Ghost Ranches of Montana Billings Area
Sheriff Bear Claw
Oil on Barnwood 6.5″ x 24.5″ Sold The Crow Reservation Once the Crow Nation signed the treaty to give them the land they desired, the Federal Government wanted Chief Plenty Coups to appoint the first native police officer. Bear Claw was the one honored, and he proudly discharged his duties. After his death his badge was lost, and years later it was discovered in Texas.
The Champion
Oil on Barnwood 22″ x 24 1/2″ $1300 Contact to Purchase Crowder Horse Ranch Linda Crowder is a renowned competitive rider, horse trainer and instructor that teaches both in the Billings area and in California. She and her husband, Gary Crowder, along with their son, Kale, own and operate the ranch on the outskirts of Billings which once belonged to Bud and Bobby Brooks Kramer. Their charming home was once a homesteader school, and the walls of their living room are lined from floor to ceiling with pictures of rodeo events in which both Linda and Gary excelled along with […]
Mr. Butterfield’s Granddaughter
Oil on Metal from Homestead site 14″ x 17 1/2″ $1300 Contact to Purchase Brooks Ranch Violet Davison Brooks had both a famous grandfather and daughter. John Butterfield won a $600,000 government contract to deliver St. Louis mail to San Francisco in 25 days, thus starting the Butterfield Overland Stage Company, the longest stage coach route in the world. There were 139 change stations along the 2,000 mile route, along with a water stop every 30 miles. Horses used were thoroughbred racing horses so they could out-run Indian attacks, who referred to these fast horses as “faster than wind.” The […]
A Champion Cutter in Her Eighties
Oil on Barnwood 22″ x 25″ $1300 Contact to Purchase Kramer Horse Ranch Bobby Brooks Kraemer grew up on a ranch, the daughter of the Prairie County sheriff. In 1943 she married Bud Kramer while he was in the Army. Upon his return they built one of the greatest horse ranches in the nation. Bobby spent most of her life taming wild horses, riding competitively, breeding world class champion horses, and instructing and encouraging many to ride. Failed homesteaders in the 30’s released their horses into the wild when they moved on. The new owners of the land sold these […]
The Sacred Tobacco Ceremony
Oil on Barnwood15″ x 23.5″$1300 Description/History The Crow ReservationNative Americans are the original ranchers and cowboys of the west. Their crops were the native plants found in abundance and which the girls and women harvested. Their livestock were the buffalo which the men killed by ambushing the beasts into a jump, where they were killed with rather small arrowheads. The bladders were cleaned and used by the woman to carry water, the tongue and hump were a delicacy enjoyed by all, the hides were prepared by the women for use as tents and clothing, and as much of the meat […]
Ranching Nature’s Herd
Oil on Barnwood, 3-dimensional 23.5″ x 20″ $1300 Contact to Purchase The Crow Reservation Ranching, as known today, was unthinkable to the Native Americans. Animals were wild and were slaughtered only when needed by the tribe for food, skins, and bladders for holding water. The men would track and kill the buffalo, while the women’s job was to process the meat and hides. To use the skin the woman had tediously to scrape all the scraps of meat from the hide before processing ever began.
The Sweat Lodge on the Little Bighorn
Oil on Barnwood 20.75″ x 16″ $1300 Contact to Purchase The Crow Reservation A sweat lodge is used to this day for medicinal and spiritual purposes, rather a re-birth or purification ceremony. The lodge is made of twelve hides with the floor covered in sweet sage. The owner of the lodge invites those he wishes. The right to pour water is an honor earned and given by a relative or bought. Between the rocks and the fire pit is a symbolic umbilical cord which is not to be crossed. Using a pitchfork the owner transports the rocks inside, and when […]
The Stare Down
Oil on Barnwood 22″ x 26 1/2″ $1300 Contact to Purchase Crowder Horse Ranch A veteran of the Viet Nam War, Gary, a Montana native, traveled from Colorado to Montana where he was hired on in 1968 as full time horse trainer for Bud and Bobby Kramer on the ranch they had established three miles northeast of Billings. Raising bucking, cutting and quarter horses with the Hanging A Diamond brand along with long-horn cattle and sheep, Bud and Bobby knew they had found a remarkable wrangler in Gary. He knew he had found his life-long career and a friend and […]
Shikaakaate
Oil on Barnwood 15″ x 34″ Sold The Crow Reservation Shikaakkaate, a member of the Greasy Mouth Clane and a child of the Big Lodge Clan, is a nickname in the Crow Apsaalooke language for Albert L. Gros-Ventre, Jr. His actual Indian name, Illapichilkaashe, which means sharp-shooter, was given to him by his Great-Great Grandfather, the late William Gros-Ventre who was a World War II veteran. Shikaakkaate is dressed in traditional Crow Hot Dance regalia. Throughout the plains, the Crows were distinct in their style of dress. The head piece, known as a roach, is made of porcupine hair and […]
Harvestors
Oil on Barnwood 15″ x 20.5″ Sold The Crow Reservation Farming, as known today, was not traditionally practiced by Native Americans. Wild crops were harvested, nothing sown and planted. It was the duty of the women and girls to harvest the necessary wild foods such as sweet sage, bear root, wild turnips, and choke cherry berries.