Robert W. Patten (1832–1913) was a Seattleite from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Very few people in Seattle knew much about his past and he was seen as eccentric because of his lifestyle and outrageous claims. He lived on a houseboat and walked around town with an umbrella on his head and spent most of his time outdoors. He claimed to have been a significant historical figure in his own right, up there with Buffalo Bill and Kit Carson.