National Museum of the American Indian

Fred R. Meyer photograph collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.032
Creators:
Meyer, Fred R.
Dates:
1890-1915
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
199 Lantern slides
black and white
381 Negatives (photographic)
black and white
6 Photographic prints
Repository:
The Fred R. Meyer collection consists primarily of lantern slides and glass plates negatives made by Meyer among the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) and Pikuni (Piegan) communities in Montana on the Crow and Blackfeet Reservations, circa 1900. Additional photographs were made in North Dakota, California and Alaska, among other locations.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Meyer collection consists primarily of lantern slide and glass plates negatives made by Meyer among the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) and Pikuni (Piegan) in Montana on the Crow and Blackfeet Reservations, perhaps in 1902 and in 1904. The Apsáalooke and Pikuni lantern slides and negatives are mostly informal, outdoor portraits of men and women in traditional clothing, but they also depict camps and ceremonials and even buffalo herds. In addition, there are depictions of Ute, Niitsitapii (Blackfoot/Blackfeet), Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce), Numakiki (Mandan), and Ojibwa individuals. He made the Numakiki photographs on the Fort Berthold Rerservation in North Dakota. The collection also contains landscape views made in Yosemite Valley, California, and British Columbia and cityscapes of Juneau, Alaska. Although Meyer likely photographed the vast majority of the items in the collection, it is unlikely that he created all of them. For example, there are many studio portraits that an amateur such as Meyer lacked the studio space, equipment, and experience to make. In addition, there is at least one glass plate negative of a Fred Miller Crow Reservation photograph and several that appear to be by Cree photographer Richard Throssel, who also made photographs on the Crow Reservation. The five prints (one of these--assigned a print number--is in fact a newspaper clipping announcing the death of Ka-Be-Na-Gway-Wence or Meet-Ka-Be-Nah-Gway) are certainly not by Meyer. Of interest here is a photograph depicting Goyathlay (Geronimo) in later life wearing traditional Chiricahua Apache clothing, including his headdress. Most of the negatives are on glass but some of them are film copies of the glass negatives and lantern slides.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Arranged intelectually into five series geographically and by community. Within each series, lantern slides and negatives are arranged by catalog number. Series 1: Montana: Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke), Pikuni (Piegan), Niitsitapii (Blackfoot/Blackfeet); Series 2: North Dakota: Numakiki (Mandan); Series 3: Alaska and Canada; Series 4: California, Yosemite National Park; Series 5: Miscellaneous and Non-Meyer photographs.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Relatively little is known about Fred R. Meyer (1874-1939), but from his photographic record it is clear that he was an amateur photographer who traveled extensively throughout the western United States, particularly in Montana and North Dakota possibly from 1890 to 1915. A handful of his Montana photographs were given to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center by Meyer's friend William P. Sargent. Meyer's notations on the versos of these prints are dated either 1902 or 1904. According to the Historical Center's records, Meyer was a surveyor but other sources indicate that he (also) worked as a butcher. It has also been suggested that he was associated in some way (perhaps as a clerk) with the Indian agencies that served the Apsáalooke, Pikuni, and Numakiki reservations. He apparently also photographed in Pine Ridge in 1907 and collected objects in Wyoming and Montana. On January 19, 1914, he gave a lantern slide lecture at the Rochester Historical Society entitled "Indian Life and Customs in the Great Northwest," and it appears that he was either originally from or eventually settled in Rochester. In addition, in 1913 he may have corresponded with Joseph Keppler. In the letter, he thanks Keppler for a book and a gun and states that he was pleased to give Keppler the medicine teeth, some of which he also planned to give to "Mr. Pepper" (George Pepper?).

Administration

Author
Heather Shannon, Rachel Menyuk
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Fred R. (Hattie M.) Meyer.
Processing Information
Collection record written by Heather Shannon, Photo Archivist, in 2013. Additional processing by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, 2024.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Some photographs are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Preferred Citation note
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Fred R. Meyer photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.032; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Juneau (Alaska) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yosemite Valley (Calif.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Crow Indians -- Montana -- Crow Indian Reservation -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Piegan Indians -- Montana -- Great Blackfeet Reservation -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Niitsitapii (Blackfoot/Blackfeet) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pikuni Blackfeet (Piegan) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Numakiki (Mandan) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ute Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mandan Indians -- North Dakota -- Fort Berthold Indian Reservation -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lantern slides Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Miller, Fred E., 1868-1936 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Throssel, Richard, 1882-1933 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1400
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.3038
nmaiarchives@si.edu