{{Short description|Nashaway sachem (died 1676)}} '''Sagamore Sam''' (died 1676), also known as '''Upchattuck''', '''Shoshanim''', and '''Uskattuhgun''',<ref name=nnp>{{cite web |title=Sagamore Sam, - 1676 |url=https://nativenortheastportal.com/bio/bibliography/sagamore-sam-1676 |website=Native Northeast Portal}}</ref> was a sachem of the Nashaway tribe of Massachusetts. He was an active leader during King Phillip's War. Sam was a major insurgent against white settlers, acting alongside other tribal leaders such as Monoco.
==Biography== Sagamore Sam was from Waushacum.<ref name=nnp/> He was preceded as sachem by Matthew, the son of Sholan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nourse |first1=Henry S. |title=Lancastriana: A Supplement to the Early Records and Military Annals of Lancaster, Massachusetts |date=1900 |publisher=Press of WM. J. Coulter |location=Clinton, Mass. |page=7 |url=https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/H002908.pdf |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref>
===King Philip's War=== In September 1675, Sam and Monoco led an ambush in Squakheage. Their mixed band of 150 men killed up to 20 white soldiers led by Captain Richard Beers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bodge |first1=George Madison |title=Soldiers in King Philip's war. Containing lists of the soldiers of Massachusetts Colony, who served in the Indian war of 1675-1677. With sketches of the principal officers, and copies of ancient documents and records relating to the war |date=1891 |publisher=Boston, Printed for the author |page=86 |url=https://archive.org/details/soldiersinkingph00bodg/page/86/mode/2up |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref> He would later take part in the Battle of Bloody Brook.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mathews |first1=Barbara |last2=Thomas |first2=Peter A. |date=Autumn 2020 |title=(Re)making History: Memory, Commemoration and the Bloody Brook Monuments |url=https://historic-deerfield.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Remaking-History-Memory-Commemoration-and-the-Bloody-Brook-Monuments.pdf|journal=Historic Deerfield |pages=75–80}}</ref>
Sam and Monoco planned the Lancaster Raid of February 1676. The battle was fielded alongside other notable leaders including the Narragansett sachem Quinnaipin, Muttaump of the Quabaug band of Nipmuc, and likely other Nipmuc leaders such as Pakashoag and Matoonas.<ref name=1937a>{{cite book |last1=Safford |first1=Marion Fuller |title=The Story of Colonial Lancaster (Massachusetts) |date=1937 |publisher=The Tuttle Publishing Co. |location=Rutland, Vermont |url=https://ia601009.us.archive.org/31/items/storyofcoloniall00saff/storyofcoloniall00saff.pdf |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref>
Sam had captured several prisoners of war during his raids. In April 1676, Tom Nepanet arrived to negotiate the release of these captives. Although initially refused, Sam later advocated for the release of the prisoners against the advice of King Philip.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=George |last2=Morris |first2=John |title=King Philip's War |date=1906 |publisher=Grafton Press |location=New York |pages=215–216 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/_Topics/history/_Texts/EAMKPW/13*.html |access-date=4 September 2023}}</ref>
By the end of the war, Sam's own wife and children were captured by Captain Daniel Henchman and sold into slavery. Sam himself tried to surrender and asked for forgiveness, but was instead imprisoned and executed in September 1676 alongside Monoco, Matoonas, and Tantamous.<ref name=1937a/><ref name=nnp/>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:17th-century Native American people Category:People from colonial Massachusetts Category:Native American people from Massachusetts Category:1676 deaths Category:People of King Philip's War