In the early 1920s a group of Charles M. Russell’s closest friends in Great Falls, Montana, were partners in the Montana Newspaper Association, a venture that published advertising supplements in the state’s daily newspapers. They hit upon the idea to publish a series of entertaining stories chronicling the history of the Old West, and they prevailed on Russell to provide pen-and-ink illustrations for each one. These stories appeared nearly every Sunday for a year, from March 5, 1922, through February 18, 1923. Most of Montana’s 170 newspapers carried this popular series. For his part, Russell was glad to participate; he loved the history of the American West and avidly read many books on the subject. Today these wonderfully narrative drawings stand apart from the articles they once accompanied. The original ink drawing pictured here was originally in the estate of the artist’s widow, Nancy C. Russell. It is part of the largest selection of them to be found anywhere—almost half the number that the artist eventually produced for the series. In each of them, Russell’s fluid and dexterous lines create a vivid picture of truly historic events—elevating them to the power of epic and myth. The open-range cattle industry flourished in the decades following the Civil War, and the rich grasslands of Montana, where Russell worked as a night herder in the 1880s and early 1890s, was one of its grandest arenas. Russell’s drawing depicts the annual spring roundup to brand the calves, a memorable event that lasted three to four weeks. Russell often expressed his admiration for the roping skills of the cowboy, and he practiced twirling a lariat himself as part of his daily exercise. Despite all that has been written about the cowboy of the open range, it was far from a free and easy life. It is estimated that during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, only one-third to one-half as many riders worked from December through March as from April to November. Many worked only one season or part of a season, and the rest of the time they managed to survive on handouts, odd jobs, or meager savings. Cowboys were independent insofar as they were free to ride over the range in search of errant cattle, but the fact is that ranchers exercised considerable control over the labor force. By 1890, when the industry was in decline, there was a glut of “unemployed punchers and broncho busters” on the North American frontier.