Meat for the Wagons, 1925. Charles M. Russell.
Watercolor, 13 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches. Charles M. Russell Museum, Donated by Frederic G. and Ginger K. Renner in Memory of Graham D. Renner.
Near the end of his life, Russell often painted the subject of the mountain man and the early history of the frontier. One of his heroes was Jim Bridger, who successfully made the transition from explorer and trapper in the early days of the fur trade to hunter and guide for the legions of covered wagons that crossed the plains and changed the West forever. Some people who travelled with the early caravans described their encounter with great herds of buffalo, noting that it took several days to pass some of them. In this watercolor, the skilled hunter has dropped one buffalo before quickly reloading his rifle to bring down another. The position of the tumbling buffalo seems to indicate that it attempted a defiant charge at the end, for the horse appears to recoil in alarm.
