Accomplished Artist Has Local Roots

As the Lewis and Clark Expedition returned up the Columbia from the Pacific, John Colter’s tomahawk was stolen by a band of Native Americans. Afraid they were too much for one man to handle, he was forbidden to go after his stolen weapon. Colter could not stand the thought of his ‘hawk’ in foreign hands. Just before dark, he slipped back into camp, bruised and bloody with the battle hawk in his belt. He slowed near Captain Meriwether Lewis writing with his quill. “Though shalt not steal” said the mountain man with a grin. Today, the journal of Lewis reads that the Native Americans picked on the wrong man.

While you may have read this story as a kid, for one man, this is the family history his grandparents used to narrate to him back on the old homestead.

For one accomplished, self taught artist, the Missouri Breaks of Eastern Montana are more than home. They are the backdrop of a successful life built by this world renowned artist. Powell Swanser attributes this rugged terrain and his family’s famous history as the inspiration for his art.

He grew up roughly 50 miles northwest of Jordan. “They practically had to pump in sunlight we lived so far out,” he said.

Professionally, Swanser is a sculptor and blade smith, replicating knives that are as rich in detail and vivid allure as the family heritage they represent. His tireless passion for recreating that history has allowed him to create a legacy of his own forged with wood, steel, resin and acrylics.

His artistic roots run deep in Sidney because it was where he first got started. “There were times when I made so much noise at night pounding away on something I was creating that I thought the neighbors were going to string me up. When they finally did come to see what all the noise was about I actually sold some pieces of my work,” he recalled.

He graduated from Froid High School and after a number of years working at different jobs all over the country, decided to move to Sidney after some coaxing from a friend. While it took him years to give in to the bite of the artist bug, once bitten, he focused on telling the story of Colter as well as replicating indigenous fish and other wild animals.

Colter was an explorer and mountain man known for carrying a grizzly chisel on his belt and a Wolfgang knife on his boot. These two knives are the inspiration for Swanser’s “Blades of Courage” handmade knives set. Sold together they make up his “Hell and High Water” limited edition. To date, there are 25 authentic sets priced at $5,000.

Born in 1773, Colter traveled with Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on the Corps of Discovery. After he was discharged, he joined the Missouri Fur Company on an expedition into the Rocky Mountains. He is believed to be the first ‘white man’ to see Jackson’s Hole and Yellowstone Lake. After many battles with the Blackfeet Indians, he vowed to leave the west. He used his fur trading money to buy some land in Missouri and build a cabin. He is believed to have married a woman named Sally and had one son.

Swanser also creates handmade tomahawks in a limited edition he calls “Battle hawk of the Badlands”.

On a larger scale, Swanser sculpted a rainbow trout for President George W. Bush entitled “Sometimes God Paints the Sky with Rainbows”. In honor of each state in the union, a limited edition of 50 signed and numbered sculptures, each one a mirror image of the original, is offered on a first come, first serve basis at a price of $8,000.

A typical piece can take up to 300 hours.

His art is listed in the state capital among the “Ten Most Important Works” of Montana’s living artists.

“As a little kid I was famous for trying to sell art to my relatives,” Swanser recalled. His grandmothers recognized his talent early on and always pushed him to do his best. “You know how it is when you’re a kid and you draw something and just rush through to get done. My grandmothers always had me go back and fix it and take more care,” he said.

Today, he describes himself as a perfectionist paying extreme attention to detail.

Swanser said his game fish collection has never lost a competition. He boasts once winning a seven-state competition in taxidermy against real fish in which he still took first place. “People are always asking me if the fish are real,” he said.

Over the years he has created pieces of art for famous people including Michael Jackson, Carlos Santana, Harrison Ford, Garth Brooks and Sarah Palin.

Currently, he is working on writing two books and two movie screens depicting the life and times of John Colter.

Swanser has been married to his wife Kazun for 24 years. Together they live in the Rocky Mountains near Missoula.

For more information log onto the “Blades of Courage” website at http://www.powell swanser.com or the game fish website at http://www.powellswanser incrediblesculptures.com

Locally, you can contact Ed Anklum at 406-87-5320.