George Parago Sam was an influential member of the Washakie Ward, serving in the deacons quorum and Sunday School presidencies, and a significant treaty rights activist for the Northwestern Shoshone. He was described by white reporters as one of the “brightest” and “prominent” men of the Northwestern Shoshone town of Washakie, Utah. In the spring of 1913, a journalist met with George and found that “He has a wife and two children, girls, and he is very proud of his family. He is also proud of his home town.”¹

He was born at Washakie on or around 20 July 1880 to mother Naw-weatets and father Paragosam.² A Washakie Ward record book lists Paragosam’s death date as 1895 in Bannock Creek, Idaho, and because many of the Washakie records from the 1890s were lost or destroyed, it is unclear if George spent his childhood at Washakie or in southern Idaho.³ At some point, in childhood or in youth, he attended the Washakie day school and became proficient in reading, writing, and speaking English.⁴

The destruction of Washakie Ward records also means that George’s baptismal date, which was presumably in the late 1880s, is unavailable. George was ordained a deacon around 1902.⁵ Two years later, in 1904, he married Pampy Woritch Perdash (1867–1950), daughter of a prominent Northwestern Shoshone family in Washakie, in a customary Shoshone ceremony. In 1925, they were married civilly and then had their union solemnized in a sealing ceremony in the Logan Temple.⁶ George and Pampy Woritch had two children together, but neither of them survived to adulthood.⁷

George provided for his family as a talented farmer and grew oats that won an award at the local fair in Tremonton.⁸ He and his wife undertook a small enterprise in which he would provide deerskins from his hunting trips for her to turn into beautiful handmade gloves that he would then take to market in Ogden.⁹ In 1922, George got into the poultry business when he purchased two hundred chicks to raise.¹⁰

George attended the Washakie Ward regularly and had a penchant for teaching. Between 1910 and 1913, he taught in the deacons quorum on subjects such as the resurrection, the Book of Mormon, and early Latter-day Saint history.¹¹ In 1914, he was called as a counselor in the deacons quorum presidency, and then in 1922, he was appointed as a Sunday school teacher, in which capacity he taught Washakie ward members about their faith.¹²

He also spoke regularly at ward meetings. A dutiful clerk recorded him as saying on one occasion: “We are here to worship our maker. Let us keep his commandments at all times.”¹³ His teaching and preaching eventually led to calls such as first assistant in the Sunday School and as a home missionary in 1930.¹⁴ George also acted as an interpreter and helped Shoshone elders understand English proceedings and white leadership understand Shoshone worship services.¹⁵

Throughout his life, George acted as a representative for his people in negotiations with other Shoshone groups, like the Western Shoshone, and spoke out publicly against land dispossession among Washakie residents.¹⁶ His activism often took him across Utah, Idaho, and Nevada to conduct personal and tribal business. In 1917, George traveled to Washington, DC, with other Shoshone community representatives, including Willie Ottogary (1869–1929), Thomas Pabawena Jr. (1883–1950), and James M. Pabawena (ca. 1878–1967), as well as Annie’s Tommy, a Goshute leader from Deep Creek, Utah. Their journey to Washington did not yield immediate results for the tribe, but it started the legal conversations that would eventually lead to compensation for tribal land loss in 1942.¹⁷ George was later listed as an “Assistant Chief” in records kept by the Northwestern Shoshone in 1937.¹⁸

Unfortunately, chronic health challenges limited George’s ability to carry out his duties. In 1912, his friend Willie Ottogary recorded that George was receiving medical treatment for his declining eyesight, a problem that was later diagnosed as “Bright’s disease,” a kidney disorder that was likely correlated with his slow but steady loss of sight.¹⁹ George visited a doctor in Brigham City for regular treatment, but in 1925 Willie recorded, somewhat pessimistically, “Mr. George P. Sam is still sick. But he [has] Bright’s Disease. But had it for 10 year. Some time get well, some time get worse. Seem to me he never get over this disease.”²⁰

George’s blindness apparently hampered his ability to get around later in life, but Leona Peyope, a local Northwestern Shoshone journalist, wrote that he moved to Bannock Creek in 1939.²¹ The move was temporary; his primary residence in the 1940 church census is listed as Washakie.²² George and Pampy Woritch stayed together at Washakie until her death on 3 June 1950. George joined her just three months later on 9 September 1950. Both were buried in the Washakie cemetery.²³