241

Hunting Buffalo is recorded in the C. M. Russell Catalogue Raisonné as reference number CR.PC.381.

Noted Russell authority Frederic G. Renner wrote, “No one will ever know the exact number of buffalo that roamed the Great Plains, but Ernest Thompson Seton’s estimate of 60,000,000 is probably as authoritative as any. These animals were still plentiful when Russell arrived in Montana, and the following year free traders described the plains in the vicinity of the Musselshell as ‘black with buffalo herds.’ The days of the buffalo were numbered, however, and the next two years saw the last of the great Indian buffalo hunts in Montana.…

“Russell painted every possible variation of an Indian buffalo hunt. In one interpretation the Indians might be Piegans armed with bows and arrows; in another, Indians from the same or another tribe armed with flintlocks; or, at a later date, Indians armed with repeating rifles. In each case Russell was meticulous in showing the landscape and all other details appropriate to the time, pace, and participants.”

PROVENANCE:
Oklahoma Publishing Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Property from a Private Collection

EXHIBITIONS:
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

LITERATURE:
Henry Bierman, “From Butcher Boy to Buffalo Hunter, Excerpts from the Unpublished Journals of Henry Bierman,” Montana The Magazine of Western History, Volume Eleven, Number One (Helena, MT: Historical Society of Montana, Winter 1961), page 41, illustrated halftone

Condition ReportViewed through glass. Twelve small spots of foxing in sky. Slight mat burn noticeable around the perimeter. Colors look good and paper appears to be in good condition.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.