November 15, 1922. H.S. Morgan, Esq., The Forbes Lithograph Mfg. Co., Art Department, Boston, Mass. Dear Mr. Morgan: Since receiving you letter of November 4th, Mr. Russell and I have given it careful consideration. I take entire charge of all business arrangements in connection with his work, and so I am answering your letter in person. I mention this so that you will be confused by receiving telegrams signed with Mr. Russell’s name and a letter, subsequently from me. I appreciate fully that you wish to have this matter considered confidential, and we shall say nothing about your plans, whether we come to an arrangement with you or not. Mr. Russell, I am sure you will be geld to know, is most enthusiastic over the idea of painting a series of historical canvases such as you have suggested, particularly as there is some pros- pect of their being kept together in a group. Painting the life of the western frontiers has been his work for thirty years, and his long study and observation of western history has particularly fitted him for such a commission. In this connection I cannot refrain from quoting from a letter received by Mr. Russell from Irvin S. Cobb before they met: “I’d rather meet you than almost any man in this count- try. I want to tell you what is the truth—that you can do more with camel’s whiskers and earthen pigments out of tubes than any other man at present reside in on this hemisphere. America owes you a lot for put- tin down on canvas the life the west that is going so fast, but I reckon she’ll do most of the paying after you’re dead in the orthodox way. What especially reminded me that I had meant to write was seeing two of your pictures “Kit Carson’s Men” and “The Price of his Robe” in Gump’s Gallery in San Francisco yesterday. They had t run me out of the place so the janitor could close up.” I have included this quotation in this letter because I wish to put some stress upon Mr. Russell’s intimate knowledge of western historical types and his absolute accurary[sic] as to detail. In [next] Mr. H.S. Morgan. Page #2. all the years he has been painting we have never heard of a single criticism of a detail of costume, equipment or type, and the sur- viving pioneers of frontier days are apt to be his most exacting critics, as they have seen the things he paints. In a series of historical canvases portraying epochal periods of the west, Mr. Russell and I feel that a list might contain the following subjects: Daniel Boone, as the earliest type of frontiersman. Jim Bridger, discoverer of the Great Salt Lake and the South Pass of the Rockies, as a frontier type of the period from about 1820 to 1850. Bridger was also an outstanding figure in the fur trad- ing days, both as a trapper and trader. The Discovery of Adler Gulch, the richest placer gold “diggings” ever found, which in a few years yielded $100,000,000.00. This picture would be a representation of a great migration of fortune seekers westward to the gold camps between 1849 and 1865, which had such an important effect on the conquest of the western wilderness by civilization. The Wagon Box Fight near Fort Phil Kearney, Wyoming, in 1867, the most remarkable battle between white troops and Indians in history, when for the first time breech-loading rifles were used against the Sioux and Cheyenne’s. Thirty-two soldiers and civilians fought a four-hour battle with nearly 4,000 of these Indians, killing and wounding, according to the admission of the their chief, Red Cloud, more than eleven hundred Indians. This victory avenged the wiping out of Colonel Fetterman’s command of 82 men a year before on practically the same battlefield, a tragedy of the plains only equaled by the Custer fight. The Texas Trail, portraying the enormous migration of cattle from the southwest in the early 80’s, when the Northwestern plains were transformed from a vast buffalo range to a cattle range. The trail was pushed forward, first to Caldwell, Kansas; Lincoln, Nebraska; to Dodge City and eventually to its northern terminus at the Yellowstone river, in Montana. In one year, 1879, 300,000 cattle were driven north over the trail, and thus a great new industry came into being in the Northwest. [next] Mr. H.S. Morgan. Page #3. If more subjects are required, we suggest as subjects for consideration, the Overland Stage Line, which was the precursor of the transcontinental railroad and had great influence on the develop- ment of the west; Steamboating[sic] on the Upper Missouri, one the most interesting phases of western history; a painting of one of the great Indian trading forts of the west of the ‘40’s, such as Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone river, or Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas river in Colorado. It seems to us that some western subjects have been rather over-played—notably Buffalo Bill, Kit Carson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. You may, however, prefer some of these to others we have selected. And now, Mr. Morgan, arises a very important matter in connection with your plan, so far as Mr. Russell is concerned. That is the size and shape of the canvases. You suggest upright compositions on canvases 30 x 40. Mr. Russell has always felt that upright com- positions greatly limit the scope of action. For instance it is, in his opinion, impossible to do justice to, say, and Indian fight where the breadth of canvas is narrower that the length. Of course where only a single figure or a very small group is involved, the same difficulty is not encountered. Mr. Russell, as you probably know, has done consider- able work for calendar houses. Brown & Biglow and the Osborne company have always used 24 x 36 canvases with excellent results for their pur- poses. My own suggestion would be to use canvases 40 x50, with the composition so arranged as to permit elimination of space on each side, sufficient to bring the picture to the proportions you require, and my reasons for suggesting this are as follows: First—Mr. Russell does infinitely better work on a wide canvas, where he has sufficient scope for his landscape, and the width of these canvases can be cut to include the action of the picture in reproduction without loss from the illustration or story standpoint. This has frequently been done by the calendar houses above mentioned. Second—The value of the canvases to the owner is, I should say, one hundred per cent greater on the wider canvas, where the proper amount of landscape is provided as a setting for the action. Much of the charm of Mr. Russell’s work is lost if he has to crowd his composition into too narrow limits. Western landscape is big and must be treated in a big way. [Next] Mr. H.S. Morgan. Page #4. Now another problem arises. Mr. Russell is very much opposed to sending out a preliminary sketch of a painting, as when he completes the painting it is quite likely to be very different from the first idea. In other words he requires entire freedom in working out a subject. My suggestion is regard to this is that Mr. Russell complete the fist of a series in old and submit with no obligation to yourselves. I feel sure that he can deliver a canvas by the middle of January. If it suits you, you can take it. If not, you may return it. I am very certain that the paintings can be worked out so that you can use them for your requirements in calendar work and advertising. The matter of laying out the subjects, etc. can proceed at once, subject to your later acceptance of his first canvas. In what I have said above I hope you will not get the impression that Mr. Russell is desiring to be arbitrary, or that he is tempermental[sic]. The fact is that he recognizes that there are certain things he cannot do and give you his best work, and long experience has taught him that it is useless for him to undertake what for him is im- possible. Now as to prices. In the past we have sold calendar house copyrights on canvases they have taken at a an average price of $2,000.00 per canvas, and have retained, ourselves, the original paintings, which we have sold for from $3,000.00 to $10,000.00 each. We have not sold any calendar paintings for some years, and Mr. Russell’s prices have been steadily on the ascent. During the past fifteen months we have sold two canvases for $10,000.00 each. I hardly expect that you will feel like buying the can- vases outright. In the event that you, the price will be $5,000.00 for each. If you wish to buy only the copyrights, we will sell a series of five for $10,000.00 and more in proportion. To be frank, we would prefer to have the canvases re- main in Montana, and I feel sure that arrangements could be made to have them purchased for the state, which already owns a very large canvas that hangs in the state capitol. [next] Mr. H.S. Morgan. Page #5. I have endeavored to give you all the information possible at this time, and will be glad to hear from you as soon as possible in regard to this, and of course the sooner the matter is settled, the better it will be for both sides. Yours very truly, NR-a [Transcribed by Melynda Seaton, 2012-06-25]