Russell the Revolutionary

Russell the Revolutionary

Charles Marion Russell.  Remember that guy?  His mother was a Bent, his great-uncle killed at Taos in the territorial transition following the Mexican War.  He had just been appointed Territorial Governor (the same position later held by Thomas Meagher in Montana) - "military governor" would be more accurate, or Gauleiter, if you want to to use the Nazi hierarchy as a model. 

The Bent's were as important to the development of the Southwest as, say, Pierre Chouteau or Manual Lisa were to the Upper Missouri.  And Fort Benton and the American Fur Company were basically just the "Northern Branch" of the same outfit based in St. Louis.   These were the first big Metis corporations, in which the company heads and employees were encouraged (and rewarded) for marrying into the indigenous tribes.  These were legitimate marriages between practicing Catholics.  And the names and companies and tribes still exist, and interact with each other along the same lines. 

Thomas Hart Benton was the first and greatest "Senator From Missouri," and a bloody imperialist to the core - John Charles Fremont was his son-in-law, and together, they are credited with securing the conquest of California, among other things.  It was for him that the American Fur Company (largely owned by John J. Astor, the man who endowed Central Park in NYC) named Fort Benton.  Earlier, there had been a succession of trading forts on the Upper Missouri, including one just downstream from Fort Benton, near Loma. 

So, the local "boosters" of economic development, whom Russell vociferously opposed, were none other than Russell, himself, his family and associates.  He was at the center of what future sustainability historians might see as a "revolutionary cell" - bent (no pun intended) on overthrowing the natural, sustainable, long-term regime - that of the Plains Indians.

But of course they didn't see it that way, and neither did the Plains Indians.  For Indians, just like us, there are "good guys" and "bad guys", and it doesn't matter what race or color you are.  The main difference was that the Indians lived artful, natural lives, while we "white people" are basically suicidal and poisoning ourselves in our own pollution. 

Charlie rebelled and immediately became a "man of the people" - ALL the people.   His family had owned slaves pre-Civil War, although Charlie wasn't born until the end of it, in 1865.  Russell is the guy who really "turned Indian."  Once he saw the process with his own eyes, he couldn't help but join the Resistance, and defend Native peoples with all his abilities and resources.  Think of the film "Avatar" - basically the same story in futuristic terms, and we know James Cameron is a big fan of Montana!  He named the nuclear sub in "The Abyss" for us. 

And that is why the local Great Falls business community has always hated Russell, and tried to suppress or otherwise get rid of his work.  It's worth a lot in oil money, so that's where most of it has gone - to the Oil Barons and the the museums they established.  The proverbial "supply and demand." 

I finally got a chance to see the current watercolors exhibit at the Russell Museum here in Great Falls.  I was attending the Silent Film Festival, which outlined some of Russell's connections with Hollywood.  Both were excellent shows.  Although I was already familiar with most of the works, there, I hadn't seen many of the borrowed ones "in the flesh", so to speak.  Half or more are in Great Falls or Helena permanently, and others borrowed from private collectors.  The other big contributor was the Amon Carter Museum, which purchased the Mint Collection in the 1950's.
  
Russell's last big commission was for Doheny, the Los Angeles oil man whose mansion later became the home of the American Film Institute.  There are watercolor sketches for that commission, including the transition from the Plains Indians to oil fields, and we are told that Russell was not happy about having to include the latter for this oil millionaire.  (Nancy no doubt said, "Shut up and paint the damn picture.  He's paid us a fortune.")

Some of us have been diligently following this process (the expropriation of the Russell Legacy by the Oil Junta from Texas, Oklahoma, and California), and attempting to alter it whenever the opportunity arises.  Since I practically grew up playing around Russell's home and studio, and the beginnings of the Museum which now exists, I claim some right to have an opinion on these issues. 

Unfortunately, that's just about all that I can have or do.  And few, if any, listen.  There aren't a lot of people who share a love for the work of CM Russell who also have an understanding of the history and politics behind his work - especially that pertaining to Native Americans and their plight and struggle. 

For many, he has simply become a brand name - a "profit center" for our local community so that even something as simple and important as the Russell Auction cannot withstand the pressures of dealers, local convention and tourist businesses, and the demands of political expediency in managing the affairs of the City of Great Falls.  Randy Gray, we should remember, was a long-time chairman of the Russell Museum board.  And many other prominent local people served on it - few with any distinction or credit to themselves.  Replacing these people with a "National Board" (which does include a few wealthier Montanans - basically, you have to buy your way on to it) has been disastrous - even while the bricks and mortar (and debts) pile up. 

Several important works from the collection have already been sold, as well as the works of other Western artists closely associated with the Russell Tradition.  Imagine Russell as one of the 5 best-known French Impressionists.  That was approximately his stature among the Western American painters and sculptors (and writers, film-makers, etc.), and it still is.  His work is our greatest treasure, and using and abusing it as has been done in recent years (clearly marked by the firing of Elizabeth Dear and dispersing the archives she assembled regarding the Catalog Raisonne) is simply another sign of the decline and impending destruction of our Satanic nuclear garrison town.