Charlie Russell: Mountain Man

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Of the millions of cowboys,trappers and mountain men camped out in the rugged mountains and long plains of Montana, very few were artists. Even fewer had a dream as big and ambitious as Charlie Russell’s, and nobody shared the amount of respect and love he had for the West. He created art now renowned around the world, and his statue stands in the US Capitol Building representing all of Montana. But what made the cowboy’s art so famous was the way he lived. In 1864, a happy couple lived with their 3 children, Sue, Silas, and newborn Charlie in Saint Louis, Missouri. Charles Russell, the man of the family, worked in the tile industry, and had high hopes for one of his sons to take over the family business someday. The Russells were a very …show more content…

At this time, Jake Hoover worked as a local hunter and was an experienced mountain man. When Hoover and Charlie met, they immediately realised they had an instant connection. They decided to share a cabin on the South Fork of Judith River. Hoover became Charlie's mentor and friend, he taught him about the Native American culture, survival in the West and much more. Eventually, Charlie started working for Hoover on his ranch. It was now 1882, and Charlie decided it was time to see his family again, so he packed some things and said goodbye to Hoover. When Charlie finally got back to Oak Tree he discovered that his family was quite happy with his new career as a rancher and they had convinced Charlie's cousin James Fulkerson to go back with him. This was initially a lot to for Charlie to take in, he now had someone he had to take care of along with himself. But, only 2 weeks after arriving in Billings, James died of “mountain fever” on May 27th, 1883. ("Charles Marion Russell - The Complete Works") Charlie Russell decided it was about time for him to retire. It could have been the recent death of his cousin that set off this sudden decision, but Charlie had been a cowboy for 11 years, and had completed his cowboy dream. Now he wanted to become a full time artist.("Charles M. Russell") It wasn't until the winter of 1886-1887 that Charlie’s art career truly started. When a friend from Oak Hill asked how the winter was in the wild wild west.Charlie responded with a small letter featuring a boney and starving bull being stalked by wolves. After seeing this letter, Charlie’s friend featured in in the window of his downtown store. Charlie Russell started to become a common name in Saint Louis, and people sent letters to him asking what the west was like hoping to get a letter in return. Charlie Russell decided he needed to set up shop. He moved into the back of Shelton’s Bar, Shelton being Charlie's close

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