Recording status: Recorded, not circulating
Two of the most prominent artists of the western U.S., the
“Old West” in particular, remain Frederic Remington (1861-1909) and Charles
(“Charlie”) Russell (1864-1926). Remington travelled much of the west, and
maintained an art studio at his home in New York. Russell, on the other hand,
came to Montana as a young man and virtually never left. His modest studio was
at Great Falls. Russell and his wife Nancy also maintained a cozy summer
cottage on the shore of Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park. Although many
of the stories dramatized on Empire
Builders were tales of historical fiction, this night’s story honored one
of Montana’s most beloved citizens, the recently deceased Charlie Russell.
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| Charlie and Nancy Russell (circa 1920). Amon Carter Museum of American Art collection |
Here’s the relevant content from the press release for this
broadcast:
Montana’s
famous cowboy artist, Charles M. Russell, is the principal character in the
story which the Old Timer relates on Empire Builders Monday night.
Through
Russell’s paintings the life of the old west will live forever, but it is the
old, lovable Charlie himself, close friend of Will Rogers, that the Old Timer
tells about. Probably three-fourths of the homes in the United States today
have one or more reproductions of Charlie Russell’s western pictures, and those
who admire him only as a painter will love him as a man when they “listen in”
on the confab between him and the Old Timer, a few years back, out in Mr.
Russell’s studio cabin, at Lake McDonald, in Glacier National park.
A
musical background has been arranged by Josef Koestner, director of the Great
Northern orchestra, featuring Marc Williams, singing cowboy, who will be
introduced to the national networks for the first time on the Great Northern
program. The story is by Edward Hale Bierstadt.
The press release actually misspelled Williams’ first name:
they spelled it “Mark,” which was a common and understandable mistake. His
given name was Marcus Dumont Williams, therefore he spelled his first name with
a “C” rather than a “K.” Marc Williams recorded a number of cowboy songs prior
to his appearance on Empire Builders.
From March of 1928 to November of 1930, Williams recorded at least 20 songs,
mostly on the Brunswick record label.
As the radio program began, announcer Ted Pearson prepared
the audience for the story being dramatized. The continuity that I’ve located
does not do justice to the recorded introduction. Here’s a transcription of the
comments made by Pearson to open the show, and to set the scene for the radio
play.
ANNOUNCER: The Lake McDonald region in Glacier National
Park is one of the most beautiful spots in that 1,534 square miles of inspiring
grandeur. From the sheltered rustic porch of the Lake McDonald Hotel, the eye
wanders across the lake to an unbroken vista of lofty mountains and virgin
forests that conceal a myriad of other blue lakes. Close at hand is famous
Gunsight Pass, gateway to the west side of the park, and route of the intrepid
explorers of another day. Tonight, Empire
Builders takes you out to Lake McDonald, where you will hear a tale of
Charlie Russell, famous cowboy artist. Let us join the happy group on the porch
of the Lake McDonald Hotel, with the Old Timer, and his hound dog, January.
This was followed by music performed by the orchestra, which
faded into the singing of Marc Williams. The Old Timer’s dog, January, began to
howl. Williams stopped his singing to tease the Old Timer about his dog,
pointing out this was supposed to be a solo, not a duet. The Old Timer made a
half-hearted attempt to defend his impertinent hound.
PIONEER: (CHUCKLES) Now, Marc, I’ll tell you. Every time I bring
this January dog of mine out here to Glacier Park – and especially to Lake
McDonald – he gets so full of poetry he’s like to bust right out almost any
time!
WOMAN: But we can hear January any time,
and Mr. Williams only promised to sing for us this evening! We want some real
cowboy songs.
PIONEER: You hear that, you January!? Now you
keep that meat trap of yours closed. [DOG
WHINES] He’ll be good now. Go ahead, Marc.
You know, you’re one of the few things left that remind me of the old west.
Marc Williams then sang “Little Old Sod Shanty.” When the song ended, Marc and the Old Timer began to talk of Charlie Russell.
WILLIAMS: You know, old timer, you said I
reminded you of the old west, but there was one man who used to have a cabin
out here in the Park at Lake McDonald who was even closer to it than I am.
PIONEER: I know who you mean, Marc. God rest
his soul!
WOMAN: Who was that?
