In February 1918 Charles and Nancy Russell traveled to the Southwest, where he had the opportunity to closely observe the Navajo Indians. On February 13 he wrote his friend, the California artist Edward Borein, that he wished he had a better understanding of the Navajos and their history. He added that if he were to stay in the Southwest, they would be his principal subjects. He told Borein about an encounter with a group of Navajos herding horses: “most of these riders looked like the real thing in their high-forked saddles and concho belts, silver and turquoise necklaces and earrings. . . . They were all hatless; some wore split pants, their shirts were Navajo make, but it’s a safe bet that if we could drop back in history they would be shy the shirt. They rode short stirrups and each [one] packed a skin rope. They were not like the Indians I know, but everything on them spelt wild people and horsemen.” This black and white oil study was executed some years earlier as the cover design for Leslie’s Weekly for April 21, 1904. It therefore was done at a time when Russell had not yet visited the Southwest to see the Navajo Indians firsthand. Nevertheless, he accurately shows the central figure with hoop earrings, concho belt, and authentic leggings. The heavy Navajo blanket, however, is a late design and would not have been carried on the horse. The limited color palette in this drawing was due to the requirements of the three-color printing process that was used for the cover of the magazine.