Thread by @VerminusM

Did I ever tell you about the German Jew who became an Indian chief in the Wild West? This isn't a joke from a Mel Brooks movie, this really happened! >>

Solomon Bibo was born in Prussia in 1853 and left to the USA in 1869 due to persecution. Starting a business in Sante Fe, Solomon had many dealings with the natives, who valued his fairness and honesty. >>

Solomon put great effort into preventing the natives from selling land at below market prices. Naturally, this made him quite unpopular among Anglos and Spanish, who benefited greatly from the native's lack of business acumen (and probably didn't care for Jews either). >>

Once, Solomon traveled to the Acoma Indians of New Mexico with a wagon full of dry goods. He sold all his merchandise in less than a week and returned with a wagon full of corn and pottery which his brothers sold in their stores. This soon became Solomon's regular route. >>

After a while, he was granted a regular trading post in the Acoma Pueblo and befriended chief Martin Valle. During that time, he perfected his English, learned Spanish, and gained decent command of Keres, Navajo, Laguna and Zuni. >>

A local priest was upset about a Jew setting up shop right by his church. He traveled to Sante Fe to complain to the bishop, only to learn that the majority of the funds used to construct the cathedral were donated by a wealthy Jewish family who did business with the Bibos... >>

In 1884, Solomon became involved in a land dispute between the Acoma and the DOI. His PR campaign helped save their territory from a land grab by a corrupt Indian agent. The Acoma still lost some land, but the agent was removed and Solomon returned to the Acoma a hero. >>

This did not go unnoticed -- after chief Valle died, the people of the Pueblo elected Solomon, by now fluent in their language and culture (and married to the chief's granddaughter Juana) to be the new chief! >>

Solomon served in the role for 13 years, during which he worked hard to bring modern education to the pueblo. This brought him into conflict with the traditionalists, who outnumbered the progressives, and started acting against him. >>

He quit his post but remained involved in Acoma affairs. For example, in 1889, he worked with the US government to remove a chief who used cruel and aggressive methods to punish younger Acoma who wished to acquire modern education. >>

In 1898, he and his family moved to San Francisco, where they ran a small chain of stores until he retired. And that's the story of the only (as far as I know) Jewish native American chief in history. :)