Artful settlers: Jacob Johnson, Taylor Mullins, ‘Knowledge between Romanticism and Reverence: German-American Perceptions of Native Americans through the Art of Friedrich Richard Petri’, Migrant Knowledge, 02/05/24 | settler colonial studies blog

Artful settlers: Jacob Johnson, Taylor Mullins, ‘Knowledge between Romanticism and Reverence: German-American Perceptions of Native Americans through the Art of Friedrich Richard Petri’, Migrant Knowledge, 02/05/24

17May24

Excerpt: In 1847, John O. Meusebach was seeking to set up a peace treaty with the Native American tribe, the Penateka Comanches. Meusebach’s negotiation of a peace treaty with them was crucial to the success of the German settlement project in Texas, spearheaded by the Mainzer Adelsverein for which Meusebach served as a commissioner-general. Ultimately, the treaty sought to ensure the settlers’ safety and regulated trade relations between the two parties.¹ However, entering Comanche territory was risky as one could not foresee how the Comanches would react to settlers crossing into their territory. Hence, Meusebach’s knowledge of and diplomatic skills with the Comanches were critical. He gained these from three sources, in particular: Meusebach’s predecessor as commissioner-general, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, the colonial director of Fredericksburg, Friedrich Armand Strubberg, and noted geologist Ferdinand Roemer, who was part of the expedition into native territory in early January 1847; all provided oral and written reports that contributed to Meusebach’s knowledge of these Native Americans.

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