Charles Marion Russell (1864-1926) was an American artist best known for his paintings and sculptures of the American West, including cowboys, ranch life, and Native peoples of the Northern Plains. He is often called "America's Cowboy Artist" because he actually lived and worked in the West and then turned his experiences into art. Russell was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but from an early age he dreamed of being a cowboy instead of living in a big river city. In 1880, just after his sixteenth birthday, he traveled to the Judith Basin of central Montana Territory, where he began learning the skills and hard work of life on the open range.

When Russell first arrived in Montana, he briefly worked tending sheep but soon decided that was not the Western life he had imagined. He then spent about two years living with hunter Jake Hoover in a cabin on the South Fork of the Judith River, learning about wilderness travel, animals, and local country they explored together. After this, Russell became a night wrangler for the Judith Basin Roundup, watching horses at night so he could observe and sketch the cowboys working cattle during the day. These jobs gave him first-hand knowledge of cattle drives, roundups, and ranch life, which later helped him paint scenes that looked realistic to people who had actually lived through those times.

Russell greatly admired the Native peoples of the Northern Plains and tried to show respect for their cultures in his art. During the summer and winter of 1888-1889, he lived near and visited often with the Blood (Kainai), Blackfoot, and Piegan people in what is now Alberta, Canada, closely observing ceremonies, clothing, and daily life. This experience deeply affected him and helped him paint more accurate details, such as tipi designs, beadwork patterns, and ways of riding and hunting that matched what Native families actually did. Later in life, Russell also supported Native rights, including efforts by landless Chippewa people to gain a reservation in Montana, and he used his art and reputation to speak up for them.

By the early 1890s, Russell had settled in Great Falls, Montana, where he focused on making a living as a full-time artist. In 1896 he married Nancy Cooper, who helped manage his business, arrange shows, and promote his art so it could reach people all over the United States and even in Europe. The Russells' two-story blue frame house in Great Falls was built around 1900 and still stands next to his famous log cabin studio. Russell's studio, built in 1903 from western red cedar telephone poles, was filled with props like saddles, "horse jewelry," Native clothing, weapons, and other objects he used to make his paintings more accurate. In 1916, Charlie and Nancy adopted a son, Jack, adding to their family life in the home beside the studio.

Russell painted and sculpted during a time when people across the country were fascinated by stories of the "Old West," even as that way of life was quickly changing. He is believed to have created roughly 4,000 artworks, including oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and bronze sculptures that show ranch work, Native ceremonies, wildlife, and tall tales he loved to tell. Because he had worked as a cowboy and spent time with Native communities, he could carefully remember and recreate small details, such as how a rope hangs, how snow piles on a bison's back, or how a horse moves in deep mud. Many art historians consider Russell one of the most important Western artists because he lived most of his life in the West and set a standard of realism and storytelling that later Western artists followed.

The C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, was first established in 1953 and has grown into one of the leading Western art museums in the United States. Today the museum complex fills an entire city block, includes around 65,000 square feet of galleries and education spaces, and houses more than 3,000 pieces of Western art, many of them by Russell. The museum's mission is to help visitors "immerse themselves in Russell's West" by combining his art, personal belongings, and historic spaces like his home and studio into a single experience. An outdoor sculpture garden lets visitors enjoy Western-themed statues in a landscaped setting, bringing art outdoors as well as indoors. A special Discovery Gallery offers hands-on, kid-friendly activities that help children explore Western art and history through play and creative projects. The museum also preserves letters, photographs, and other archival materials that allow historians and students to study how Russell's views of the West have influenced how many people imagine this region.

Each year the museum welcomes tens of thousands of visitors, including many school groups on field trips who come to learn about art, history, and Montana's past. Education staff develop programs that match classroom learning goals, and they offer teacher guides, activity sheets, and themed tours for different grade levels. Some school groups can qualify for free or reduced admission when they book field trips in advance, making it easier for students to experience the museum in person.

One of the most important parts of the museum's holdings is the Josephine Trigg Collection, which formed the nucleus of the original gallery built in the 1950s. Josephine Trigg and her parents were close friends of Russell, and over many years he gave them drawings, paintings, illustrated letters, poems, and small models that they treasured. In her will, Josephine arranged for this collection of about 153 pieces to be given to the city of Great Falls on the condition that a museum be built to display them. The Trigg Collection is still displayed as a permanent exhibition and shows both Russell's skill as an artist and his sense of humor and friendship in personal letters and sketches.

While the museum focuses on Russell, it also features works by other well-known Western artists such as O.C. Seltzer, J.H. Sharp, E.I. Couse, Winold Reiss, Olaf Wieghorst, and others who painted similar subjects. These artworks help students compare how different artists choose colors, poses, and stories when they represent the same region and time period. The museum also presents special exhibitions, including collections like "The Bison: American Icon, Heart of Plains Indian Culture" and a Browning Firearms exhibit that explores how technology and hunting affected life in the West. By rotating these exhibits, the museum connects art to broader themes such as wildlife conservation, changing technology, and Native cultural traditions.

The C.M. Russell Museum complex includes not only the main galleries but also Russell's original 1903 log cabin studio and the blue two-story family home, which together are listed as a National Historic Landmark. Inside the studio, many of Russell's props, tools, and reference objects are displayed so visitors can see how he set up scenes before he painted or sculpted them. The museum is open year-round, with winter hours (October 1-April 30) typically Wednesday through Sunday and summer hours (May 1-September 30) every day of the week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Regular admission prices include discounted rates for students, and children age five and under can visit for free, which helps families come learn together. Guided tours are available for the general public and for school groups, and some tours can be customized to focus on topics such as Native cultures, cowboy life, or how artists create bronze sculptures.

The museum offers a comfortable visitor experience, with free on-site parking, a gift shop that sells books, prints, and Western-themed gifts, and nearby places to eat within walking distance. The C.M. Russell Museum also works with other Great Falls museums through a local museums consortium, encouraging visitors to explore even more history, art, and science around the city.