Making a Name for her Husband - Nancy Cooper Russell

 

By Suzanne Norquist

I’ve written many blogs about women who made names for themselves. Nancy Cooper Russell, nicknamed Mamie, made a name for her husband. Today, his western paintings, sketches, and sculptures can sell for millions of dollars.

Charles Russell gave her the credit. “The lady I trotted in double harness with,” he once said, “was the best booster an’ pardner a man ever had. She could convince anybody that I was the greatest artist in the world, an’ that makes a feller work harder. Y’u jes’ can’t disappoint a person like that, so I done my best work for her… If it hadn’t been for Mamie, I wouldn’t have a roof over my head.”

Nancy Cooper’s life had been a struggle from the beginning, but she was a fighter. Her father left her mother before her birth in 1878. As soon as she could walk, she worked with her mother and grandparents in the family tobacco fields.

Later, her mother remarried, but her stepfather wasn’t much better. By age sixteen, Nancy was orphaned and living in Helena, Montana. She found work with the Roberts family who treated her like one of their own. She even called them Ma and Pa.

One night, in October of 1895, they invited cowboy artist Charles Russell over for dinner. Fourteen years her senior, he had already led the life of a bachelor cowpuncher. By then, he had decided to make his living as an artist – a meager living, for sure. He often traded drawings or sketches for credit at the local bar or grocery store. Everyone liked his easygoing nature.

His friends knew Charles was smitten when he gave Nancy his beloved pinto pony, Monte. In September of 1896, the pair married—nearly a year after their first meeting. She had turned down his first proposal, and it had taken him a while to convince her.

The couple moved into a small cabin on the Roberts’ property, where Charles barely made a living.

After a year, Nancy convinced him to move to Great Falls, where he would find more of a market for his paintings. Taking matters into her own hands, she sent friends away so Charles could work. Needless to say, she wasn’t popular among his friends, but he still adored her.

One day, a local businessman who had been selling Charles’ paintings said that he’d sold them for six times the asking price. That’s when Nancy took over the business end of things, setting prices and arranging showings. Eventually, she guided him on his choice of subjects, size, and medium of his works in response to buyer preferences.

Charles didn’t mind. As an artist, he had no interest in the business of pricing and selling his work. However, when they bought an upscale home in Great Falls, he built a traditional cabin on the property to use as a workshop.

The higher Nancy priced his work; the more people wanted to buy. She arranged showings in large cities in the east. Charles hated New York and referred to it as “the big camp” with “too many teepees.” Still, he went with her to the showings. He created the art, and she sold the pieces.

Nancy and Charles were never able to have children and adopted an infant in 1916. Charles dotted on his son, Jack, while Nancy focused on selling art.

Nancy’s drive for a bigger business never waned, not even as Charles aged and wished for a slower pace. He died of a heart attack in 1926.

She promoted his art for the rest of her life, sending her son to boarding school, which led to an estrangement. Although a brilliant businesswoman, she struggled in relationships, even turning down marriage proposals so that she would remain Mrs. Charles Russell. She died in 1940 and was buried by Charles’s side in Great Falls.

I admire her for her business savvy, determination, and drive, which greatly contributed to making a name for her husband. She over came incredible odds to carve out a wonderful life for herself, Charles, and their son. By all accounts, Charles and Nancy had a beautiful love story. 

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”Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection

Four historical romances celebrating the arts of sewing and quilting.

Mending Sarah’s Heart by Suzanne Norquist

Rockledge, Colorado, 1884

Sarah seeks a quiet life as a seamstress. She doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers, and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away?

For a Free Preview, click here: http://a.co/1ZtSRkK

 

Suzanne Norquist is the author of two novellas, “A Song for Rose” in A Bouquet of Brides Collection and “Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection. Everything fascinates her. She has worked as a chemist, professor, financial analyst, and even earned a doctorate in economics. Research feeds her curiosity, and she shares the adventure with her readers. She lives in New Mexico with her mining engineer husband and has two grown children. When not writing, she explores the mountains, hikes, and attends kickboxing class.

