Twelve page handwritten letter to Nancy C. Russell probably from Mr. Conway but that is not identified has no date and is concerning specific corrections to the Charles M. Russell biography,

I’m going to suggest a change here and There where I run into it exactly or I’d fish for a word that would give a sharper meaning or clearer description in my own stuff – Use it or tear it up, I wont mind and There is no harm done. Page 2 In the first paragraph where you say “gun like report” I’d say “rifle like report because ^different kinds of ^ guns have many sounds and a rifle & whip have often been compared – being shaper or keener! Where you say “his string of talk was profane- “ cut out the was you don’t need it - I can’t quite put my finger on the reason for my saying so but it reads smoother and has a little better or clearer meaning without it. I’d say – (God Help me) “His string of talk profane and hide- glistening like his whip, but understood by every bull.” Back side of page 1 reads: Charlie was home in St. L Mo on March 19 1864 as a small boy he loved to hear Hear about the pioneer life that had Broken thrn [sic] and ^was^ surplanting [sic] the frontier With man made civilization- Mule Where you say mule skinners- “astride their saddle animals” – I’d say astride the near wheeler, or high wheeler or near wheel animal, or – astride the “saddled near wheeler” – because if ya [sic] mention them in, or a with, or on, a part of the team it connects up better for a reader who is none too well up on string Teams- The ^few^ reader who already know can fill in the gaps for himself- It’s the “boob”, or the green horse Ya [sic] have to take by the hand & lead & point out the points of interest Bottom of page two You don’t have to keep this a connected story that deals with the past step by step it can run in a helpful side light here and there- for instance where you wind up the last paragraph on page two saying “Pack and saddle horses were his favorite mode of transportation [“mode of transportation” is a little high Brow – more sophisticated than you need you could use “favorite method of travel” or “favorite way of traveling.”] and he never changed” – you could add “and even in late years the automobile nor any other time saver held no attraction for him – As he often said to me (Meaning you ) – “You can have the car, the best we can buy but I’ll string along with old Neenah ^as long as we hang together,^ as we understand each other better!” Now I don’t mean for you to use this, but you see it is all intimate and that is what the people who read this book, whether friends or strangers, want! Page 3- Jake Hoover’s voice – act of the [darkness?] comes a little sudden x You could say “as he unrolled his bed and started to make his bed a mans voice out of the darkness said “Hello Kid! What you doing here? And in Looking up started (he would be – any kid would be lonesome) Charlie turned to find a short heavy set stranger, reg gravely regarding him from the back - close at hand – “Camping” he answered – “Where’s your grub? The stranger inquired “Haven’t any.” “Where ya [sic] going” “To find a job!” ov “Hub! Where you from!” “Humph” – Then, “Where you From? (Ya [sic] see this humph is just a little skeptical as The Hoovers own private opinion was “Well, for a kid will no grub & loose in this country you are in a fine spot to be looking for a job!) “and after he was told”, or and on being told, he said “You better come over & camp with me etc” = Thousands of miles – not a thousand miles – because I rode 980 miles in two months once & the chief kept Monte for years Page 6- “Bar R Ranch” cow – You don’t need the word Ranch – “Bar R” cow is enough & sounds better – and “one of Kauffmans brand” which follows explains it any way! Sometimes one too many words is more than just “one too many!” Page 6- You say say “You see the wonderful schooling Charles was getting as he was drawing etc ! – well just to me that is understood that the reader does see that with out calling his attention to it, and he will ride with you better if he absorbs the idea unconsciously – Instead of that particular line you could rearrange it and still get the same meaning access by saying – “And whether with Red Man or white he was drawing, painting, and modeling all his spare time to entertain his friends, never dreaming of the great work ahead of him but satisfied with the pleasure that came from the lumps of wax and few tubes of color that swing in an old sock from his saddle horn. Page 6- on page four you say-“The boss John Cobbler hired him to night wrangle horses.” and then on page six “The captain was Horace Brewster, the same man who hired him in 82 on Ross Fork”- The meaning is confusing & should be cleared up. Page 7- “especially the man” – leave out the –say “especially man!” Leave out the next paragraph on “He came in contact with the red man etc.” You have already describe established this fact where you speak of the Bloods, ad You’ve described it well – far better than in this little paragraph which is not needed anyway & does nothing but circle back to a subject passed – confusing for that reason [Yes I know I’m hard, I also know how hard it is to take this from another but by Gosh I’m just as hard on my own stuff] == Page 7- Combine You’ve already pictured call whackers etc., so I’d combine this short 3rd paragraph with the longer one by saying, after you “Stage Coaches and Steam pass the animals ------ But the West was changing- Stage Coaches and Steam boats, bull whackers trains, and string teams, all played their part but to be crowded out by the ra in time by the railroad and the type of white man it brought – (or the type of settler which followed in its wake). Charles and Charles was there to see the change but he did not like the new, and tried to hold the to the old with pen and ink, color, and [illegible] clay for he liked the old way best. He was a child of the open before wire or rail spanned it and ^now^ civilization choked him! (You see he’d known civilization but it was the wild life of the later years that developed his natural leaning for freedom- Therefore I say now!) Even in 1889 when the Judith country was getting well settled and the sheep had the range he resented the change and followed the cattle ([illegible]) north because they did move you see north to the Milk River country (searching for open range) or (to the last of the open range). I don’t think you need the next four lines at all- you are just restating something already accounted for and saying it over in different words is not needed- a smart reader, the kind you are naturally talking to will see This a thing said Time and hold it against you – The other kind don’t matter. Page 7- A letter from Charlie Green don’t you want to add “a gambler” it is true & sounds more picturesque! shouldn’t “Mr. K.” be “Mr. G.” for Green? Page 9-But I’d say “but as Charlie said the grass wasn’t [sic] so good! I’d say as, y ya [sic] haven’t it but it goes better! Page 11- “Long slender fingers” runs easier, don’t you think- rather than (slender long fingers) I differ with you as to size of his hands, They appeared ^rather^ small at first glance because that is the thing I noticed when I first met him on Triggs porch in Aug 1914 – Maybe it was of his fingers being slender & the whole hand hung slightly curved as the fingers were working at imaginary models, which they were!

[Transcript by Lauren B. Gerfen, 2012-10-09]

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