Portrait of an Indian

Charles Marion Russell earned his reputation as "the Cowboy Artist" for his dynamic action pictures, based on his intimate knowledge and appreciation of frontier life, first working as a horse wrangler and then as a cowboy. Born in 1864 in St. Louis, Missouri, Russell grew up reading James Fenimore Cooper's novels of the frontier and the numerous dime store westerns, dreaming of living the life of a cowboy. At the age of fifteen, his parents, frustrated by the boy's poor academic record and frequent truancy, arranged a trip to Montana, hoping that a summer out West would instill direction and discipline. Much to his parents' disappointment, however, Russell never came back. In coming to and ultimately settling in this new territory, Russell selected a lifestyle that varied markedly from the privileged world into which he had been born in St. Louis.

St. Louis, MO, USA