Charlie Russell: Mountain Man

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

prominent family in Saint Louis. Charles’ uncles were the famous Bent Boys, who were famous adventurers. Charles’ grandfather was a Chief Justice of the Missouri Territory, and this set high expectations for their family, especially the newborn Charlie. Mary Russell, Charlie’s mother, stayed at home and took care of the children. As the years went on, she had 3 more children, Edward, Guy and Wolfort (McCracken) . In 1869, the Russells moved to Oak Hill, a small town near Saint Louis due to Mary’s declining health. Charlie was a very artistic kid, he often would draw things in the dirt, or make small sculptures out of mud. One day, a family friend gave Charlie a small slice of beeswax. From that day on, Charlie was known to always carry wax in his pocket that he would take out and fiddle with on occasion. Charlie listened to stories from the people who passed through the small town of Oak Hill on their way to Saint Louis. He would watch cowboys, trappers, adventurers and explorers come back from the West with stories of wild bull chases, bar fights, and indian war parties. ("Biography Charles Marion Russell") Charlie was sold, he knew he wanted to be a cowboy, and was determined to make that happen. At age 14, Charlie ran away to Montana to see for himself what it was like to be a cowboy. Outraged, his father had him sent home almost immediately, and realising he had no interest in taking over the tile business, sent him to military school in New Jersey. He lasted only one semester. Coming home from his short school experience, Charlie decided to persuade his family to let him go to Montana. So, several days before his 16th birthday, his parents sent him to a friends sheep ranch in Judith Basin. There he found a job wrangling sheep there, but he found it boring and unlike the life he had aspired to have. There was no time to draw and experience Montana, and the people around him was dull and unlike the wild cowboys and wranglers he had seen pass through Oak Hill. (Shelton)
Charlie was ready for a different experience of the West.

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

friend, and set up his art studio. Here he created some of his early work like “Breaking Camp”, which Charlie later promoted with the painting ending up in an art gallery out of state. Here