Indian Fight painting going up in my house!

[Doug.38PR]

When I was a little baby I remember this painting hanging up in my dad's office.  He closed his office when I was around 8 and the painting sat in the garage for 5 years or so until dad put it up in the den.  Mom never really liked "the dead Indian painting" in her den as, to her, it looked unattractive seeing a dead indian sprawled out laying dead on the ground in the SW portion. LOL!!!  Anyway, the painting has been sitting in the garage at mom and dad's for about 20 years.  I've taken it up to my house to put in my study.  The frame needs work, but this is the painting itself.

Interesting how they are not all using winchesters as is so often seen.  The one on the farright appears to be using a Sharps Carbine.  At first I thought it was a Spencer until I noticed the long cartridges on his belt.   The dead man behind him appears to have been using a Yellow Boy.  The man with the head injury looks like he's using a Yellow Boy as well.

The artist name says at the bottom under the dead indian "C.M. Russell, 1898"  

I always thought this either Texas Ranger fight with Comanches or Cowboys attacked by raiding Comanches.   The landscape and the hot weather lack of clothing for the Indians looks more to me like Comanches in West Texas.   But somebody commenting on a google flick photo of it says it's Gold Miners in Montana fighting Blackfeet or Souix.  Claims it's because that's where C.M. Russell grew up.  But that doesn't look like Montana to me.

[Forty Rod]

Very nice.  Something for your kids to fight over some day.

[Don Nix]

Is that a painting or a print?

[Doug.38PR]

I think it's a print.  But I'm not sure.  Anyway, I just picked it up today all repaired.  Looking to hang it in the study

[St. George]

It's a print - I have the same one.

Scouts Out!

[Trailrider]

I'd have to look it up, but Russell spent his life from the time he was fifteen in Central Montana. That's not Square Butte in the center of the picture, but the country could be north of the Missouri River, where running into Blackfeet was likely. Of course, Charlie painted scenery from memory of his considerable ranging throughout central Montana. There are places in some of his paintings where I can recognize places where, in more modern times, there could be a Minuteman missile Launch Facility just over the next rise or around the bend in the creek bed!  Back in the late sixties, there was a bar shown in one of his paintings that was still standing and still in business, in Utica, in the Judith Basin country. Missile maintainers would drive past the buildings on the way to one of the (ironically-designated) "Charlie-flight" sites. Enjoy your painting! 

[Ol Gabe]

Pards, I'll apologize up front for I don't want to offend anyone, just pass on a remembrance...
Many, many years ago, a friend purchased one of those compilation books showing all the paintings a certain artist did and some background on them, which museum had them at the time of printing, details on the subject, etc. He had one of those coffee table books on Russell and it was fun to look at from a historical perspective as we were both involved in reenacting at the time.
If I recall correctly, the print you show above was in that book, he also did many that used backgrounds similar to California and the Spanish influence, mountain valleys and such.
Again, it has been over 20 years but I think I remember one of the prints in the book was of a tipi with a little Indian child peeking inside. The original painting was said to have had a flap that the viewer could lift and see inside, the flap being the hide door to the tipi. The book had recreated the 'flap' and you could lift it to see what the little Indian child was seeing. Russell was said to have an odd sense of humor and painted a few of these for 'special order' customers that wanted something not to be seen by the normal gallery crowd. When you lifted the flap to look inside you supposedly saw George A. Custer engaged in an act of, well, he was with an Indian maid and they were having fun, so to speak.
OK, it has been over 20 years since I saw that book, haven't seen one anywhere since in a book store or auction, it is probably out of print but I'm guessing that someone out there in this crew has also seen it or knows of it. PBS also did a series on frontier painters around the 1980's and it may have been in that as well, been a long time since I saw the series and don't think it is available anywhere. In that series, they did a recreation of Russell in his studio, loaded with props, saddles, tack, firearms, bows and arrows, lances, etc. Must have been a hoot to have worked on that film crew surrounded by all that historical stuff.
Many artists did contract work that is still in private collections and every so often something pops up at an estate sale and goes for top dollar. Remember the Custer painting Augie Busch contracted to be put above the bar in saloons that exclusively sold his product? It originally was a triptych, three paintings, the left was of Custer standing, the center was the 'last Stand', the one on the right was said to be Sitting Bull. Many saloons had them but due to space only hung the battle print, putting the other two elsewhere in the room. Very few survive and are in need of restoration as the prints were exposed to sunlight fading, smoke and other damaging factors such as spillage of strong fluids. Sorry, but I can't recall the locations of any existing triptychs except reading about them many years ago when 'Son of the Morning Star' came out. Any observations or comments about the prints and other frontier artist contract works are always of interest.
Best regards and good luck in your art research and enjoy your print!
'Ol Gabe   

