Julia Wades-in-Water, shown in this painting, was the wife of Wades-in-Water, the tribal sheriff for the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. In 1905, after he became sheriff, she became the first Native America female police officer in the nation, and she worked … Continue reading
Wades-in-the-Water, the person depicted in this painting, is listed in the Blackfeet geneology as “Wades in Water.” But there are actually two: Wades in Water is listed as having married Knife Scabbard and they had two children: Jimmy Wades in … Continue reading
Mountain Flower is the subject of the 1944 calendar painting. She is also in Great Northern’s 1958 portfolio of Reiss’ paintings. The portfolio says, “Mountain Flower is a symbol of her generation. Educated, her manners bespeak the white man’s culture, … Continue reading
Great Northern put a Winold Reiss portrait of an aging Blackfeet warrior named Takes the Gun Strong (see below) on its 1943 calendar. I don’t have that calendar, but I do have a 1943 Great Northern calendar. That’s because the … Continue reading
The calendar identifies the subject of this painting as “Sundance–Piegan Chief.” However, I can’t find anyone named Sundance in the Blackfeet genealogy database. In fact, very few of the names of people in the annual calendars are in the database, … Continue reading
As previously noted here, from 1928 through 1932 the Great Northern issued a new calendar each month, most of them featuring a painting of a Blackfeet Indian by Winold Reiss. In 1933, either as an economy measure or because they … Continue reading
This calendar photo memorializes one of the hot spots of the Deschutes River Railroad War. James J. Hill’s Spokane, Portland & Seattle and Edward Harriman’s Union Pacific were racing to extend their lines from the Columbia River to Bend, Oregon. … Continue reading
Union Pacific had taken over the Chicago and North Western in 1995, and the February photo of this calendar shows a C&NW train in the Powder River Coal Basin. While this photo is credited to “CNW,” all the other photos … Continue reading
The 1995 calendar has even less geographic representation than the one for 1994, with four photos from California, three from Oregon, two from Wyoming, and one each from Idaho, Oklahoma, and Washington. All of the Oregon photos were taken just … Continue reading
All but two of the photos in the 1994 calendar show Union Pacific trains, and one of those two is of the Grand Tetons in a scene repeatedly shown in pre-1971 calendars. Providing some relief from the parade of GM … Continue reading
