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Nancy Russell: Partner in Success
Upper body portrait of Nancy Russell. Note on back: 'Mamie' Russell (when about 18 years), before her marriaage. When living with Mr.and Mrs. B. R. Roberts at Cascade, Mont. Charlie Russell's wife, now known as 'Nancy Cooper Russell.' Married Sept 9th, 1896.
Nancy Cooper Russell was a woman ahead of her time and is often known as the quiet, steady sense running the household and business behind the scenes while Charlie Russell was the more outgoing of the two as the charismatic cowboy and artist famous for his illustrations and art. He was known to give away his art and did not like to sell it for a high price. Nancy knew better. With an eye on the household expenses, and what they needed to cover their expenses for travel, their cabin at Glacier National Park, and their home in Great Falls, it was Nancy who ensured that Charlie was well known and his art sold well.
"My wife has been an inspiration to my work. Without her I would probably have never attempted to soar or reach any height, further than to make a few pictures for my friends and old acquaintances. . . . I still love and long for the old west, and everything that goes with it. But I would sacrifice it all for Mrs. Russell."
Nancy and Charlie loved each other but also understood their roles in his success. Charlie knew that he had skills as a painter but was always uncomfortable elevating his skills to that of other more well-known artists. Nancy understood the quality of his work and was never afraid to showcase his talent and look for a sale.
She was the foundation of his successful art business but failed to become a true part of Great Falls society due to her background and impoverished beginnings.
Many of these factors could have been part of the reason Charlie and Nancy spent a significant amount of time in Pasadena, California, and why Nancy settled there after his death at their home called Trails End. She had a keen focus on continuing to promote and sell his work and secure his legacy as a western American artist. Today, many would say that her mission is accomplished and his work stands as a representation of one man’s creativity and view of the west.
Early Life and Marriage
Photo: Charles M Russell's Studio near Ben Roberts' Home, Cascade, Montana
View of a small wood building in Cascade, Montana, fences run on both sides and a barn behind it. This is the building used by Charles Russell as a studio, built by the Roberts family.
Nancy had a difficult childhood and was alone by the time she was sixteen. Featured in an episode of The Story of Us, a blurb on Nancy stated, “Seen more as a burden than a blessing, [Nancy] was raised on a farm where affection was scarce and survival came first.”
Scholar Larry L. Peterson went on to say, “Abandoned as a youth, [Nancy's] troubled childhood made her as tough as steel when most would have given up on life well before adulthood."
She went on to work as a domestic housekeeper for Ben and Lela Roberts. She eventually met Charlie Russell through this role who had a studio on their property. They married in the Roberts’ home eleven months after meeting.
While Charlie and Nancy had a life in Montana and on the road, she was committed to ensuring that his homelife supported his work, was comfortable for their visitors and later their adopted son Jack Cooper Russell.
Photo: Charles and Nancy Russell with a horse named Monte
View of Charles M. Russell and his wife, Nancy (Mamie Mann) Russell with a horse named Monte. Horse is bedecked in feathers and other regalia. Barn visible in background.
At home, Nancy allowed him time to create and complete his creative works as well as his commissions, and she hosted various gatherings at their home. She encouraged the building of his log cabin studio in Great Falls, even though it was much different from their traditional home at the same location.
She was often criticized for not being friendly with associates from Charlie’s cowboy days and was often labeled as uptight and stuffy by those who felt she did not meet societal standards due to her upbringing.
Photo: Charles Russell and Nancy Russell
Head and shoulders portrait of Charels Russell and wife Nancy Russell.
Nancy continued to focus on her work but battled periods of depression from this treatment in Great Falls. She was consistently focused on the promotion of Charlie's work and always secured advertising deals to ensure his customers were satisfied with their purchase. Nancy even completed the billing for his business right from their living room parlor.
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Photo: Charles and Nancy Russell
Charles and Nancy Russell at Linderman home, 524 West Lawrence Street, Helena, Montana.
Photo: Charles and Nancy Russell at home in Great Falls, Montana
View of Charles and Nancy Russell standing outside their home in Great Falls, Montana. With steps, trees, houses, and other buildings in background.
Photo: Charlie and Nancy Russell with child
Charles M. Russell and wife, Nancy, holding child with writing on front that means 'love Papa.'
