VERSO
Label, J. N. Bartfield Galleries, NY
Label, Kennedy Galleries, NY

Cavalry Mounts for the Braves is recorded in the C. M. Russsell Catalogue Raisonné as reference number CR.UNL.114.

PROVENANCE
[Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, NY]
[J. N. Bartfield Galleries, New York, NY]
[The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, Reno, NV 2007]
Private Collection, WY 2007

EXHIBITED
Legends of the West: The Foxley Collection, Joslyn Art Museum, November 11, 2006 - February 25, 2007

LITERATURE
J. Brooks Joyner, Legends of the West: The Foxley Collection (Omaha, NE: Joslyn Art Museum, 2006), page 81
B. Byron Price (ed), Charles M. Russell: A Catalogue Raisonné (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press in association with Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West, Norman, OK and C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MT, 2007), page 235, illustrated


CAVALRY MOUNTS FOR THE BRAVES

Charles Russell reveals to his viewers much information about his compositions through his titles as in Meat’s not Meat Til Its in the Pan or When Shadows Hint Death. He does so again in Cavalry Mounts for the Braves. Among the young warriors of the Northern plains actual warfare against enemies was one of their greatest expressions of courage and tribal support. Another was stealing horses, an act that enhanced the position, wealth, and reputation of the tribe and therefore was encouraged, supported, and promoted by all tribal members. Here, a confident, proud young warrior leads a small group of fellow tribesmen who have achieved the ultimate coup against a mighty enemy, riding right into the camp of a cavalry company camped out on the plains, absconding with a large group of the Army mounts. This, in itself a mighty effort, is compounded by the arrogance of the Indian warrior who at some time traded with military to acquire his ‘Yellow Boy,’ a 66 Winchester rifle he so lovingly cradles in his arms, as well as the brass tacks he has decorated it with.

Ginger Renner, Russell Historian 2007