Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"MOUNTAIN HORSE"

Date

1953

Materials

CANVAS, WOOD, OIL PAINT

No. Pieces

1

Length

48.4

Width

37.3

Description

OIL PAINTING IN WOOD FRAME; PORTRAIT OF MAN WITH BLACK AND WHITE EAGLE FEATHER IN HAIR, WHITE SHIRT, AND BEADED RED AND BLUE INVERTED TRIANGLES DECORATING FRONT OF SHIRT. MAN HAS TWO BLACK BRAIDS AND WHITE CIRCULAR ORNAMENTS ON BRAIDS. BACKGROUND IS PAINTED GREY WITH PICTOGRAPHS ON LEFT SIDE, FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, RED HORSE, BLUE HORSE, YELLOW OUTLINE OF HORSE, RED HAND; PORTRAIT HAS PICTOGRAPHS ON RIGHT SIDE, FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, RED OUTLINE OF A HALF-SQUARE, BLUE OUTLINE OF A HALF-SQUARE, YELLOW OUTLINE OF A QUARTER-SQUARE WITH AN ORANGE STEP-LINE , GREEN LIGHTING-BOLT LINE WITH BLUE “V” TURNED HORIZONTALLY. LOWER LEFT CORNER OF FRONT HAS PAINTED TWO BLACK GUNS SURROUNDING TEXT “TWO GUN, 1953”. PAINTING IS CONTAINED IN BROWN WOODEN FRAME; BACK OF PAINTING HAS TEXT IN BLUE INK, “MOUNTAIN HORSE KNOWN AS RATTLESNAKE JIM DIED 1952, PROPERTY OF T.J. GARD, LETHBRIDGE, PAINTED BY TWO-GUN”. BACK OF FRAME HAS TWO METAL CIRCLE HOOKS SCREWED INTO SIDES, WITH WIRE RUNNING BETWEEN TWO; FRAME HAS NAILS AT TOP, BOTTOM, AND SIDES BENT IN TO CANVAS TO HOLD PAINTING IN PLACE. BACK OF PAINTING IS STAINED AND SCUFFED; NAILS AND CIRCLE HOOKS ARE RUSTED; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

