Charles Marion Russell

Adopted son in 1916

Published story collections, Rawhide Rawlins Stories (1921), More Rawhides (1925), and Trails Plowed Under (1927)

Died of heart attack October 24, 1926

These dates, while factual, do not tell much of his story though. They skim the surface of a man who many called and still call to this day, the "˜Greatest Painter of the Old West'.

From an early age, he disliked school immensely. This is documented by the fast that at the tender age of 15, he was shipped off to military school in Burlington, New Jersey. He lasted only one semester and was asked not to return. Art school his parents thought would be ideal. He lasted only days. He had no time for any of this. His interests were cowboys, Indians, and going west. He wanted to go west more than anything. For his sixteenth birthday, he received his greatest desire.

Believing that a stay in the "˜real world' would shake the foolishness out of him, they allowed him to go west, to the Montana territory with family friend, Pike Miller. This was a mistake. While he did not enjoy working for Mr. Miller, and was lax in his duties as sheep herder, (He was so busy painting that he never realized the sheep had wandered off) when he parted company from Mr. Miller, he did not head home. For the following two years, he worked for a mountain man that provided food and furs to local ranches.

After this time, he did head home. Staying to visit family only a short time, he quickly returned west. For the next eleven years, he achieved one of his early dreams. He worked as a "˜real' cowboy. During this time he would paint and draw nearly every day. Surprisingly, but to those that knew Charlie's good nature, maybe not so surprising, he became known as a lover of all things living. He hunted, but did not believe in killing just for the sake of a kill. He was a true gentleman.

He also had a respect for the Indian beyond what many of his day would have approved. He believed in their plight and displayed this in many ways. Before long, he was known throughout the Montana territory as a very talented western artist. Some said they had never seen better. When Charlie was 24, in the year 1888, he had the opportunity to meet and spend time among several Indian tribes. His respect for them was immediate. He would gather knowledge during this time that would show in his work for years to come.

Sometime early in his career, he started adding a buffalo skull as his "˜mark'. He would work it into the foreground and later copyrighted it as his logo. Some say this was his silent show of respect to his Indian friends representing the loss of their life, the great buffalo.

After his marriage, he would learn from his wife Nancy to take his art more seriously. She saw in him what others did, but with love added was able to show him that his art deserved respect. She took over the business end of his painting and from this time forward his career escalated.

Within a year of their marriage, they moved to Great Falls. More people resided there, so hence, there would be more people to buy his paintings. Through his lifetime though, his greatest gifts may not have been his artwork, but his friendship. If Charlie deemed to call you friend, you knew in return that you would have a friend for life. He took to sending "˜letters' to friends that were works of art themselves. The writing of the letters, colorful in prose, were also accompanied by drawings both on the letter itself but often the envelopes. It must have been a delight for not only the letter receiver, but also the letter carrier to deliver these works of "˜art'.

Many artists have come and gone, many have been called "˜western artists'. Until you have viewed the likes of his work, such as his 1907 watercolor "Beauty Parlor" depicting an Indian maiden fixing her warrior husbands hair, as he looks on in a white women's looking glass, or the 1886 "Waiting for a Chinook" of an emaciated cow waiting in snow for the warm winds to bring relief as a wolf pack sits waiting, wait to make your judgement. Once you have viewed his work, you will then know whom the greatest western that ever lived, truly was.