Remington, Russell, and All

The artists Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, and other great western artists, captured on canvas, and paper, romantic and exciting images of the old west, that made the west a place that Americans in the 1800s wanted to settle, make their fortunes, and raise a family in. It’s possible that the west that they depicted in their artwork inspired men like my grandfather John, and his brothers Charles, and Harry to put down roots in the Oklahoma territory around the turn of 20th century.

Tall Tales

One of the tall tales that my grandfather told my father, was about how he, and his two brothers Charles, and Harry, were out on the range, settling down for the night, when my grandfather saw something in the distance. An Indian scout was watching them from a butte, not too far away.

It was a moonlit night, and each of the brothers took turns keeping watch, just in case the Indian scout was sending a war party to ambush the brothers in the middle of the night. All night long they kept their eye on that Indian scout. And all night long, the Indian scout didn’t move from his perch. They each grew tired, and finally fell asleep, only to wake up in a panic, realizing that they had each stopped keeping an eye on the Indian scout. Each of them looked at once to see where the Indian scout was, but he wasn’t there. He was never there. The only thing watching them from above was an old dead tree stump.

That might not be the old west that Frederick Remington and Charles Russell painted, but I’m pretty sure that anyone whose family settled in that part of the country around the turn of the 20th century, may have heard a tall tale or two, similar to the story my grandfather told my father.

Remington, Russell, and All

This song is the soundtrack to the short video about the James Reynolds limited edition print Crossing the Verde, and was written and sung by me. It’s on my John George Campbell Family Album CD, but you can also buy and download the digital copy pretty much anywhere on the internet that sells digital music. The limited edition artwork, Crossing the Verde, by James Reynolds, reminds me of the great works of art created by Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, so I thought it might be a nice pairing of painting and song.

The price for this signed and numbered lithograph elsewhere on the internet is $325.00. The print measurements are 20 1/2 x 28 inches, paper size, and 16 x 22 7/8 inches, image size. The art for sale is from the original edition of 300 signed and numbered lithographs.