PIONEER: Charles M. Russell – Charlie Russell
to his friends – the cowboy artist of Montana.
MAN: Do you mean to say that he
was really a cowboy and an artist too?
PIONEER: I mean to say just that. He was a
night horse wrangler until he gave up horse wrangling for painting, and he was
a good wrangler too.
MAN: But was he a good artist?
PIONEER: He was a doggone good artist, and
don’t you forget it! The chances are that half you folks that are here
listening to me have got reproductions of at least one of Charlie’s paintings
in your own homes – and don’t know it!
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| Standing outside the Lewis Hotel (later purchased by the Great Northern Railway and renamed Lake McDonald Hotel) are (l-r): celebrated writer Irvin S. Cobb, hotel proprietor John E. Lewis, and Charlie Russell. (circa 1925) Amon Carter Museum of American Art collection |
The Old Timer went on to mention that Charlie and his wife
Nancy had a cabin just across the lake from the Lake McDonald Hotel, which they
referred to as Bull Head Lodge. It has been well-established that Charlie
Russell enjoyed spending time at the hotel (known in earlier years as the Lewis
Hotel, for its original proprietor, John Lewis). Renowned Glacier Park historian
and author Ray Djuff and his writing partner Chris Morrison, in their seminal
book on Glacier Park hostelries, “View with a Room,” commented on the notion
that Charlie Russell personally embellished the fireplace surround in the main
lobby of the hotel. As Djuff and Morrison put it, “Rumor persists that cowboy
artist Charlie Russell drew the native-style etchings surrounding the
fireplace. Russell was often a visitor here, and the tale likely was
perpetuated by the hotel staff after the Great Northern’s takeover to add to
the building’s character.”
 |
| Vintage postcard showing the fireplace in the lobby of Lake McDonald Hotel. Author's collection |
I don’t know how much value is added in validating
the claim of Russell’s having done the artwork on the fireplace, but here is a
compelling snippet from the Empire
Builders continuity from 1931, just five years after Russell’s passing:
WOMAN: I suppose – I suppose he hated
tourists – ?
PIONEER: No, ma’am, he did not! He was like
the rest of us old timers out here that love the west – he wanted others to
love it too, and he was proud and glad to show it to ‘em. Why now – you folks
standing by the big fireplace there – just turn round and look at it. Charlie
Russell designed that fireplace for this here Lake McDonald Hotel, and I’m here
to say that he did a right good job! … Glacier Park
One of the “tourists” gathered in the Lake McDonald Hotel
lobby asked the Old Timer to explain something about what Charlie Russell was
really like. This sent the old tale-teller off on another of his predictable
reminiscences. It was an evening “not so many years ago” when Charlie and the
Old Timer shared steaks broiled over an open fire. They were sitting outside
Russell’s cabin-studio in Great Falls. Transitional music was played, then
faded to the sound of January whining and yapping.
PIONEER: Now you, January, hush your mouth!
Doggone it, Charlie, anybody would think that fool dog of mine hadn’t eaten for
a week! Like to give me a bad name with any one that didn’t know me. Folks
would think I didn’t feed him.
RUSSELL: Well, Old Timer, I guess dogs are
sort of like humans. The lungs and the stomach aren’t far apart … This here
grub will be ready any minute now.
PIONEER: You’re sure lucky, Charlie, to have
this studio-cabin or cabin-studio or whatever you call it –
RUSSELL: I call it a shack.
PIONEER: Anyhow, you’re plumb lucky to have
it here right next to the house. Place of your own that you can paint in, and
cook in and think in, and –
RUSSELL: And put my feet up.
The two men were enjoying each other’s company, and Russell
was just about to start explaining to the Old Timer all about his first job in
Montana, herding sheep back in the early 1880s. Just then, there was a loud
banging on the door. A young man stumbled into the shack and fell to the floor.
PIONEER: What the dickens! … Why – it’s only
a boy!
RUSSELL: He’s sick – or hurt. Help me to
lift him, Old Timer. There – he’s comin’ to all right now … What’s the matter,
son?
BILL: I guess – I guess I must
have fainted …. Isn’t anything the matter – except – I’m hungry.
RUSSELL: Hungry! In Montana! Son, you just
sit right down here with us, and dig into some real food. You won’t be hungry
long!
