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1864 - 1926
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Charles M. Russell was born and
raised in St. Louis, Missouri. It would be impossible to
overestimate the effect of books on his development.
The Cooper novels were
sacred to him as well as the dime novels portraying the
so-called Wild West. Charlie insisted he never would
have learned to read if it were not for these "yaller-back
novels". His schooldays in St. Louis were unhappy. While he may have
explored the dime novels, he did not like to study out
of books. Instead he passed his time to the annoyance of
his teachers, by sketching in the margins of his school
learners and looking out of the windows. His family was
prosperous and they were prominent. They tried
unsuccessfully to change him. When they failed, they
sent him for a brief period of time to a military school
in Vermont.
He proved resistant to education and his family
finally gave in. They let him go to Montana to pit his
romantic visions of the West against the mundane
realities. Charlie received a rude awakening in his
quest to become a Westerner. His first job was as a
sheepherder; and cowboys would not associate with
sheepherders. Charlie did not long tolerate his
assignment to, what the cowboys considered, the lower
caste. He soon drifted into the company of a hunter and
mountain man, Jake Hoover. He lived with Hoover for
about two years and learned to shift for himself in
rough country. Russell showed up one morning at the camp
of Horace Brewster, boss of a cattle outfit that
operated in the Judith basin. He had 50 cents in his
pocket and looked like he needed a job. He got one; he
was hired as horse wrangler. Much to Brewster's
surprise, Charlie got the hang of nighthawking quickly;
and he nighthawked for the next eleven years. He worked
the camp roundups in spring and summer and the beef
roundup for shipment in the fall.
While there were those who found fault with
Charlie's riding and roping, no one had a bad word to
say about his congenial personality. He was considered
by Horace Brewster to be "the most popular kid on the
range". He was down-to-earth person and considered to be
honest, hard working, and fun loving. Russell did not
intend to be an artist, although he sketched or painted
on most occasions when he was not actually working. He
began to realize that the Old West that he knew and
loved was about to flicker out. He began to devote most
of his time to capturing the roundups, cattle drives,
the open range, Indian camps, campfires and hunting
trips on canvas and in sculptures. Around 1891,
Russell's work began to be noticed when his painting
"The Last of the 5000, Waiting For
The Chinook" was printed on a postcard and
sold across the country. (This painting is featured on
"5000 Minus One".) |
Web Site Map
(A click of the mouse
will take you there.)
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New poems from contemporary poets: |
Devil Herd
by Dale "Doc" Hayes
Riders On The Rough String
by Jeff Streeby
Black Sunday by Bette Wolf Duncan
The Corral
by
T. J.
Casey
The Lord's Creation
by Dave P. Fisher
Requiem & Home Place by Roger
Traweek
THE BIG DIE UP
by Mike Puhallo
Big Sky, Big Cry Blues
by Bette Wolf Duncan
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2005
Charlie Russell Poetry Contest Winners |
Blue Ribbon Winner-MIKE
LOGAN
"Men Of The Open Range"
Rod Nichols (Honored
Guest) "Charlie
Russell"
Jane Morton
Seein'
Santa"
Mike Puhallo
"Charlie
Russell's Trail"
Verlin Pitt
"Races With
Grizzlies"
Merve Webster
"Cook's Swag Of Do's And Don'ts"
Michael Whitaker
"Obligations"
Brian Brannon
"Angels A-Hossback"
Harvey Derrick & Shelley
Ann Richter
"Tattered
And Torn"
Catherine Lilbit Devine
Wooly 'N Wild Flowers of the West" and
"Rodeo's
Harold Miller
"I
Rode With Custer"
ART OF CHARLES M. RUSSELL
p.1
MORE
ART OF CHARLES M. RUSSELL
p.2
Great
Poetry Of The Old West
RODEO COUNTRY
The author, Bette
Wolf Duncan, grew up
in southeastern
Montana, not far
from the Wyoming
border. This is
Rodeo Country; and
she celebrates this
rich western
heritage with poems
and photos of
regional rodeo
champions. She is
the granddaughter of
early Montana and
North Dakota
pioneers; and she
was married to a
former cowboy whose
grandparents were
among the earliest
ranchers in
southeast Montana.
She can still hear
with her heart the
pioneers tales of
relatives and other
old-timers. This
book is the echo of
their tales and of
good times
remembered.
RODEO COUNTRY
contains a
collection of poetry
and written accounts
that embody much of
the history and
events that shaped
Montana and Wyoming:
the westward
movement of the
covered wagons;
Buffalo Bill Cody
and his Wild West
Show;
data and poem about
Earl Durand;
Wyoming's enactment
of the Suffrage Act
(the first state to
do so);
the Mormon handcart
trek through Wyoming;
Black Sunday
(April 14, 1935) and
the dust bowl; the
Johnson County War;
the Coal Mine
Disaster at
Bearcreek, MT;
the disastrous
winter of
1885-1886;the
migration of the
homesteaders (the
Honyockers) from
about 1910 to 1922,
in large portions of
Montana and Wyoming;
and
the recession that
hit farms/ranches in
the 1980s.
And of course the
book features bios,
stats, photos and
poetry about the
rodeo champions from
Montana and Wyoming.
RODEO COUNTRY
received the 2007
Will Rogers
Medallion Award for
Outstanding
Achievement in the
Publishing of Cowboy
Poetry.
The author has an earlier book, RUSSELL
COUNTRY.
It features
poems about the Old
West; and contains
copies of the art of
Charlie Russell
along with
biographical data.
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You can
order
RUSSELL
COUNTRY
and/or
RODEO
COUNTRY
by snail
mail:
B Bar D
Publications
1755
S.E.
108th
Runnells,
IA 50237
(515)
966 2461
Or by
e-mail:
wacobelle@msn.com
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT!
This stagecoach is always runnin' and new poems
are added frequently
...so come back soon.
In the meantime, a right click will take you
to my sister web sites:
The Cowboy Poetry of
CASEY'S CORRAL
The Cowboy Western Poetry of
THE RANGE WRITERS
The cowboy Poetry Collection of
RODEO COUNTRY
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No material on this web site may be excerpted, copied, or
reproduced, used or performed in any form (graphic, electronic or mechanical)
without the express written permission of Wacobelle Productions, or the author
or artist of a particular work published herein.
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