According to author and Russell historian Rick Stewart, “In 1908 Russell participated in the roundup and transfer of a privately-owned buffalo herd to the Canadian government, and he took full advantage of this unique opportunity to observe the creatures at close range. During the roundup, which took place along the Pend-d’Oreille River on the Flathead Indian reservation, the artist would have seen the animals going to water many times.”

Describing this bronze Nancy Russell wrote, “Before cows came into this country, the buffalo or bison covered the plains. This is a family; the buffalo, the cow and the calf, trailing as though going to water.”

PROVENANCE
The artist
Oliver S. Dustin, Detroit, Michigan
Present owner, by descent

LITERATURE
Arthur Hoeber, “The Painter of the West That Has Passed: The Work of Charles M. Russell.” The World’s Work: A History of Our Time, vol. 22, 1911, p. 2, example illustrated
Frederic G. Renner, Charles M. Russell: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture in the Amon Carter Museum, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1984, p. 67, example illustrated
Rick Stewart, Charles M. Russell, Sculptor, Amon Carter Museum, 1994, pp. 174-77, example illustrated

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