Joseph Balmer

Joseph Balmer (December 26, 1914 – June 4, 2006) was a noted Swiss 20th century historian and expert on Native Americana.

Born in Ebikon, Lucerne son of Peter Balmer of Flühli, Lucerne and of Josephine Magdalena, née Schwerzmann. In 1920, his family moved to Horw, Lucerne where Balmer attended elementary school for six years, following his secondary schooling (Swiss equivalent of the American high school) in the city of Lucerne. In 1929 his family moved again, to Zürich, Switzerland's largest city where his father found employment in an import/export firm primarily dealing with oriental carpets. Balmer would briefly find part-time work at the same firm where his father worked. In 1930 at the age of 16 Balmer entered a mercantile apprenticeship with the COOP Konkordia Schweiz and underwent 3 years' training as an accountant, graduating in 1933. In his sparetime his interests where elsewhere. He was captivated by North America's Indians.

Starting in the 1920s Balmer would spend many hours at the local libraries in Zürich, devouring anything pertaining to Native Americans and the American frontier. He was particularly inspired by the book "Der Letzte Mandanen Häuptling" (The Last Chief of the Mandans) by Wilhelm Herchenbach, (Manz Publishers, Regensburg, Germany 1883) inspiring his lifelong obsession with the subject. Balmer, by now highly proficient in English, began corresponding with the notable scholars of Native Americana in this period, luminaries such as Stanley Vestal, George E. Hyde, Earl Alonzo Brininstool, Mari Sandoz and others gaining encyclopedic insights to such a degree that he attained a reputation as an expert in this field. He also taught himself the Lakota language. He managed to write as many as 800 letters per year. Balmer, at the suggestion of the Bureau of Indian Affairs also reached out to various Indian reservations in South Dakota befriending a number of the few surviving veterans of the Indian Wars. The descendants of Chief Red Cloud at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation adopted Balmer into the family bestowing upon him the Lakota name Wambli Ista [Eagle Eye], a fact into which he took great pride. Over the years Balmer acquired hundreds of first edition books on Native American subjects by notable authors, many of which are inscribed personally to him. He also owned an impressive collection of Native American artifacts, among of which is a pair of moccasins once owned by James Henry Red Cloud (1879-1960), grandson of the great chief Red Cloud and a warbonnet trailer decorated with eagle feathers that had belonged to Jackson "Jack" Red Cloud (ca. 1858-1918), the former's son. Balmer also assembled a vast collection of period photographs by notable photographers such as David Francis Barry, Orlando Scott Goff, John C. H. Grabill, Stanley J. Morrow, Frank Bennett Fiske, George W. Scott, Laton Alton Huffman, George E. Trager & Frederick Kuhn and others.By the 1950s Balmer's reputation as an Native American expert had become legendary, even though he never set foot onto the American continent or ever personally encountered a Native American. He was frequently consulted by scholars and authors throughout the remainder of his life, among of which the Swiss author de:Ernie Hearting. Balmer died on June 4, 2006 in Küsnacht.

Balmer was married in Zürich on May 21, 1937 to Hedwig Huber [1915-2011] of the same place. The union produced two children, Josef James and Susanna Hedwig Maria Balmer.