemies. Some sources indicate that he, or his grandfather of the same name, is the namesake of

Sanpete County Sanpete County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 27,822. Its county seat is Manti, and its largest city is Ephraim. The county was created in 1850. History The Sanpete Valley ma ...

, the Sanpete Valley, the San Pitch Mountains, and the

Sanpitch River The San Pitch River, extending , is the primary watercourse of the Sanpete Valley and drains into the Sevier River in southwestern Sanpete. The river is named for the Ute chief Sanpitch, who also gives his name to the San Pitch Mountains and San ...

. However, all of them share the origin of their names: the Sanpits people. According to William Bright, their name comes from the

Ute Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute (band), an Australian jazz group * Ute (given name) * ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus * Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles * Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...

word ''saimpitsi'', meaning "people of the tules".

References

1866 deaths 19th-century Native Americans Mormonism and Native Americans Native American people from Utah Native American leaders Native American people of the Indian Wars People of Utah Territory Timpanogos tribe Ute people Year of birth unknown 1811 births {{Utah-bio-stub