CHARLES M. RUSSELL

There May Be Danger Ahead [Hunting Party on Mountain Trail], 1893. Charles M. Russell.
Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 × 22 inches. Sid Richardson Museum.

In this early, vertical composition Russell depicts a group of warriors descending a steep mountain trail en route to enemy country. Although their intended destination is not clear, the subjects navigate the precarious terrain as they cautiously trace a path over the loose gravel. Garbed in a mix of Anglo and traditional Native American clothing, armed with rifles and riding scrub ponies, they are the very sort Russell would have encountered in Montana in the 1880s.