Charles M. Russell

Raphael James Cristy of Albuquerque received his bachelor's degree in English literature at Stanford, an master's degree in American history at the University of Montana, and a doctorate in American history at the University of New Mexico. He has performed ""Charlie Russell's Yarns"" since 1976 in a variety of venues: the Northern Appalachian Storytelling Festival in Pennsylvania, the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, the Palm Springs Desert Arts Museum, Michael Martin Murphy's WESTFEST, the Fringe Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, and Australia's Festival of Sydney.

"THIS BOOK SHEDS AN ENTIRELY NEW LIGHT on Russell as a writer and as one who had total understanding and appreciation for what the West once was and, in the wake of progress, what it was rapidly becoming. It is a beautifully crafted book, complete with black and white and color illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index." - Roundup Magazine "This consideration of Russell as first and foremost a storyteller further establishes him as an important middleman between the different worlds of Native Americans and whites of the northern plains, myth and history, modernity, and tradition." - Journal of the West "Cristy shows how Russell amused his peers with stories that delivered sharp observations of Euro-American suppression of Indians and humorous treatment of wilderness and range issues." - Montanan "... a wonderfully engaging volume that enlightens and entertains." - Montana, The Magazine of Western History"