The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-03-11

hunter in Montana, with his knowl
edge of the woods, of all wild ami
mails and of frontier life, seemed al
ideal companion to the boy. Hoove-
had been in the gold camps of Vir
GINA City, Bannack and Last Chance
in the early COS, and he had a never
ending supply of stories of the ole
west that Russell loved to hear.
At the end of the two years Rus
sell was attracted by life on the
range and became a horse wrangle1
on the roundup. In 1888 he follow
ed the herds across the Missouri
river and lived on Milk river most OF
the time until 1892, when he came
to Great Falls, where he has made
his home most of the time since.
Russell As An Artist
Russells work as an artist began
almost as soon as he reached Mon
tana. To early residents of the Jul
dith Basin he was kid" Russell, and
he was known far and near as the kid
who painted pictures. His early eff
forts were mostly in the line of Carl
cature of the people with whom he
anne in contact, and were necessarily
crude, but always so true to life that
they were greatly in demand. AS he
matured he began, almost uncon-
sciously, to paint the range life and
the Indian life about him. He was
a marvellous observer of detail, and
he never forgot anything he had
seen.
Today Russell's paintings adorn
the palaces of royalty of Europe and
r purchased by wealthy Americans,
Englishmen and Canadians, for to-
day it takes money to buy any kind
of a Russell canvas. In recent years
it has been difficult for him to get
enough paintings ahead for his ex-
hibits in New York and other eastern
and western cities, for orders always
keep ahead of his output.
Russell is by far the best known
Montanan alive today. His name is
known the length and breadth of the
United States and Canada, and to the
art world the earth over. At the age
of SIS he is in his prime, for from the
standpoint of art, his work has be-
come better every year. He is a typi-
cal westerner, nor at home among
OAd L AClANO Llont WICh nlIA ACW az
quaintances who seek to lionize him.
Plain in manner, unpretentious in
appearance, with a face that tells of
depth of character, there is that
about Russell which stamps him as
very unusual man in any company.
Russel's Famous Ancestors
Russell ONE by his love of the
DID west naturally for his great uncle
his fathers side was William
Bent, one of the most famous char
lcters of western frontier life. Rus
grandmother was a sister of
Bent.
The Bent family is one of the old
est md most distinguished in st.
Silas Bent, father of Rus
ellis grandmother, was born in the
'olony of Massachusetts in 1868.
lis father was n of those who at
ended the Boston Tea Party"
'ilas came to st. Louis in 1904 at the
ime the government of Louisiana
Tas turned over to American author
ties. Here he served as judge of the
uperior court and died in 1927.
William w. Bent, with his three
trothers, Charles, George and Ro-
'ert, became prominent in the In
ian trade in the west between 1920
nd 1850, and remained trading in
hat region until they died.
The leading spirit in this family
f Indian traders was Russell's great
ncle, William w. Bent. George
Bent was on the Upper Missouri
liver, in what is Montana today, as
arly as 1916 in the employ of the
american Fur Company. William
first adventure into the west !
IN wilderness was also in the en- !
10y of the American Fur Company
mong the Sioux Indians. ]
In 1924 William Bent built a trad
lg post on the Arkansas river in
{ Pueblo and was the first perman- |
Mt white settler in what is Col
RADIO. By his fair and open deal |
lgs and his fearlessness, he won the '
Onfidence of the Indians and retain
d it till his death. Among the
0ugh fraternity of mountain trap
ers he was also very popular and
ad a reputation for great courage.
Almost equally popular and re-
)ected was his brother, Charles
ent, who took a most active part in
he Santa Fe trade of the company,
ften being elected captain of the
chilly laden of the Missouri
Charles Bent was appoint
l governor of the territory by Gener-
Kearny and shortly afterward
lere was an uprising of Pueblo In
JAMS in the governors home town
here he had gone for a few days
with his family, and the red
started out to kill every Ameri-
IN in the settlement. They went
the governors house first and
ordered him in cold blood, and the
DRY is substantiated that he faced
e end with a calmness and stoicism
l~aracteristic of the race of strong
from which he came.
In 1928 William Bent, with st.
rain, another noted Indian trader,
,gan the construction of the cele-
'ated Bent's Fort on the Arkansas
yer, about Is miles from where
stands today. 1t took four
,ars to complete it, and it was of
.obe brick construction. 1t was des-
ned to become the most famous
all the western trading posts from
- NFaUiaou 1snA 20 Gonnda moi aU-