ART

INDIGENOUS

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

ON AUGUST 7, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED JUDY AND LYLE YOUNG REGARDING THEIR DONATION OF THREE PAINTINGS BY KAINAI ARTIST PERCY “TWO GUN” PLAIN WOMAN. THE PAINTINGS PREVIOUSLY BELONGED TO JUDY YOUNG’S FATHER, JACK GARD, AND LATER WERE GIFTED TO THE YOUNGS. ON THE TWO GUN PORTRAIT, LYLE YOUNG NOTED, “[THE PAINTINGS WERE] IN OUR ORIGINAL HOME IN SHERWOOD PARK, THEY WERE ALL THREE HUNG…THE PORTRAIT WAS HUNG IN THE BASEMENT IN OUR GAME ROOM AND THE TWO SCENES WERE HUNG IN MY BEDROOM.” “FOR SOME REASON, THE LANDSCAPES DIDN’T SEEM TO BE AS SIGNIFICANT AS THE PORTRAIT WAS. THE PORTRAIT ALWAYS STOOD OUT. EVERYBODY NOTICED IT. THE LANDSCAPES, I DON’T KNOW THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DID NOT KNOW WHO PAINTED THEM UNTIL THEY LOOKED AT THE SIGNATURE BUT THE PORTRAIT WAS ALWAYS OBVIOUS…WE’RE NOT TOTALLY SURE HOW [JACK] CAME BY THEM INITIALLY. LIKE WHEN I MET JUDY [IN 1964] THEY WERE IN THE BASEMENT.” ON ACQUIRING THE TWO GUN PAINTINGS, LYLE YOUNG RECALLED, “JACK GARD, WHO GAVE THEM TO US [IN ABOUT 1998], INDICATED THAT THEY WERE QUITE VALUABLE TO HIM AND HE HAD HUNG THEM IN HIS HOME FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AND TOWARD THE END OF HIS LIFE, HE DECIDED THAT HE WANTED TO GIVE THEM TO JUDY AND I BECAUSE HE FELT THAT THEY WERE SIGNIFICANT…FOR THE LETHBRIDGE AREA…EVEN THOUGH WE WERE IN EDMONTON. HE BROUGHT THEM UP TO US AND WE’VE HELD THEM NOW FOR PROBABLY 10 YEARS OR MORE WITH THE INTENTION OF PASSING THEM ALONG TO OUR CHILDREN AND THEN JUST KEEP THEM IN THE FAMILY AND WHO KNOWS WHERE THEY MIGHT GO IN THE LONG RUN. WELL, AS IT TURNS OUT, THE YOUNGER PEOPLE THESE DAYS AREN’T AS INTERESTED IN OLD TIME POSSESSIONS AND STUFF LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE SO OUR TWO CHILDREN DECIDED THEY REALLY DIDN’T WANT TO TAKE THEM SO WE WERE LOOKING FOR A HOME FOR THEM. WE LOOKED AT THE GLENBOW IN CALGARY AND WE LOOKED AT THE GALT IN LETHBRIDGE AND LOOKING AT A LITTLE BIT OF THE HISTORY OF TWO GUN IN THE AREA AND HIS HERITAGE…WE FELT THAT THE GALT WAS THE BETTER LOCATION FOR THEM.” JUDY YOUNG ELABORATED ON ACQUIRING THE PAINTINGS, NOTING, “I’M THE OLDEST DAUGHTER. THERE’S TWO OTHER DAUGHTERS AND NEITHER ONE OF THEM WERE IN A POSITION TO TAKE THEM AND KEEP THEM AND THEN WE’VE MOVED FROM OUR BIG HOUSE WHERE WE COULD HAVE KEPT THEM TO A SMALL APARTMENT IN EDMONTON AND WE JUST HAVE NO ROOM FOR THEM AND IT JUST SEEMED TO BE A SHAME TO HAVE THEM WRAPPED UP IN PAPER IN A CLOSET…[WE TOOK THE PAINTINGS FROM JACK] BECAUSE I HAVE A HUSBAND THAT WAS INTERESTED IN THEM." ON HER FATHER, JACK GARD, AND HIS TIES TO THE PAINTINGS, JUDY YOUNG RECALLED, “[MY PARENTS, JACK AND GWYN GARD, SISTERS AND I LIVED AT]…115 DIEPPE BOULEVARD…[THE PAINTINGS HUNG] IN MY DAD’S BASEMENT. IT WAS A BASEMENT SUITE HE HAD RENTED OUT FOR YEARS AND QUIT RENTING IT OUT. HE HAD A NICE LIVING ROOM DOWNSTAIRS AND THEY WERE HUNG THERE OVER THE FIREPLACE…[ THE PORTRAIT] SCARED MY DAUGHTER…THEY WERE ON THE WALL IN THE SAME ROOM BUT I DON’T REMEMBER THEM AS STICKING OUT TO ME AT ALL…THOSE ARE THE ONLY REAL WORKS OF ART [MY FATHER HAD]. HE WAS VERY PROUD OF THEM. I DON’T