Distinctly Montana Magazine

Charles M. Russell, Roping a Steer, 1903 Fine George III sterling silver “Warwick Base” wine cooler, ca. 1809 The Bair Museum’s Elegant Near the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Musselshell River, the Charles M. Bair Family Museum stands as a tribute to the early day sheepman C.M. Bair. His daughters, Margue- rite and Alberta, gathered the treasures of the family in a museum to tell their story and dedicated it to the people of Montana and the nation. In July, the doors will open for a new building on the grounds to house the unique treasures of Western artists Charles Russell and Joseph H. Sharp, photographer Edward Curtis, and the unique Plains Indian collection. Copies of the art works will be in the museum proper to continue the Bair Family story as the Bair sisters designed. Charles M. Bair came to Montana in 1883 as a conduc- tor on the railroad, but he soon changed his occupation to rancher. In the course of a few years he was raising sheep in the Lavina area and moved to Billings. A fortuitous trip to the Klondike during the gold rush and a 10-year lease on the Crow Reservation made him the largest sheep raiser in the country. One of his many acquisitions was the Mar- tinsdale ranch where he made his Montana headquarters and where the family moved permanently in 1932. While leasing land on the Crow Reservation, Bair was one of Joseph Sharp’s best customers. Sharp and his wife, Addie, had come to Crow Agency in the summer of 1899. Sharp was drawn by the culture of the Crows, the proximity to Custer battlefield, and a great desire to paint the Plains Indians. He was busy working on an order from Phoebe Hearst, widow of Senator George Hearst and mother of Wil- liam Randolph Hearst, for paintings to hang in a memorial building for Senator Hearst at the University of California. Sharp also depicted Charlie’s “favorite fishing hole.” He painted two still lifes of apples; Bair promptly bought one and gave it to the Reynolds Family. Sharp had used Carrie Reynolds’ “butter bowl” in the one Bair kept for himself. Bair bought work from his friend Charlie Russell early in the century. Sometimes in California, Bair, Russell, Curtis, actor Tom Mix, and others, gathered to share stories of their years in the West. These were good stories—good memories. 88 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SUMMER 2011

• Cover