It's hard to look at the art work of Charles M. Russell,  and not see written on them stories and accounts of cowboy life in the "Old West".  Almost A Cowboy  interprets four of Russell's paintings.  A biographical sketch of Charlie Russell, along with his picture, follows the poem.

 
HERD QUITTERS by Charles M. Russell

ALMOST A COWBOY

He was almost a cowboy...
almost, but not quite.
Poor Jones couldn't seem
t' do the job right.
He could castrate the bulls
and brand the new steers....
but not like the cowpokes
who'd done it for years.

He'd average with pokes
when it came to his looks;
but one glance would tell you
his place was with books.
"Boston", they called him;
then ragged about beans,
and how he looked baked
in his Boston-bought jeans.

One roundup, he rode out
with two other pokes.
Like always poor Jones
was the butt of their jokes.
Their Job? Rope Big Ugly,
and bring the bull in;
corral him, castrate him,
and brand the brute's skin.

WHEN COWBOYS WERE WILD by Charles M. Russell

 

 

 

   A CRITICAL MOMENT by Charles M. Russell

The lasso of one poke
caught Big Ugly's horn.
The bull lunged. In seconds
the man was air-borne.
Up like an eagle-
then down like a rock!
The poke hit the dust
like a winged, squawking hawk.

He was raked through the cactus,
the rocks and the sage.
As the bull snaked the cowboy,
he bellowed with rage.
The loop that Jones threw
went sadly awry...
a bit too much snap,
a little too high.
Meanwhile the bull
gored the second poke's horse.
It bucked and the cowboy
pitched forward with force.

The bull charged toward him
with blood in his eyes-
and a look that said,
"Pray- and then say your goodbyes."
The man read his eyes
and said a quick prayer;
but Boston-Baked Jones
was the only help there.

Too bridled and gun shy.
Not grisly or tough.
Just half of a cowboy....
not nearly enough.
But Jones acted fast.
He was awkward, but quick.
He threw out loop two,
and this toss did the trick.

He lassoed Big Ugly,
and jerked the rope tight;
but the bull was part lightening-
the other part, fight!
Though short on the skill,
he was long on the luck.
When the bull shot up skyward
another loop struck.

The two cowboys made it,
though covered with mud;
with flesh skinned like bark,
and dripping with blood.
They didn't call Jones
half a cowboy again.
It was cowboy... and then some...
that saved those two men.

 Bette Wolf Duncan
          copyright 1999
 
ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO by Charles M. Russell
          You have a choice, return to Home page, next poem, or what I recommend... continue reading about the man who painted the four paintings featured on this page.
 

             

   CHARLES M. RUSSELL    

  

1864 - 1926
 
       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 the next page.)