She authors a blog entitled, Ponderings of a BBQ Ph.D.

 

Frederic Remington

By Nancy J. Farrier

Please leave a comment below to be entered in a giveaway.

In January 2015, I blogged about Western artist, Charles Marion Russell. While researching Russell’s story, I found that he was a contemporary of Frederic Remington, another well-known Western artist. I thought I would share Remington’s story with you this month. As we’ll see there were major differences between the two artists, even though there is some similarity in their work. Russell made a living as a cowboy and chose to live in the west for much of his life. Remington tried living in the west, and did get an understanding for the cowboy life, but chose to live back east instead of the more rugged West.

Frederic Remington was born in 1861 in Canton, New York. His father attended West Point and served as a Colonel in the Civil War. He had high hopes his only child, Frederic, would follow in his footsteps, but Frederic proved more interested in the arts than in math and other studies necessary to attend West Point. Instead, he practiced drawing cowboys and soldiers from an early age. As he grew older, he often drew caricatures of his classmates. When he attended Yale, his first published drawing was a cartoon of injured football player.

In 1879, he left Yale to care for his father who had contracted tuberculosis. After his father’s death, Remington worked a variety of small jobs at newspapers. He once told his uncle he didn’t aspire to fame, but would be content working as a journalist with a sideline in art.

At 19, after receiving an inheritance, Remington set out for the wilds of Montana. He considered buying a ranch, or going into mining until he realized his inheritance wouldn't cover the cost. While in the West, he did begin to understand the harsher elements and the nature of the cowboy’s work, something that showed up in his art work. Harper’s Weekly published Remington’s first commercial piece of art, a re-creation of a quick sketch he’d done on some wrapping paper.

After numerous ventures that either didn’t pan out, or weren’t what Remington wanted to do, he began to sketch and paint in an attempt to make a living with his art work. His earlier choice of sketching patrons of saloons hadn’t been favored by his wife and she left him. He continued to paint, reunited with his wife and moved back east. At this time, his technique was considered amateur and rough. Remington began studying at the Art Students League of New York. He began to submit sketches to Harper’s Weekly and Colliers. In 1886, at the age of 25, he received his first full page under his own name in Harper’s Weekly.

He traveled a lot to various places such as Arizona and Canada, but his big break came when he was commissioned to illustrate a book for Teddy Roosevelt. Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail would showcase 83 illustrations by Remington. The book was serialized in The Century Magazine before being published as a book. Remington’s credibility as a Western artist soared as the issues released.

Remington received many honors. In 1888, two of his paintings were chosen by the U. S. Postal to be reproduced on stamps. After being dropped by Harper’s Weekly, he wrote and illustrated books about the West. In 1898, he became a war correspondent for the Spanish-American War. At the end of the war, the Rough Riders presented Teddy Roosevelt with Remington’s bronze, The Bronco Buster. Remington declared this to be a great honor.

Throughout his life, Remington produced close to 3000 works of art, wrote 8 books and cast 25 bronzes, many of which are popular reproductions today.  His study on the horse in motion changed the way horses were depicted in art.

Frederic Remington died young at 48 years old, from complications of appendicitis.

Have you ever read any of Remington’s books? Do you prefer his paintings or his bronzes? Leave a comment below to be entered in the giveaway for a copy of my latest release, or for one of my other titles of your

choice.

8 Weddings and a Miracle - Weather the storms of life alongside nine modern couples who hope to make it to the altar—someday. Be it a meeting in the wrong place at the right time, an accident that opens hardened hearts, or weather that seems to blow things off course, sometimes love needs a little divine intervention. 8 Weddings and a Miracle includes my novella, Wall of Stone, a story set in contemporary England. 

 Nancy J Farrier is an award winning author who lives in Southern California in the Mojave Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. Nancy and her husband have five children and one grandson. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats, and spend time with her family. Nancy is represented by Karen Ball of The Steve Laube Literary Agency. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.