James Kenneth "J.K." Ralston (March 31, 1896 – November 26, 1987) was an American painter of the Old American West whose primary topics were the American West and images of cowboys and American Indians. He also did commercial artwork.

Life and career

Ralston's family moved to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

from

Independence, Missouri Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County. Independence 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, ...

in 1859 by ox team, then

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

in 1863, and finally

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

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. It lies along U.S. Routes 89 and 287, (the latter terminating at the former in this city) approximately east of the Rocky Mountains, near Flathead National F ...

in 1877. Ralston was born in 1896 in Choteau, Montana. His family moved to Helena, Montana 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 15, ...

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 in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

for three months before joining the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

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

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. 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 his wife 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, Minneapol ...

. The Great Depression forced them to move to

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

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

Treasury Section of Fine Arts The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

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, United States, less than west of the North Dakota border. The population was 6,346 at the 2020 census. The city lies along the Yellowstone River and is in proximity to the ...

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 census. It is the county seat of Meade County and is named after Samuel D. Sturgis, a Union general during the Civil War. Sturgis is notabl ...

. He earned He also created

public art Public art is art in any 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 physically acce ...

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 include the ...

Cody, Wyoming Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,066 at th ...

, 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 Romanesque ...

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 operational ...

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 Arm ...

near

Crow Agency, Montana Crow Agency ( cro, awaasúuchia) 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 Ba ...

, and the

Gateway Arch National Park Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial was established to commemorate: *the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mo ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. In 1946 Ralston and his son built a log cabin

art studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design, ...

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. It offers 50 liberal arts and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. In fall 2013, the college had 1069 enrolled students. It is affiliated with the ...

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 American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Ame ...

, 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 ...

. 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 WikiWestern 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