The subject of an Indian buffalo hunt was the most common in Russell’s entire oeuvre. In this subject he found an overriding symbol for the romantic glory of the early frontier, and it is hardly surprising that he depicted a buffalo hunt in one of his earliest creations in bronze, as well as in his first published story, “Early Days on the Buffalo Range,” which appeared in Recreation magazine in April 1897. In the story, the narrator observes a young Piegan hunter named Sleeping Thunder riding furiously after a group of fleeing buffalo. With his fleet buffalo horse closing in on one of the running animals, Sleeping Thunder sends an arrow from his powerful short bow deep into the animal’s side. It is a successful strike; the arrow enters the bison’s body just behind the rib cage to sever arteries in its internal organs. Soon the animal will weaken and eventually drop from a loss of blood, and it will be finished off. Russell apparently had only one cast of the Buffalo Hunt made at the Roman Bronze Works between 1902 and 1919. It is recorded as “#1” in the foundry ledger for June 6, 1905. Since the Roman Bronze Works records for 1920–26 have not survived, it is not known whether any other casts of the Buffalo Hunt were made prior to Russell’s death. However, in December 1926, a few months after Russell’s death, Nancy Russell notified the collector George D. Sack that a bronze cast of the Buffalo Hunt was ready for him. In his notes to his collection, Sack identified his bronze as the “second cast,” leading one to believe that the bronze pictured here, dated 1905, was the first and only cast made during the artist’s lifetime. Although a number of casts were made after 1928 under Mrs. Russell’s supervision, those casts differ considerably in texture, finish, and detail from the unique early work. Following Mrs. Russell’s death, the inventory of her estate showed four bronzes of the Buffalo Hunt, including the first version pictured here.