A Rare and Important Carte de Visite Depicting Indian Trader Julius Meyer and a Delegation of Sioux Chiefs [ca. 1877]

1 carte de visite (4 1/8 x 2 1/2 in.; 105 x 63 mm). Albumen print mounted on card; marked on verso  "E.L. Eaton Photographic Gallery"; verso with four circular losses; ex Culver Service inkstamp. Housed in a protective hard plastic transparent sleeve.

Probably no other single photograph better epitomizes American Jewish participation in the early American west than this image of a young curly-haired Julius Meyer, a Jewish Indian trader, dressed in fringed buckskins in the company of four prominent Indian chiefs.  Standing, from left to right are Julius Meyer (1839-1909), Chief Red Cloud (Oglala Sioux). Seated are Chiefs Sitting Bull (Miniconjou), Swift Bear (Arapahoe), and Spotted Tail (Brule).

Julius Meyer was born in Prussia in 1839 and emigrated to Nebraska in 1867. It is said he was captured by Sioux during a buffalo hunt and lived with them for several years. Speaking six Indian languages, Meyer, who served as an Indian interpreter to Congress and as an Indian agent was known by the Native Americans as “Curley-Headed White Chief with One Tongue” because of his honesty.  

This image was taken while the delegation  of Chiefs was en route to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Grant to discuss the fate of the Black Hills, a part of the Dakota territory set aside as an Indian reservation, but overrun by growing number of miners and settlers during the run-up to the Great Sioux War of 1876. Julius Meyer hosted the delegation in Omaha, and on May 13, 1875 took them to Frank Currier’s studio, where the delegation demanded payment to be photographed. The Chiefs’ mission would ultimately prove fruitless and the ensuing Black Hills war would lead to tragic results on both sides including the massacre of Custer and the 7^th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn in June of 1876. For the Native Americans, these events marked a sharp downward turn in their history, which would culminate in the massacres at Wounded Knee in 1890.

Frank Currier has always been credited with the original large format (8.25 x 9.0 in) photograph.  and many of the smaller albumen prints. Some of those were mounted on advertising for Julius Meyer’s “Indian Wigwam” store. This original albumen print however is on a standard carte de visite mount backmarked “E. L. Eaton Photographic Gallery.” Eaton was another leading Omaha photographer of the period.

Julius Meyer was one of the founders of Omaha’s first synagogue, Temple Israel, as well as a founder of Omaha’s first symphony orchestra and opera house.