REMEMBER HIM COLLECTING ANYTHING ELSE.” “[MY FATHER] WAS IN THE AIR FORCE WHEN MY MOM AND HE GOT MARRIED AND HE RETIRED FROM THE AIR FORCE AND HE HAD SEVERAL JOBS. HE OWNED A SERVICE STATION [GARD’S ESSO SERVICE ON 3RD AVENUE WEST OF MAYOR MAGRATH DRIVE IN THE 1950S] IN LETHBRIDGE…THEN HE RETIRED FROM THAT. HE DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO SPEND RUNNING THE SERVICE STATION AND RUNNING THE DAUGHTERS AROUND IN HIS CAR…HE WAS A CAR SALESMAN, HE WORKED FOR ENERSON’S MOTORS FOR YEARS AND YEARS…HE BASICALLY RETIRED AND WENT TO WORK AT SOUTHMINSTER UNITED CHURCH. HE WAS THE CUSTODIAN, THE JANITOR THERE FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS.” LYLE YOUNG SHARED HIS MEMORIES OF THE PAINTINGS, RECALLING, “I THINK THEY WERE KIND OF UNIQUE; MORE SO THE PORTRAIT THAN THE SCENIC PICTURES…IT WAS ALWAYS FOUND IN HIS BASEMENT RIGHT FROM THE TIME I MET JUDY UNTIL HE GAVE THEM TO ME, IT WAS THE COMMON PLACE SIGHT TO SEE THAT PORTRAIT HANGING IN HIS GAME ROOM IN HIS BASEMENT AND I ALWAYS HAD AN AFFINITY FOR THEM.” “WHEN WE SAW THEM WHEN WE TOOK THEM, WE NEVER DID LOOK AT THEM AS A VALUABLE POSSESSION. WE JUST LOOKED AT THEM AS VERY UNIQUE AND WE ALSO THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING THAT JACK CHERISHED, VALUED FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, WE NEVER REALLY WANTED BUT THEY WERE ALWAYS VALUABLE TO HIM. IT WAS JUST AN OPPORTUNITY TO CARRY ON THE PICTURES IN THE FAMILY AND WE HAD INTENDED ON GIVING THEM TO OUR CHILDREN…” “I DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT ATTRACTED [JACK GARD] TO THESE BUT HE WAS VERY ATTRACTED [TO THEM]. IT CERTAINLY WASN’T A CASE WHERE HE HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE OF OR RELATIONSHIP WITH TWO GUN. I DOUBT THAT HE EVEN KNEW WHO HE REALLY WAS.” FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DONATION FROM LYLE AND JUDY YOUNG INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190017001-GA. IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. SHE DEVELOPED THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST, TWO GUN, WITH INFORMATION FROM CALGARY AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES AND RECORD P20130026000. PERCY “TWO GUN” PLAIN WOMAN WAS BORN IN 1895 AND RAISED ON THE KAINAI RESERVE. WITH A GRADE SEVEN EDUCATION, HE LEFT RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL TO TAKE UP LIFE AS A COW PUNCHER. HE SOON BECAME AN EXPERT RIDER AND BRONC BUSTER AND RODEOED THROUGHOUT THE WEST. TWO GUN WAS NEARLY 50 BEFORE HE BEGAN TO TAKE A SERIOUS INTEREST IN ART. AS A MIDDLE-AGED MAN HE TOOK A FEW LESSONS AT THE BANFF SCHOOL OF FINE ART, AND PAINTED TRADITIONAL DESIGNS ON TEEPEES PRIOR TO HIS LATER PORTRAITURE PRACTICE. HIS DEPICTIONS OF TRADITIONAL NATIVE LIFE AND PORTRAITS OF IMPORTANT KAINAI AND BLACKFOOT INDIVIDUALS BECAME WELL KNOWN IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND MONTANA. TWO GUN WAS COMMISSIONED TO PAINT A HISTORY OF THE BLACKFOOT TRIBES ON THE LOBBY WALLS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL IN WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK. HE FIRST SOLD HIS PAINTINGS TO A LOCAL RESTAURANT FOR $5.00 BUT AS HE BECAME KNOWN DEMAND FOR