Penateka
a.k.a. Chief's House
3.5 mi. W of Elgin on U.S. 277, Elgin, OK" the house built for Tsee-aht-sinne-kah (One-feather-pointing-forward), known historically as See-i-chin-i-cah (Straight Feather), is the only remaining structure of its kind. Colonel Ronald Slidell Mackenzie, Commander of Fort Sill, decided to build houses for the Comanche headmen following the War with the Comanche Nation of 1874–1875. Mackenzie had two constructed of stone, before the Department of the Interior picked up the program to construct houses in 1877. The nomination is of one of the first two structures.
The program was based on the statement of Esse-toyet, a major headman who pledged to burn all the lodg-s and abandon the migratory existence of the Comanche people, when the United States government provided comfortable log and stone houses. While the concept of ownership among the Comanche is comparison with the civilization Western of Europe, the houses were used by the bands as they camped in the surrounding grounds. This was the building of the Penateka Band (Honey-eater).
When the late H. M. Fulbright purchased the allotment of an Indian from the Indian Service, he was required to pay and additional $1,000.00 because of the old stone house on the property.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.