From Nancy C. Russell, May 10, 1916, an outline of Charles M. Russell's life, reference to "Waiting for a Chinook".

May 10, 1916. Mr. Guy Weadick, 1604 Broadway, New York. My dear Mr. Wedick: Here is an outline of Chas.’ life on the range. “I came West in ’80 and lived for two years with an old hunter and trapper named Jake Hoover. In ’88 I went to work for Carter and Tasker, night-wrangling horses. Their brand was C.T. John Cabler was the boss and they were trailing from the Yellowstone north to the Judith Basin where they met the Basin Round-up at Rosses Fork and turned loose. “I then went to work for the Basin outfit night-herding horses. I never became a cow-puncher but was a horse-wrangler and night-herder. Only one summer I rode for the P. and reped[sic] on the Shonkin. When the big outfits were thrown north of the Missouri river I went with them and stayed with the Bear-Paw-pool and worked with them till ’93 when I quit. “The winter of 1886 I was at the O.H. ranch on the Judith River. That was the hard winter. Kaufman of Helena who owned the Bar-R, wrote to Jess Phelps, owner of the O.H., inquiring how the cattle were doing. It was then I made the sketch, “Waiting for a Chinook”, and Phelps sent it to Kaufman instead of a letter. The original sketch is now owned by Huidecooper who still owns cattle on the Mussellshell.” Sincerely,

[Transcribed by Melynda Seaton, 2011-10-12]

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