Back-Tracking in Memory: The Life of Charles M. Russell, Artist Recollections, Reflections and Personal Perspectives by Nancy Cooper Russell

by Tom Petrie (Editor), Brian Dippie (Editor)

She was eighteen, effectively an orphan, and he was thirty-two, a former cowboy from a good family in St. Louis struggling to make his living as an artist. She would be by his side for the rest of his life as his wife, cheerleader, and extraordinarily capable business manager. When he died in Great Falls, Montana, in 1926, shortly after they celebrated their thirtieth anniversary, Charlie Russell was at the top of the heap, an American original world famous as the “Cowboy Artist.” A few months earlier Nancy had written an acquaintance who remembered her from her hardscrabble youth in Helena, “Yes, I am, or was, the little girl you were talking about, way back in ’94. . . . I, as you know, married the only Charles Russell in the world and my life has been very full of romance, which they like to make moving pictures out of, only mine happens to be real.” She realized that with Charlie’s passing, it was up to her to keep that dream alive by keeping him alive...

224 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2021

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely. I live in Montana and have heard about Charlie Russell all my life, but this book has great details to round out what I learned in school and at museums etc. When you pick up the book (hardcover), don't let the weight of it scare you. It's made with quality, but is a fairly easy read. Don't expect a continuous linear story. Its collection of anecdotes and Charlie Russell paintings make it a great option to put on your coffee table and read a little at a time. If you have any interest in Charlie Russell, this book is an excellent way to learn more.

[Nicole Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living in Montana I thought I knew a quite a bit about Charlie Russell, but I was pleasantly surprised at what I didn't know. The book is a compilation of the notes, stories, letters and memories from Nancy Russell of Charlie Russell. Through the stories you can tell Nancy greatly loved and admired her husband. I was nervous that Nancy's perspective of Charlie would be embellished or a little over the top, but it was not (or at least it did not read as such). Being a complication, this book did become a bit choppy and harder to get through toward the end. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found Charlie's life quite interesting.

[Cheryle · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! What a beautiful book of memories. Illustrated with works of the artist the book is filled with examples from the vision he held for "the West that has passed". Charles Russell was born to an influential family in St. Louis, Missouri but never felt he fit in there. From an early age he became obsessed with getting to the west. Once he did so he lived the cowboy life learning the lifestyle from the back of a horse. He was a storyteller as well as an artist. He delighted those around him with his tales of the old west.
The book is written by his wife of many years after his death in 1926. Nancy Russell wanted to preserve her husbands works as well as keeping him alive for the public. Not only did Russell work in paintings, but bronze, several books of western life, and poetry.
Charles Russell felt "crushed, suffocated" by saying that the "loneliness of the city overwhelmed him". "He wanted a clear view: he wanted to take a deep breath of air that had no already been breathed by others". His body of works embodies that credo.
The many examples of his paintings and illustrations are thoughtfully placed throughout the book, but the embodiment of his talent his on the book's endpapers.
This biography is not an end all coverage of the man's life, but the recollections from the woman Russell described as "this lady I trotted in double harness with was the best booster and partner a man ever had."
I highly recommend this amazing book to anyone who has seen Russell's works and wants to know more of the man and his life.

[Ruth Kincaid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back-Tracking in Memory, assembled by Thomas A. Petrie and Brian W. Dippie has brought to life Nancy Cooper Russell's desire to have her husband, Charles M. Russell, fully appreciated by his public. They have compiled her previously unpublished biography, included photos and highlighted some of Charles Russell's art work in this book,
The title of the book seems awkward but the reason comes to light as one reads along. I was hoping that Nancy would have left behind more of her personal thoughts and feelings on her close relationship with one of the American west's greatest painters. I found the book easy and enjoyable to read with short snippets of Charlie's life that may be missed in other books about him.

[Pam G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great job, Tom Petrie and Brian Dippie. This is a wonderful hardcover book. My favorite parts are the left-side pages. Page 172 is my very favorite - I would frame that and hang it on my wall. All of Charles' ephemera fascinates me.

I enjoyed Nancy's stories about their courtship and early years of marriage very much and REALLY enjoyed the last 25 pages even... the appendix, final thoughts and notes, etc!