[ChuckBurrows]

Nice print - the title is A Desperate Stand and it is set in eastern Montana, which normally real hot and dry in the summer time with high temps in the upper 90's and often over 100°F.

[wyldwylliam]

That has always been one of my favorite prints from ol' Charlie. Particularly like the perspective of the guy shooting over the back of the white horse. My Grandfather started collecting Remington and Russell prints back in the 'teens and the house I grew up in in New Mexico was positively festooned with them. Glad you snagged it from the garage.

[Trailrider]

Nice print - the title is A Desperate Stand and it is set in eastern Montana, which normally real hot and dry in the summer time with high temps in the upper 90's and often over 100°F.

Oh, yeah! And New Years Day of 1969 it was -52 deg.F in Great Falls (a record broken a year or two later at -54 deg.F !!!), and there was NO wind, just pure temperature! Even when it was a "warm" -30 or so, if you were out on the open range and had to relieve your bladder, you'd better be quick. And you could hear the stream crackle as it flew through the air!  Fortunately, we were younger then, and it didn't take as long!  How cold was it? It was so cold, we couldn't keep the diesel-powered front end loaders used to dig the snow away from a site running. Gasoline engines were okay, providing you could start them in the first place! Five weight motor oil was good to about -37, but at -52 it turned to sludge, even with a tank heater plugged in! And those were "the good ol' days"! 

[Jubal Starbuck]

    The painting is shown in "Charles M. Russell"  by Frederick Renner on page 136 and the Indians are of the Blackfoot tribe.  Glad to see this post---it gave me an excuse to go find my book and thumb through it.

[cpt dan blodgett]

Oh, yeah! And New Years Day of 1969 it was -52 deg.F in Great Falls (a record broken a year or two later at -54 deg.F !!!), and there was NO wind, just pure temperature! Even when it was a "warm" -30 or so, if you were out on the open range and had to relieve your bladder, you'd better be quick. And you could hear the stream crackle as it flew through the air!  Fortunately, we were younger then, and it didn't take as long!  How cold was it? It was so cold, we couldn't keep the diesel-powered front end loaders used to dig the snow away from a site running. Gasoline engines were okay, providing you could start them in the first place! Five weight motor oil was good to about -37, but at -52 it turned to sludge, even with a tank heater plugged in! And those were "the good ol' days"! 

Grew up in the Bitterroot, moved there from Chinook when I was less than 2 because mom (from San Francisco) could not stand the plains winters.  Much warmer in the Bitterroot hardly ever got colder than 30 below.  Sunny day -10 hunting with dad was long john and flannel shirt weather as long as we were moving.  Coat needed when stopped.

[Trailrider]

As Mark Twain said, "Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does much about it!" Even with modern "prediction" equipment, you can't do much about it. For example, a year ago, Denver had a high in the upper 80's! The chill factor in Denver this morning was 7 degrees. We had about 3 inches of snow, the seventh snowfall in April! (Not bad weather...for February!  )  Forecast for the weekend is in the 70's!  Go figure!