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Russell, Charles M. (1864 - 1926)

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:40,000.00 USD Estimated At:40,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Russell, Charles M. (1864 - 1926)
<strong>Russell, Charles M. </strong>
(1864 - 1926)

<strong>Panhandle Jack</strong>

ink and watercolor on paper
7 3/8 x 4 3/4 inches (sight)
inscribed: <i>Panhandle Jack / killed at / Gild Edge / by a Saloon man Panhandle / gave his gun to the buze boss / then got drunk an wanted it / back the buze boss refused / an panhandle got a wincheseter[sic] / and come back but it was / another case of slow</i>

Russell's illustrated letters, of which this is a superb example, bring the American West to life in
a unique and colloquial manner. In these colorful missives, one can see how he should rightfully be termed the "Narrator of the West." The sad story of Panhandle Jack is one page from a letter that originally numbered more than twelve, which Russell wrote to his old friend Harry T. ("Tom") Duckett in July of 1901. The two had been cowboys and ridden the range together in Montana in the late 1880s and again in the early 1890s. This extensive letter from Russell attempted to chronicle the fates of eleven of their "mutual acquaintances" from those fondly remembered days, most of whom met unfortunate ends, usually involving gunfire. Both Duckett and Russell had left the range for a calmer way of life by 1892. While Russell concentrated on art, Duckett became a newspaperman, eventually settling in California.

Panhandle Jack was "another case of slow," who was killed in a dispute at the "Gild Edge" Saloon when he tried to get his gun back from the saloonkeeper after drinking quite a bit. This same letter also revealed the fates of P.P. Johnson, who also perished because he was slow with his gun, and Merritt Flannigan, who was one of the few of these characters to actually survive. On the page seen here, Russell showed Panhandle coming back to the saloon with a Winchester and attempting to retrieve his rightful property. As a man seated at a table on the right looks on, the
saloonkeeper shoots Panhandle, knocking the hat off his head as he falls backward.—DW





Russell's illustrated letters, of which this is superb example, bring the
American West to life in a unique and colloquial manner. In these colorful
missives, one can see how he should rightfully be termed the "Narrator of the
West." The sad story of Panhandle Jack is one page from a letter that
originally numbered more than twelve, which Russell wrote to his old friend
Harry T. ("Tom")
Duckett in July of 1901. The two had been cowboys and ridden the range together
in Montana in the late 1880s and again in the early 1890s. This extensive
letter from Russell attempted to chronicle the fates of eleven of their "mutual
acquaintances" from those fondly remembered days, most of whom met unfortunate
ends, usually involving gunfire. Both Duckett and Russell had left the range
for a calmer way of life by 1892. While Russell concentrated on art, Duckett
became a newspaperman, eventually settling in California.

Panhandle Jack was "another case of slow," who was killed in a dispute at the
"Gild Edge" Saloon when he tried to get his gun back from the saloonkeeper
after drinking quite a bit. This same letter also revealed the fates of P.P.
Johnson, who also perished because he was slow with his gun, and Merritt
Flannigan, who was one of the few of these characters to actually survive. On
the page seen here, Russell showed Panhandle coming back to the saloon with a
winchester and attempting to retrieve his rightful property. As a man seated at
a table on the right looks on, the saloonkeeper shoots Panhandle, knocking the
hat off his head as he falls backward. DAW

Provenance:
Estate of Dr. Otey Johnson, Ardmore, Oklahoma

Literature:
[Nancy Russell], comp. <i>Good Medicine: The Illustrated Letters of Charles M. Russell,</i> New York, New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1929, pp. 106, 121
Frederic Renner, <i>Paper Talk: Illustrated Letters of Charles M. Russell,</i> Fort Worth, Texas: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1962
Brian Dippie, ed., <i>Charles M. Russell, Word Painter: Letters (1887-1926).</i> New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992, p. 44, 412
<i>Charles M. Russell: The Artist in His Heyday,</i> Santa Fe, New Mexico: Gerald Peters Gallery, 1995, pp. 156, 157, no. 66