HIS WORKS INCREASED. IT WAS ONLY IN THE LATER YEARS OF HIS LIFE THAT HE MADE A LIVING OFF HIS ART. DURING THE 1950S TWO GUN CONTRACTED TUBERCULOSIS AND WAS A PATIENT AT CHARLES CAMSELL HOSPITAL IN EDMONTON FOR FOUR YEARS. HE DIED AT AGE 66 IN CARDSTON HOSPITAL. HE USED THE SYMBOL OF TWO CROSSED OR PARALLEL RIFLES TO ACCOMPANY HIS SIGNATURE IN MANY CASES, AS THE NAME TWO GUN WAS HANDED DOWN BY AN UNCLE, CHIEF EAGLECHILD. HIS NEPHEW WAS GERALD TAILFEATHERS, ALSO A WELL-KNOWN CANADIAN NATIVE ARTIST. FOR COPIES OF CALGARY AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON TWO GUN, SEE PERMANENT FILE P20030029000. FOR HARDCOPIES OF THE ARTIST'S DEATH REGISTRATION, MATERIAL DEVELOPED FOR A 1990 EXHIBITION OF HIS WORK, AND CORRESPONDANCE BETWEEN MUSEUM STAFF AND HUGH DEMPSEY REGARDING THE ARTIST, SEE PERMANENT FILE P19640615000. IN JUNE 2009, THE GALT WAS CONTACTED BY A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC, LYLE YOUNG, SEEKING BIO INFORMATION ON TWO GUN. YOUNG POSSESSED A TWO GUN OIL AND IT WAS REALIZED BY COLLECTIONS STAFF THAT ITS HUMAN SUBJECT WAS NEAR IDENTICAL TO THE UN-DOCUMENTED SUBJECT FEATURED IN THIS WORK. ON THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE YOUNG’S WORK WAS "MOUNTAIN HORSE KNOWN AS RATTLESNAKE JIM, DIED 1952". HIS WORK WAS ADDTIONALLY DATED BY THE ARTIST TWO GUN AS "1953". OTHER EXAMPLES OF THE SUBJECT HAVE TURNED UP LOCALLY IN LETHBRIDGE AS WELL AS AT AUCTION IN VANCOUVER. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P19738755000-GA. THE SUBJECT OF THIS PAINTING, IDENTIFIED AS “CHIEF MOUNTAIN HORSE”, IS LIKELY JIM MOUNTAIN HORSE, GIVEN THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THIS PORTRAIT AND UNTITLED PORTRAITS P19930018001-GA AND P19738755000-GA, WHICH WERE LINKED TO AN IDENTIFIED "MOUNTAIN HORSE" PORTRAIT IN THE POSSESSION OF LYLE YOUNG (SEE RECORD P19930018001 FOR DETAILS OF YOUNG'S CONTACT WITH GALT MUSEUM STAFF REGARDING HIS PAINTING). A TRIBUTE ARTICLE FROM THE OCTOBER 15, 1937 ISSUE OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND A PHOTOGRAPH OF CHIEF MOUNTAIN HORSE IN A POSE VERY SIMILAR TO THIS PAINTING AS WELL AS P19930018001-GA AND P19738755000-GA. JIM MOUNTAIN HORSE WAS BORN C.1857, AS A MEMBER OF THE KAINAI NATION. HE WAS A WARRIOR AND FOUGHT IN THE LAST RECORDED BATTLE BETWEEN THE BLOOD AND CREE FIRST NATIONS ALONG THE OLDMAN (BELLY) RIVER IN THE FALL OF 1872. MOUNTAIN HORSE GREW UP TO BE A MINOR CHIEF OF THE KAINAI NATION AND HAD THREE SONS WHO ALL FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR I, INCLUDING THE CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED AUTHOR MIKE MOUNTAIN HORSE. JIM MOUNTAIN HORSE IS PICTURED IN A 1935 PHOTOGRAPH OF THE LETHBRIDGE OLD-TIMER'S ( GALT ARCHIVES 20001076304), AND WHEN HE DIED ON OCTOBER 13, 1937, HIS CASKET WAS DRAPED IN THE UNION JACK AND HIS FUNERAL ATTENDED BY JOHN PUGH, THE KAINAI RESERVE INDIAN AGENT. HE WAS THE LAST LIVING SURVIVOR OF THE OLDMAN RIVER BATTLE. CHIEF JIM MOUNTAIN HORSE IS BURIED ON THE KAINAI RESERVE. FOR HARDCOPY OF JIM MOUNTAIN HORSE TRIBUTE ARTICLE, SEE PERMANENT FILE P19738755000.

Catalogue Number

P20190017003

Acquisition Date

2019-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail