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.