Julius Meyer
Julius Meyer · Historical & Religious Figures
Prussian-born frontier trader and interpreter in Omaha who spoke six Plains languages; the Pawnee named him ''he who speaks with one tongue''; lifelong friend of Ponca chief Standing Bear.
1851, Bromberg, Prussia (now Bydgoszcz, Poland) — 10 May 1909, Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Julius Meyer is recognized among Jewish contributors to Historical & Religious Figures — Prussian-born frontier trader and interpreter in Omaha who spoke six Plains languages; the Pawnee named him ''he who speaks with one tongue''; lifelong friend of Ponca chief Standing Bear.
Origins and early life
Julius Meyer left Bromberg at thirteen to join his three brothers — Max, Adolph and Moritz — in Omaha, where the family's cigar, jewelry and music stores were pillars of the young city's Jewish community.
Work and career
Trading beads and tobacco with the Plains nations, he learned six of their languages — Omaha, Ponca, Brulé and Oglala Sioux, Winnebago and Pawnee — and in 1872 opened the 'Indian Wigwam', his store of Native crafts, serving as a US government interpreter. The Pawnee named him Box-ka-re-sha Hashta-ka, 'the curly-haired white man who speaks with only one tongue' — a name for honesty, in a trade that rarely rewarded it.
Standing Bear, the Ponca chief whose 1879 trial first recognized Native Americans as persons under US law, had saved Meyer's life in 1869 and remained his friend for life; Meyer also interpreted for Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Swift Bear and Spotted Tail. He was found shot in Omaha's Hanscom Park in May 1909; the coroner ruled suicide, a verdict his friends doubted.
Verify and go deeper with these external references.
Source: Nebraska State Historical Society
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Prussian-born frontier trader and interpreter in Omaha who spoke six Plains languages; the Pawnee named him ''he who speaks with one tongue''; lifelong friend of Ponca chief Standing Bear.
Source: Nebraska State Historical Society
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