James Kenneth "J.K." Ralston (March 31, 1896 – November 26, 1987) was an American

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

of the

Old American West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

whose primary topics were the American West and images of

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

s and American Indians. He also did commercial artwork.

Life and career

Ralston's family moved to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

from

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

in 1859 by ox team, then

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

in 1863, and finally

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

in 1864, seeking gold each time. Ralston's father, William R. Ralston, "arrived in Highland, a settlement on

Alder Gulch Alder Gulch (alternatively called Alder Creek) is a place in the Ruby River valley, in the U.S. state of Montana, where gold was discovered on May 26, 1863, by William Fairweather and a group of men including Barney Hughes, Thomas Cover, Henr ...

" on July 4, 1864, settling on a ranch "about 12 miles" from

Choteau, Montana Choteau is a city in and the county seat of Teton County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,721 at the 2020 census. Choteau is named after French fur merchant, trader and explorer Pierre Chouteau, Jr., who is also the namesake of ...

in 1877. Ralston was born in 1896 in Choteau, Montana. His family moved to

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...

before he was 10 years old. When he was 10, in 1906, they moved to the Capital P ranch in

Dawson County, Montana Dawson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,940. Its county seat is Glendive. History Dawson County was the tenth county organized in Montana Territory. It was created January 1 ...

in northeastern Montana. He spent his early adult years as a cowboy in eastern

. In 1917, after completing high school, he "rode a cattle train to Chicago," where he attended the

Chicago Art Institute The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park. Its collection, stewarded by 11 curatoria ...

for three months before joining the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in spring of 1918. He served in the 62nd Infantry, Eighth Division in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. This unit served overseas but did not see combat. Ralston returned to the Chicago Art Institute in the fall of 1920. In 1923 Ralston married Willo and they lived on the Pacific coast for seven years. They returned to Montana in 1930 and took over the Roman E, his father's ranch, near

Culbertson, Montana Culbertson is a town in Roosevelt County, Montana, United States. The population was 753 at the 2020 census. History Culbertson was created in June 1887 following the arrival of the Great Northern Railway, then known as the St. Paul, Minneapo ...

. The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

forced them to move to

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

in 1935. Ralston opened a studio in Billings and worked as a professional full-time artist. His works include

Treasury Section of Fine Arts A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be st ...

murals at the Richland County Courthouse and ''General Sully at Yellowstone'' in 1942 for the post office in

Sidney, Montana Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Montana, Richland County, Montana, United States, less than west of the North Dakota border. The population was 6,346 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city lies alon ...

as well as a post office mural, ''The Fate of a Mail Carrier - Charloie Nolan - 1876'' in

Sturgis, South Dakota Sturgis is a city in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 7,020 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Meade County and is named after Samuel D. Sturgis, a Union Army, Union general dur ...

. He earned He also created

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

for the First National Bank in Billings, and for the Westerners Club in Las Vegas. Ralston died in 1987 in Billings.

Legacy

The MonDak Arts & Historical Society, which is located in

and was founded in 1967, opened the J. K. Ralston Museum and Art Center in 1972. This operated until 1984 when the Center was moved to the newly completed MonDak Heritage Center in Sidney. Ralston's works are on display at the

Buffalo Bill Historical Center The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums are the Bu ...

Cody, Wyoming Cody is a city in and the county seat of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Buffalo Bill Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,028 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, making Cod ...

, the

Western Heritage Center The Western Heritage Center is a regional museum located in historic downtown Billings, Montana, United States. The museum is housed in the historic Parmly Billings Memorial Library, built in 1901. The building is a stately Richardsonian Romanesqu ...

in Billings, the

Montana Historical Society The Montana Historical Society (MHS) is a historical society located in the U.S. state of Montana that acts to preserve historical resources important to the understanding of Montana history. The society provides services through six operationa ...

in Helena, the

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument preserves the site of the June 25 and 26, 1876, Battle of the Little Bighorn, near Crow Agency, Montana, in the United States. It also serves as a memorial to those who fought in the battle: George A ...

near

Crow Agency, Montana Crow Agency () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Big Horn County, Montana, United States and is near the actual location for the Little Bighorn National Monument and re-enactment produced by the Real Bird family known as Battle of the Lit ...

, and the

Gateway Arch National Park Gateway Arch National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In its initial form as a List of nationa ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. In 1946 Ralston and his son built a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

art studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

for him to work in. After his death, Ralston's log cabin studio was first moved to

Rocky Mountain College Rocky Mountain College (Rocky or RMC) is a private college in Billings, Montana, United States. It offers 50 liberal arts and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. As of 2013, the college had 1,069 enrolled students. RMC is affil ...

in Billings and then to the

in 2005. In 1978, Ralston was awarded a Gold Medal by the

National Cowboy Hall of Fame The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and Native American art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Amer ...

, which inducted him into the

Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American W ...

. He was inducted into the

Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) hall of fame organization. Its stated goal is to ""To honor our cowboy way of life, American Indian cultures, and our collective Montana western heritage. It confers the honour of induction on an a ...

in 2012.

References

External links

As-I-RememberCall Of The BugleMontana History Wiki

Western Heritage Center presentations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, J. K. 1896 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters United States Army personnel of World War I Artists of the American West United States Army soldiers People from Billings, Montana People from Choteau, Montana People from Dawson County, Montana Artists from Montana People of the New Deal arts projects 20th-century American male artists

Life and career

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links