Pleasant, mid-winter day

Warm winds decide to stay

 

Touch of spring thaws the air

Ideal life, not a care

 

Hidden, in frigid North

Cold destined to call forth

 

Prairie living unaware

Grass uncovered, and bare

 

Few cowboys work the range

Life will soon see big change

 

Barren land, overgrazed

Cattle wander, unfazed

 

Calmness warns of trouble

Winter’s wrath comes double

 

Arctic-fed winds stir up

Wet snow creates pileup

 

Haunting storm now arrives

Few cattle will survive

 

Blizzard smothers this land

Conditions, out of hand

 

Cowboys wait out fierce storm

Snow and cold, nasty swarm

 

Waiting, hours become days

Prairie, now winter’s maze

 

Cattle’s cries go unheard

Snow-blinded, vision blurred

 

Storm’s cruel hand, plays its cards

Life stops, prairie graveyards 

 

This poem attempts to capture the daunting winter of 1886-1887 on the prairies in the Montana Territory when the Open Range’s cattle industry collapsed from its near annihilation.  Russell’s artwork says even more than words can describe.