PIONEER: Have you come far?
BILL: St. Paul.
Charlie and the Old Timer started chatting the boy up as he
finished his meal – the first food he’d eaten in three days, he told them. They
asked Bill what brought him to Great Falls. Bill – Bill Grant was his name –
explained that his father had died about a year ago, back in St. Paul. His
older sister, Alma (the continuity named her Mattie), heard of a job out in
Montana, and in a valiant effort to make money for the family, she set out to
do her part. Bill stayed home, but their mother died, so Bill came out west
looking for his sister. She moved since writing her last letter back home, so
Bill was stymied in his quest, and soon went broke looking for her.
RUSSELL: And you landed up here tonight.
Well, you might have done a heap worse, Bill. Now, I’ll tell you. You shove
down all the grub you think you need, and then you curl up on those blankets
there by the fire. And meanwhile, the old timer and me will go on just as if
you wasn’t here. That way, you’ll get a chance to rest up and forget your
troubles.
BILL: I’ll be glad to do that,
and – I certainly do thank you.
The exhausted young man quickly nodded off, and Charlie and
the Old Timer went on with their conversation. Talk eventually turned to some
of their mutual Indian friends. Charlie told the Old Timer a Blackfeet man
named Little Dog told him a story that he figured he’d write down, if he ever
found time. The Old Timer was just as eager to hear a good yarn as to spin one,
so he prodded Charlie to let out with it. Charlie obliged. With a bit more
transitional music, the scene shifted to a conversation between Charlie Russell
and Little Dog on a starlit summer evening. Little Dog pointed to a pair of
stars. Charlie told his friend the white men called those stars Gemini, the
Twins. Little Dog (his named truncated to merely “Dog” in the continuity, to
save space) assured Charlie those stars were there long before the white men
appeared, and then launched into a story about the stars.
DOG: Very long ago when there
were fewer stars, and when the winds were little, there lived a war chief of
this tribe, my brother, named Two Bears. This chief was young and brave, and
strong in battle, and yet there came a day when he led the young man and
warriors to defeat, so that few returned to their lodges. And so the wise men
of the tribe, the council met, and called Two Bears before them. And the chief
among those wise men spoke to him, saying –
(INDIAN MUSIC IN AND UP QUICKLY. FADE
TO BACKGROUND FOR LEGEND)
WISE
MAN: Two Bears, the Council has
spoken. You have been judged. It only remains for the gods to give their
answer. Will you abide by the judgment of the heavens?
BEARS: By all the stars, I swear it.
WISE
MAN: Good. Take you this arrow. It
is magic. Shoot it high in the air – straight above you. When it falls – if it
takes a life – the heavens have accepted the sacrifice, and you are free. If it
falls clear – the sacrifice has been rejected, and you are guilty. And, if you
are guilty, you yourself must die. Take you the arrow.
BEARS: I take it in my hand. I take it
with me. And now – I go to my lodge to say farewell to Running Fawn, my wife,
and to pray the aid of the heavens.
With a bit more music, the scene shifted yet again, and Two
Bears was speaking to his wife, Running Fawn. Two Bears told his wife of the
sentence, and what he must now do. Running Fawn took the magic arrow in her
hands and held it aloft, saying a prayer to spare her husband.
FAWN: Oh, thou Great Spirit, Holder
of the Heavens, hear this my prayer! I stand before you, holding the magic
arrow, the life and honor of my husband, upon my upraised hands. Hear me, Great
Father! By the light of the new moon, and by the sun at noon day; by the winds
of dawn, and by the dusk of evening, I ask that you will listen! Accept –
accept this sacrifice that is offered. Let not this arrow fall to the ground
unstained by blood! Save him I love, and if the mark be my own breast –
BEARS: No – no! You must not say that!
I am your breast!
FAWN: And if the mark be on my breast
– strike swiftly! … And now, take the arrow, Two Bears, my husband, and shoot
well!
BEARS: You have weakened my hand! I
dare not draw the bow!
