Distinctly Montana Magazine

Edward S. Curtis, Coups-Well- Known – Apsaroka, c. 1908 Edouard Leon Cortes, Palace Pigalle 18th century bronze and ormolu five-light candleabra, signed “F. Righetti a Roma 1795” Expansion Another artist, photographer, Edward Curtis, took pictures on the Reservation, and Bair bought the Crow folios from him to help finance his work. Curtis had embarked upon a project of capturing the Indian nations on film and his depiction of the Crows was exceptional. These excellent pictures of the Crow will be shown in the protected atmosphere of the new building, while some copies will continue to be shown in the house. Years after the Crow project, Curtis had a studio in Cali- fornia at the Biltmore when Bair and his family spent the winters there. When Alberta complained that her father wouldn’t sit for a photograph, Curtiss told her to bring her father and Charlie Russell down to the studio and he would catch both of them. Those two photographs are on the mantel in the Pine Room at Martinsdale. Curtis was also a member of the party that escorted the French Ambassador and his wife to visit the Crow Reserva- tion. The couple arrived in Billings for a one-day stopover en route from San Francisco to Washington and was to be shown something of the country and the resources and in- dustries. The program called for a stop at the shearing pens at Kaiser where Bair’s sheep were being sheared. They were then to go to Pryor so that the guests could learn something about the Indians. Bair had arranged for a big welcome. Two hundred Indians in full war paint and regalia, fill- ing the air with war whoops and gunfire, descended upon the cars and surrounded them. As the Indians circled the cars—a tremendous show!, Bair beamed with satisfac- tion and turned to accept the reactions of his guests, only to find them panic-stricken on the floor of the car. A large picture by Ken Ralston was commis- sioned in 1951 by the Bair sisters to hang in the new Office Room over the bar. The painting was to commemorate Charlie Bair’s negotiating with the Crows. When it was delivered, Marguerite had him take it back to Billings and add “some red,” the color of the new carpet in the room. Ralston added a red blanket on one of the Indians—and then, with a smile undoubtedly, added red hair to the cowboy. The Bair sisters placed the headdress (purportedly Plenty Coups) by the picture and a ceremo- nial pipe. The bright vest that belonged to one of Buffalo Bill’s bartenders and leather pants of the warrior “Rain in the Face” were arranged to the right. The Bair ladies—Mary, Marguerite, and Alberta—collect- ed art and antiques from their Portland home, and when the family moved to Martinsdale permanently, the sisters deftly joined their collections with the Western art to tell the story of Charles Bair and his family. Alberta and Mar- guerite continued to visit Europe many years to enlarge the collection and today the Western and European art hang comfortably together. The Parisian “firelight” scenes by Edward Cortez are a particular favorite of visitors. www.distinctlymontana.com 89

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