Early Riser...

My eyes pop open at 6am whether I like it or not.  I actually look forward to the  early  summer mornings  where I don't have to rush to be somewhere.  A quiet peaceful uninterrupted  couple of hours to spend online working on my Family History is a luxury I enjoy very much. Sometimes I find some wonderful old photographs and stories .  This morning I found this...

Painted by Charles Marion Russell...

It seems a second cousin of mine Jane Sheffield born in England in the 1850's married a man by the name of William Skelton Gate ( born 1851). His mother Martha Skelton born in 1836 had a younger brother also born  in 1851 who as a young man emigrated to Montana, America.

William was a Pioneer settler in the Judith Basin and became friends with Charles Russell  known as the "cowboy painter".  Charles used William as a model for the above painting.

"cowboy painter"

Charles Marion Russell


Although "cowboy art " would not be something I would like to hang on my walls I enjoyed the little verse Charles Russell put on the Christmas Card he painted after a hard winter in Montana.

Wonder what I will find tomorrow!