In his seminal book The Mustangs (1952), the Texas historian J. Frank Dobie observed that the wild horse was “the most beautiful, the most spirited and the most inspiriting creature ever to print foot on the grasses of America.” These animals—whose name was an English corruption of the Spanish mesteña, meaning wild horse stock—were legendary for their acuity of sight and smell, especially when man was present. By Russell’s time, small bands of mustangs, each dominated by a stallion, roamed throughout the West. This painting shows a group of cowboys, or “mustangers,” at work. Nancy Russell described the scene: “The wild horse is the wildest of all animals. . . . In a level country it is almost impossible for any rider, no matter how good his mount, to get near enough to use a rope. These riders have cut-banked a bunch by running them into a pocket in the Badlands where they have them cornered.” As the riders move into the ravine, the frightened mustangs attempt to scramble up its steep sides. One cowboy, having roped the black stallion that leads the band, has taken his dallies (wrapped the rope around the saddle horn), while deftly swinging his weight away from the saddle to assist his struggling horse. The other riders move in to aid the successful roper, who will surely have a fight on his hands. One of the more striking aspects of this painting is Russell’s use of vibrant color. Vivid hues of blue, pink, and lavender flow across the background and melt into the shadows of the ravine, contrasting with the strong earth colors of the rocks and undergrowth. Even though his color was sometimes criticized for being too garish, Russell defended it by saying that every ranchman and Indian that he knew was satisfied by it, because they had seen such colors in the Montana landscape.