Panama Hat

"…don't call me Junior!"

The title of this article is a nickname. This article is about a canonical subject that lacks a proper name, and is known only by a nickname, alias or other designation.

CHARACTER
Panama Hat
Gender	Male
Death	1938 Aboard the Vasquez de Coronado, off Portuguese coast, Atlantic Ocean (presumed)
Profession(s)	Collector of antiquities
Allegiance(s)	Fedora's Gang (employees) Walter Donovan (suspected employer)

Panama Hat: "Small world, Dr. Jones."

Indiana Jones: "Too small for two of us."

―Panama Hat and Indiana Jones

Panama Hat, also known as The Man in the Panama Hat, was an antiquities collector who hired Fedora and his gang of treasure hunters to retrieve the Cross of Coronado from a canyon site in Utah in 1912.

Biography

Early encounter

"This is the second time I've had to reclaim my property from you!"

―Panama Hat to Indiana Jones

Panama Hat at the Jones residence in 1912.

The man known either as "Panama Hat" or "The Man in the Panama Hat" was a ruthless moneyman who, in 1912, hired Garth ("Fedora") and his gang to retrieve the Cross of Coronado in Moab, Utah. While Fedora and his men dug up the Cross of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, Panama Hat stayed in his car with his driver. When a young Boy Scout named Indiana Jones stole the artifact from the gang and fled from the canyon across the desert, Panama Hat's car gave chase until Indy reached a circus train, where Garth and his gang tried to catch him with no success.

After Indy managed to escape from the train to his house, as he tried to get his father's attention so he could help him with the Cross to no avail, Panama Hat showed up with Fedora, the Deputy Sheriff and the Sheriff, the latter who, to Indy's surprise and despite being taken to the Jones residence by Herman Mueller, stated that Panama Hat was its rightful owner and had six witnesses to prove it. Roscoe took the Cross out to Panama Hat and he handed over the payment to the gang.

Searching the Man

As he grew up, Indiana Jones became an archaeologist, and as such, dedicated part of his time in trying to recover the Cross of Coronado and bring it to a museum like it should be. To do so, Indy followed any leads he could get to track down Panama Hat, getting close to confront him several times, but Jones got his latest lead about the antiquities collector's whereabouts in 1936.

Ambiguously canon: This section contains information from sources that have not been deemed definitively canon by Lucasfilm.

Around that time, Captain Simon Katanga of the Bantu Wind began looking into the Cross of Coronado's whereabouts on behalf of Jones. Asking around Belize City's docks, Katanga discovered hearsay from the workers there that the crucifix's owner was no longer based there and had moved operations eastward. He informed Jones in writing but it got redirected to the archaeologist's father in error.

Ambiguously canon information ends here.

Final showdown

It wouldn't be until two years later in 1938 that Jones tracked down Panama Hat to Lisbon, Portugal after receiving a tip from a man who worked for Panama claiming that his boss has had an affair with his wife and wanted revenge. In violently stormy seas, Jones snuck aboard Panama Hat's ship, the Vasquez de Coronado, a gun-running vessel owned and crewed by Captain Bill Lawton, off the Portuguese coast and took the Cross into his possession after retrieving it from the ship's safe, where it had been put by Lawton after Panama Hat entrusted him with it, finally recovering the relic twenty-six years after trying to claim it for a museum.

But Jones quickly realized it was a set up and was taken captive by Panama Hat and his sailors. Coming out from just drinking liquor at his cabin, Panama Hat explained how he had been hit bad financially during The Great Depression and was seeking wealthy buyers for the Cross when one turned up — Indy would later suspect it was the American multimillionaire, businessman and secret Nazi collaborator Walter Donovan — with a provision that required Jones be dead.

The Panama man seemingly died in the explosion of the Vasquez de Coronado.

After recovering the Cross, Panama Hat laughed at Jones, exchanged words with him about the world being too small for two, retrieved the Cross and ordered that Jones be thrown overboard. However, Jones broke free of his captors, seized the Cross and the action combined with rough seas caused an explosion which destroyed the Coronado. Panama Hat was apparently killed in the blast; his shredded hat landed in the water not far from where Indiana Jones was swimming to safety.

Personality and traits

Knowing for always sporting a white linen suit with an obnoxiously large red flower on his jacket's chapel, the man known as "Panama Hat" preferred dry climates, indoor saloons and routinely hired other people to do his dirty work, such as Garth's gang to loot the Cross of Coronado for him or Bill Lawton's sailors to protect the relic. He liked to drink liquor and smoke tobacco, the former impregnating his breath and the latter staining his fingers. He was overconfident, so when Indiana Jones threw one of his men into the sea, he grinned and assumed it was been Jones' scream, leading the archaeologist to surprise him and set into motion the chain of events that seemingly claimed his life.

Behind the scenes

Panama Hat was portrayed by Tim Hiser (in the scene set in 1912) and by the late Paul Maxwell (in the scene set in 1938) in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The character's actual name is not revealed, but the film's credits refer to him by his type of hat. In Ryder Windham's 2008 junior novelization, Panama Hat is identified as "The Man in the Panama Hat".

In Les Martin's 1989 junior novelization, Panama Hat and Fedora are presented as the same character. In Randy Thornton's Read-Along Adventure adaptation, Panama Hat is absent from the story, so Indiana Jones seemingly keeps the Cross of Coronado after recovering it from Fedora and thus the 1938 opening sequence never happens.

In LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, Panama Hat is absent, as Fedora doesn't even succeed at retrieving the Cross of Coronado from Indiana Jones and, in this version, Herman Mueller, merely giving up after they escape from the circus train.. However, the character is included in the sequel as "The Panama Hat Man". After fighting Indy and, in this version, Sallah with a machine gun and dynamite, Panama Hat and a few of his sailors survive the Vasquez de Coronado's explosion and swim to an islet with a metallic palm tree where they set up camp.

Appearances

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade novel
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade comic
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade junior novel (As "The Man in the Panama Hat")
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Storybook
• Disney Magic Kingdoms (Ambiguously canonical appearance) (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Non-canonical appearance) (As "Panama Hat Man")

Sources

• Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
•  Indiana Jones Heritage trading cards (Card: The Cross Lost... Again!)
• "You Call This Archeology?" - Indiana Jones: The Official Magazine 3
• The Indiana Jones Handbook