Photo: Charlie Russell's home and studio
Charles M. Russell's home and studio in Great Falls, Montana.
Photo: Charles M. Russell at log cabin studio
View of Charles M. Russell sitting on log rail of porch in front of his log cabin studio with trees in foreground and antlers on roof.
Photo: C. M. Russell, the Cowboy Artist.
View of Charles M. Russell on a horse next to the Flathead River, with cliffs on the far shore in the background; photo taken during the round-up of Michel Pablo's bison herd for sale to the Canadian government.
C.M. Russell and Friends
Photo: The Russell's with Linderman, Mrs. Baker
Charlie and Nancy Russell, Mrs. Baker (?) and Frank B. Linderman in front of a car. Message on back: 'Hello: Do you remember the 4th of July 1914. Wish for your success in Primary and also General Election. Your friend, Dr. D. Baker'
Charlie and Nancy had a circle of friends who they regularly saw at their home in Great Falls and cabin in Glacier National Park.
Although Nancy was not thrilled with Charlie's original cowboy and bar friends from their early marriage. Scholar Brian W Dippie states, "Charlie drew friends from “barkeeps, cigar store owners, gamblers and other ‘sporting types’ but Nancy approved of only some of them."
Nancy eventually surrounded Charlie and herself with people who would inspire him to paint.
Photo: In Camp With C. M. Russell at Buffalo Round-up.
View of a camp with a white canvas tent, a table, and several men lounging around the campsite, with ponderosa pines in the background. Charles M. Russell stands near the fire with a pan in his hand. Photo taken during the round-up and shipping of Michel Pablo's bison herd to Canada.
Charlie and Nancy Russell often traveled for inspiration and the opportunity to meet like-minded artists to collaborate and create works together. They frequently travelled in the west and to New York City where Charlie could share his work, gain commissions, and sell pieces from the body of his western art collection.
Photo: Charlie Russell's cabin at Lake McDonald
Charlie Russell's cabin at Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park. Christmas card, which reads: Thiri's Ariel View Service (Polson, Montana)
One the fondest places the family visited was their cabin in Glacier National Park at Lake McDonald called the Bull Head Lodge. It was here Charlie could entertain in the wide-open spaces that he loved, Nancy could host their friends and acquaintances, and they could cherish their time together. Aside from his studio, Charlie created some of his best work at Bull Head Lodge and scholar Hippolitio Rapheal Chacon states, “While it might sound hyperbolic, no place meant more to him than the Bull Head Lodge on Lake McDonald.”
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Photo: Nancy Russell with child
Charlie Russell's wife, Nancy, holding son Jack Cooper Russell. She stands on the shore of Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park.
Photo: Charles M. Russell and Jack Dempsey at Great Falls, Montana
View of Charles M. Russell with hands on hips and Jack Dempsey wearing robe and boxing gloves at training camp before the fight with Tom Gibbons with trees in the background.
Behind the Scenes in Business
Photo: Nancy Russell at desk in Great Falls, Montana
View of Nancy Russell seated at desk with hands resting on papers near telephone and lamp at home in Great Falls, Montana.
Nancy Russell acted as the bridge between people seeing the art of Charlie Russell and actually purchasing it for their own collection. She saw value in Charlie’s work, and made every effort to develop their business locally, nationally, and later internationally.
Although she had little formal business training, she was smart, ambitious, and committed to ensuring Charlie Russell was adequately paid for his work. She was determined that he would be well known in art collector’s circles and developed business partnerships with a multitude of others including one with Malcom Mackay which was at first frustrating, then became a fruitful exchange building Mackay’s collection of Russell paintings.
In matters of the business, she was known to be the “mandatory go-between.” Nancy was firm, did not extend credit to buyers, and was upfront in her dealings through letters and personal meetings. There was always a business relationship with those outside of Montana and their inner circle of Montana friends. In Nancy’s world, Art was business.
Photo: Charles M. Russell in studio painting
View of Charles M. Russell seated at an easel in his log cabin studio painting "The Lewis & Clark Expedition."
Meanwhile, Charlie was left to paint, draw, and create. He wrote illustrated letters to friends, spent immense amounts of time painting at his studio cabin in Great Falls, travelled for inspiration, and even made it to Hollywood to connect with the imagined idea of "the west".
