Harry T. “Tom” Duckett

“Charlie Russell and I traveled the same trails for a number of years in the days of our youth in Montana. He was a type of man and friend one does not forget.” - H.T. Duckett

Duckett cowboyed on the range with Russell in Montana during the 1880s and early 1890s. He then worked as a newspaperman on the East Coast and in California.

Dick Bodkin

“There will never be another Charlie Russell. Must have needed him on the other range only wish he could have worked this one a heap longer.” - Dick Bodkin

Bodkin was an accomplished equestrian who rode stunt horses in the movie industry. His family owned a ranch in the Judith Basin, Montana, and were neighbors of the Russells in Great Falls.

William M. Armstrong

“If they needed a real hand on the ‘other side,’ they sure got one when Charlie arrived.” -Wm Armstrong

Armstrong was a Wyoming oil magnate who moved to Los Angeles in 1917. He purchased Russell’s The Salute of the Robe Trade for $10,000 in 1921, setting a record for the artist. He was probably also the first owner of Russell’s When Guns Speak Death Settles Disputes, which was on display in Denver in 1921.

Cornelius E. “Con” Price

“I believe Charlie Russell was the Greatest man I ever knew, and the truest friend anyone could have” - Con Price

Price and Russell met when night-herding cattle in Montana in the 1880s. Price, a skilled rider and cowhand, went on to establish the Lazy KY Ranch in Montana. For a time, Russell and Price were partners in the cattle ranching business, and Price remained one of Russell’s closest cowboy friends.

Edgar I. Holland

“The world knows him as the incomparable artist and historian of the old West, of the frontiers that have passed. My privilege it was to have had him for many years as neighbor and friend. I need say no more to those who also knew. To the others words could not convey what his memory merits.”—His friend, Edgar I. Holland, August 17th, 1932

 The manager of Great Falls Water Power and Townsite Company, Holland was also a friend and neighbor of the Russells for 20 years. He followed the Russells to California and, after the artist’s death, acted as Nancy’s insurance agent and executor of her estate.

Harry Carey

 “If you like Charley [sic] Russell’s art you’re my friend. He sure knew the meaning of that word ‘friend.’”—Harry Carey, San Francisquito, CA, July 31st, 1932

Carey was a famous playwright and actor who frequently starred as a western hero. When in California, the Russells often spent time at the Carey Ranch in the San Fernando Valley.

Douglas Fairbanks

“I was crazy about Charlie Russell. This book is a fine monument to his memory.”—Douglas Fairbanks, 1932

Fairbanks was a famous actor and idol of the silent screen. He and his wife Mary Pickford starred in numerous silent films and comedies while living in Beverly Hills, California. Fairbanks and Pickford visited an exhibition of Russell’s work in California in 1921 and quickly became patrons. The same year, Russell made a sculpture of Fairbanks in one of his roles: that of the musketeer D’Artagnan in the silent film The Three Musketeers, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

Josephine Trigg

“It was a great pleasure and privilege to be a neighbor and friend of Mr. Russell’s for so many years.”—Josephine Trigg

Trigg and her parents, Albert and Margaret, were close friends and neighbors of the Russells in Great Falls. Josephine worked as a children’s librarian at the Great Falls Public Library and, as you can see by her inscription, was a talented calligrapher. After her death, the bequest of her collection of Russell artworks helped inspire the creation of the C. M. Russell Gallery, now the C. M. Russell Museum.