This watercolor, probably done not long after Russell came to the Montana Territory at the age of fifteen, shows his early, somewhat crude style. According to family tradition, he first learned to use watercolors under the tutelage of his mother. In the years immediately following the Civil War, there was a resurgence of interest in watercolor painting among artists, and a corresponding rise in the audience for them. Watercolor, which could apply to the feminine pursuits of flower painting, was widely taught to women who could afford the time for hobbies. Russell essentially was self-taught as a watercolor painter, but he learned the rudiments of the medium at a time when how-to books and inexpensive materials were becoming widely available to amateurs. This watercolor may be compared with any others by Russell done ten years later to see how far he had come in terms of style and skill. Almost all of his acquired knowledge of proper watercolor technique seems to have come from people who had access to some of the amateur manuals, or perhaps from the manuals themselves, which were readily obtainable, even in the Montana Territory.