Charles Marion Russell and Companion Posing in Studio, 1887

In 1887, Charles Marion Russell reached a turning point in his early artistic journey. That year, his watercolor Waiting for a Chinook, a stark, emotional portrayal of a starving cow during Montana’s brutal winter, caught widespread attention. The piece struck a chord with viewers across the country, highlighting both the plight of cattlemen and Russell’s raw ability to convey the unforgiving realities of frontier life. This work marked the beginning of his public recognition and hinted at the powerful storyteller he would become.

Around the same time, a photograph was taken in Helena, Montana, showing a youthful Russell alongside his friend Wallace Stairley. Captured by photographer R.H. Beckwith, the image presents Russell not as a famous painter but as a cowboy immersed in the world he would later immortalize. Still carving out his identity, he was living the very life he would come to document so vividly, surrounded by rugged landscapes, enduring friendships, and the shifting rhythm of the American West.

In 1887, the same year that Charlie’s watercolor Waiting for a Chinook attracted national attention, the artist poses with Wallace Stairley in Helena, Montana, in this R.H. Beckwith photograph.

Now housed in the Charles M. Russell Research Collection at the Gilcrease Museum, that photograph endures as more than a historical artifact, it’s a window into the formative years of a man who gave voice to a vanishing era. Though fame would follow, Russell never strayed from his roots. The 1887 portrait reminds us of the authenticity behind his legacy: an artist shaped by the land, loyal to its people, and driven to paint the truth of the West with honesty and heart.

Charles Marion Russell, also known as C. M. Russell, Charlie Russell, and “Kid” Russell, was an American artist of the Old American West. Russell created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Indians, and landscapes set in the Western United States and in Alberta, Canada, in addition to bronze sculptures. Known as the “cowboy artist” because he was both a cowboy and an artist. Russell was also a storyteller, author, historian, advocate of Native Americans, cowboy, outdoorsman, philosopher, environmentalist, and conservationist.