The love of Running Fawn for her husband was strong and
deep, and her willingness to sacrifice herself did not go unnoticed by the
Great Spirit. Two Bears shot the magic arrow high into the air. A crowd had
gathered, and they all gasped and cried out as the arrow plummeted back to
earth. It’s a shame Running Fawn wasn’t named Darting Hummingbird. She could
not escape the arrow, and it struck her down. Devastated by this, Two Bears pulled
out his knife and quickly followed his beloved wife into the afterlife. More
music brought the listeners back to the scene with Little Dog and Charlie
Russell.
DOG: And so it was, my brother,
that the war chief, Two Bears; and Running Fawn, his wife were united in the
heavens. Even tonight you have seen them – two stars that smile upon my race
forever.
RUSSELL: My younger brother, my ears have
heard your tale – my heart has opened. So long as the stars shine, so long
shall live –
DOG: The courage that is born of
love, my brother.
The busy studio orchestra brought the story back to
Charlie’s cabin in Great Falls. The Old Timer acknowledged that it was “a might
pretty story.” Charlie and the Old Timer agreed that it was getting late – time
to turn in. Charlie’s wife Nancy came into the cabin and discovered young Bill
asleep near the fire. The men explained about Bill having drifted in, and how
he was all tuckered out.
 |
| Nancy and Charlie on the porch of Bull Head Lodge, circa 1926. Amon Carter Museum of American Art collection |
MRS. R: Well, if that’s so, why don’t
you just leave him and January here to look after each other, and you two come
to bed. Old Timer, I’ve had Alma air out the spare room –
PIONEER: Had – Alma!
RUSSELL: Alma who? Not – Alma Grant?
BILL: (WAKING) Who said – Alma Grant? That’s – my sister.
I’m going out on a limb here and guessing you kind of saw
that coming. But doesn’t it seem odd that Charlie took so long to make the
connection? It would have, if Edward Hale Bierstadt did not account for that in
the story.
RUSSELL: Nancy, where in time did you dig up
Alma Grant?
MRS. R.: Why – she’s my new help, Charlie.
She only came today.
RUSSELL: And her brother drifted in here
tonight after lookin’ over the whole State of Montana for her!
Bill learned that his sister was in the house, and he
scampered off to see her. The Old Timer and Charlie Russell wrapped up the
story:
PIONEER: Charlie, I reckon miracles still
happen.
RUSSELL: I reckon they still do, Old Timer –
if you’re west of the Mississippi – where you can still see the stars.
 |
| Vintage sheet music featuring Marc Williams, the "Cowboy Crooner". Author's collection |
ANNOUNCER:
Charlie Russell typified the old west –
the west of romance and fire, and undying glory. His little cabin in Glacier
Park near Lake McDonald is still a shrine that no true lover of the west will
miss. Glacier Park laid its spell on Charlie Russell, and he strove to tell his
story to the world. How well he did it – the old timers who know him can best
tell. But the wind in the pines that blows Charlie Russell to sleep still sings
the song of the high places to those who love them. The same great stars still blaze
in his sky and the great calm mountains that he loved still smile benignly down
on the little mortals who lift their eyes to their cloudy heads. Glacier Park
today is still the Glacier Park of Charlie Russell’s day, and it is yours to
enjoy and thrill to, even as it was his. Come out to Glacier Park this summer –
live a vacation that you will always remember. Come out and see the mountains!
Meet the Indians! Ride, and hike, and fish . . . and live! Maybe you’ll be
fortunate enough even to secure a place on one of the Old Timer’s personally
conducted all-expense vacation trips through Glacier Park. Consult your local
agent, or, if you prefer, write direct to the Old Timer, care, Great Northern
Railway, 113 South Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois, and tell him what you want
to do in Glacier Park this summer. He’ll send you pictures, maps, booklets –
everything you want to know about Glacier National Park, and the vacation of
your dreams.
The few credits for the performers were as follows:
The Old Timer: Harvey Hays
Charlie Russell: Don Ameche
Running Fawn: Lucille Husting
Marc Williams: himself
Listeners were assured that they would be hearing from the
Cowboy Crooner again “in the near future.”
 |
| Nancy Russell (circa 1925). Amon Carter Museum of American Art collection |
 |
| Letter written by Nancy Russell to Ralph Budd of the GN, expressing her appreciation for the Empire Builders radio program of March 23, 1931. Great Northern Railway corporate records, Minnesota Historical Society |
Until next time, keep those
dials tuned to Empire Builders!
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