33rd Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering & Western Music Rendezvous
August 16-19, 2018, Lewistown, MT
MontanaCowboyPoetryGathering.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
No one represents Central Montana better than world-famous western artist, Charlie M. Russell. To pay tribute, the Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering & Western Music Rendezvous is featuring a vintage photo of Charlie from 1900 as the official logo of the 33rd Gathering, coming up in Lewistown, August 16-18 this summer.
The image came from a post card acquired some years ago by Stan and Nancy Weaver of Big Sandy. The photo is entitled, “C. M. Russell, The Cowboy Artist,” and was published by W.T. Ridgley Calendar Co. of Great Falls. This collectible piece was sent with a one cent stamp from Belt, MT to Great Falls, MT on April 2, 1911. Miss Cecilia O’Reilly received this note from her sister: “Dear Sister – Just a line to let you know we are all well and it is snowing this morn. Sunday and the boys are going to Belt so I’ll ring off for this time. Bye, XXXO.”
The card will be on display on Friday and Saturday at Fergus High School, day headquarters for the gathering.
Montana Cowboy Poetry board members collaborated with the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls to pave the way for this charming piece of Central Montana history to appear on the MT Cowboy Poetry pin-pass, on posters, on website postings and in the official program book for the 33rd Gathering.
C.M. Russell wrote in 1917, “The west is dead, my Friend. But, writers hold the seed and what they sow will live and grow. Again, to those who read….” C.M. Russell was a close friend of Teddy Blue Abbott of the DHS Ranch on Gilt Edge Road in the Judith Mountains and collaborated with Teddy Blue to illustrate some of Teddy’s book, “They Pointed Them North.”
This summer, from August 16-19, the 33rd Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering will celebrate the life and legacy of C.M. Russell: artist, illustrated letter writer, historian, observer of life, philosopher, lover of life, gregarious friend to all Central Montanans and the epitome of a man who lived by The Code of the West.
General admission tickets for the Gathering’s Grand Stage Show Sat. Aug. 18, at the Fergus Center for the Performing Arts, starring SUZY BOGGUSS can be purchased online, MontanaCowboyPeotryGathering.com, or at Don’s Store in Lewistown. Reserved tickets or VIP Backstage Meet & Greet tickets are available by calling 406-538-4575.
The 33rd MT Cowboy Poetry Gathering is a non-profit endeavor produced to preserve and celebrate the heritage of the American Cowboy of the Upper Rocky Mountain West. Schedules and registration information for performers and vendors can be found at MontanaCowboyPoetryGathering.com.