He also took on Joe DeYong as an apprentice and Nancy used her influence to not only give feedback to DeYong on his work, but support promoting him in the artist community as well.
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Photo: But you are working harder
One double-sided page of notes and a pencil sketch. Notes in Nancy Russell's hand at the top of the page advise Joe De Yong that he is trying to memorize too much in too short a time. Notes reference the artist Joe Scheuerle. At the bottom of the page, Charlie Russell's handwriting declares "I belive you should ware glasses" and references Philip Goodwin. Reverse: A pencil sketch of an infant in a cradleboard is overwritten with notes regarding modeling materials and advice regarding the creation of a mold.
One double-sided page of pencil sketches and notes A loose sketch depicts a man on a bucking horse with many sketch lines depicting potential positions for the horse's legs. Reverse: sketches of Navajo moccasins and other artifacts are accompanied by paint stains and by notes written by Nancy Russell and Joe De Yong.
Photo: Will Rogers and C.M Russell at Goldwyn Studios.
View of Will Rogers and C.M Russell at Goldwyn Studios, in front of Stage One during the filming of A POOR RELATION.
Photo: Charles M. Russell posed with painting
Charles M. Russell in his studio, Great Falls, Montana. He is posed on a raised wooden platform holding a palette and brushes while working on the large mural painting 'Lewis & Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole.' Photograph by Heyn's Elite Studio, Great Falls, Montana.
After the Death of CM Russell
Photo: Charles M. Russell funeral procession, Great Falls, Montana
After Charlie's death and funeral in Great Falls, Nancy settled in Pasadena, California. She spent the rest of her life promoting his art to ensure that his legacy would live on through his work.
The home they built together was designed to showcase his paintings and was in a western style as a tribute to him but also made for an excellent setting to sell his remaining works.
Dr. Larry Len Peterson, a scholar who specializes in Russell history, states, “Nancy built their home in Pasadena as a gallery from which to sell his work and redoubled her efforts to put together exhibits in his memory. She traveled from one end of the country to another to meet with his patrons. If Nancy was driven to make Charlie famous before his death, she was relentless afterwards to keep his memory alive."
Scholar Alison Fields says, “Throughout his career, Charlie continued to credit Nancy’s efforts as the reason his work received such great acclaim, noting, '“Nobody ever did think much of me until my wife began telling people about me. She’s a great booster.”'
Today we know that Nancy indeed was a supporter, and we know of Charlie Russell because of Nancy's business acumen as his wife and manager.
Photo: Russell home 'Trails End' in Pasadena, California.
Author: Michelle Pearson
Resources
The Story of Us, The Women Who Shaped Montana
Behind Every Man, Nancy Cooper Russell
The Architecture of Place: The House that Charlie Built: Perceptions of Architecture in Charles M Russell, The House that Charlie Built
At Home and in the Studio: The Interconnected Spheres of Charles and Nancy Russell, At Home and In the Studio
Bibliography
“Story of Us.” KUSM / MontanaPBS, November 16, 2025. https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/story-of-us/.
“Behind Every Man: Nancy Cooper Russell.” Montana Women’s History, June 6, 2014. https://montanawomenshistory.org/behind-every-man-nancy-cooper-russell/ .
Chacón, Hipólito Rafael. “The House that Charlie Built: Perceptions of Architecture in Charles M. Russell.” Architecture of Place. Russell House Society. Accessed June 15, 2026. https://rhs.cmrussell.org/the-house-that-charlie-built-perceptions-of-architecture-in-charles-m-russell/
Dippie, Brian W. “‘I Want It Real Bad’: The Charles M. Russell–Mackay Collaboration.” Montana: The Magazine of Western History 54, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 32–55. https://montanawomenshistory.mt.gov/_docs/main-assets/Dipple-Brian-I-want-it-real-bad-Nancy-Russell.pdf
Fields, Alison. “At Home and in the Studio: The Interconnected Spheres of Charles and Nancy Russell.” Architecture of Place. C.M. Russell Museum. Accessed June 15, 2026. https://rhs.cmrussell.org/at-home-and-in-the-studio-the-interconnected-spheres-of-charles-and-nancy-russell/
Photo Credit
Montana Historical Society Library and Archives
University of Montana Mansfield Library
