Charles M. Russell Museum, Home and Studio

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Charles M. Russell was born March 19th, 1864 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was an accomplished painter, sculptor, illustrator, and gifted storyteller. He had no interest in going into his father's wealthy business and at 16 years of age set out to visit the west with a friend of the family. He spent 11 years working as a ranch hand and at various other jobs in Montana. He loved painting cowboys and indians. The west and everything about it excited him. He sketched in his spare time and soon became known as quite a local artist.

He married Nancy Cooper in 1896 and moved 30 miles northeast to Great Falls, Montana. The early years of their marriage were quite difficult financially. Russell had decided to pursue a full-time carieer as an artist just four years earlier, and his work was not yet commanding healthy prices. The fact that Charlie painted original watercolors on 125 menu cards for the 1897 Christmas dinner at the Park Hotel in Great Falls for a whopping $20 gives us some appreciation of the situation. His father, C. S. Russell came to visit from St. Louis in 1898 and encouraged Nancy to take control of the business end of her husband's career. By 1899, things were looking up. C. S. had begun to send the young couple money at the end of each year and was promoting his son's work in St. Louis and through the William Macbeth Gallery in New York. Many of his paintings were sold to Europeans and some placed in famous hotels in Paris. Nancy convinced her husband to buy two lots on Fourth Avenue North and in 1900 they built a new home. It was constructed for about $800.

Shortly after this time Charlie felt he needed a "place of his own". He built a log cabin studio with a fireplace next to his house and that is where he went when he wanted to be alone or paint. The studio was completed in 1903.

Charlie had numerous famous friends, one of which was Will Rogers. He knew and met regularly with many of the local Indian chiefs around the area and was given many gifts from the indians.

He was known around the world as "The Cowboy Artist". He was considered one of the most talented men of his time. He died on Sunday, October 14, 1926 from a long-term heart affliction following several years of declining health.

The Museum holding some of his paintings and his life's work is located behind the blue house in which he lived.

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Photos

Charlie and Nancy
Charlie and Nancy built this new home in 1900 for $800. It has two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, pantry and two bathrooms.

A Place of HIs Own
There was no room in the house for Charlie to paint so he built this studio of logs in 1903. It was the place he was most himself. He kept his memorabilia here. Gifts from friends, indians, his sculptures and his paintings were in this building while he worked. He loved this place.

Gifts from Indians and friends
There were many such cases in Charlies Studio. He used these items to give him a full perspective of sizes of different objects when he was painting.

Charlies boots and Sashes
Charlie never wore a belt. He was always seen with a colorful sash worn tucked and folded Indian-style where his belt should have been. Russell began wearing sashes upon his arrival in Montana in 1880 in emulation of the old time western types he saw wearing them in the streets of Helena. They were worn by bull-whackers, traders, trappers, many of who were probably "half-breeds"(half indian, half French-Canadian) or perhaps Metis or Mitchif from Canada. The sash was to become one of his most distinctive trademarks.

Inside Charlie's Studio
This is Charlie inside his studio working on a famous painting.

The famous Chair
This chair was a gift to Charlie from an indian friend. It is made of buffalo horns. Notice the legs and arms are also made of the horns. This was considered a very important gift of friendship. Indians usually only gave these gifts once in a lifetime.

The Cradleboard
This is a hand made beaded Cradleboard used to carry the young babies by the indian squaws. Sacajawea carried John Baptiste in a similar cradleboard.

One of Charlie's Paintings
This is only one of the many hundreds of paintings Charlie did of Indian's and buffalo scenes.