Charles M. Russell Museum

Things to Do in Great Falls, Montana, USA

400 13th Street North. In the Summer from May to September, the Charlie M. Russell Museum is open everyday from 10 am to 5 pm. In the Winter from October to April, open Thursday to Monday from 10 am to 5 pm. Adult admission is $20 with discounts for students, seniors, and veterans, and free admission for active military.

I was in Great Falls for an archaeology conference, the American Rock Art Research Association annual meeting. On the last day, all the field trips were canceled due to rainy weather and muddy roads that were impassable even with 4WD. So, we all explored the Russell Museum in town.

Of particular interest to our group was this small boulder with engraved petroglyphs that had been moved to the museum grounds from somewhere south of the Big Sandy area. There is a horned headdress on a human figure and a horned serpent.

This 1914 Charlie Russell painting, Jumped, is particularly interesting to our group as it depicts Native American paintings on horses in the scene. This conflict and violence between Native Americans and white settlers in a wagon train is more reminiscent of Charlie’s earlier work, than his later work in the mid-1910s. Charlie uses the fading light of day to highlight the action with the background and shadow the foregrounds, providing depth and a sense of gravity to the scene.

I really enjoyed seeing the illustrated letters Charlie wrote to friends. Quite amazing!

Another special area was where the museum staff had selected their favorite works by other artists in the collection. Each museum label had a nice explanation of why the piece was important to them personally.

There were also quite a few Native American items, but most of my photos either didn’t turn out well or I was too engrossed to even take a photo. One exception was this very cool bull boat!