J.K. Ralston's Painting, "General Sully At The Yellowstone" Preservation Efforts Underway

Montanans hold their history close.  They take pride in the stories of how their families came to this land.  The hardships that they endured and the accomplishments made.  J.K Ralston was an artist committed to painting these stories. With painstaking detail, he captured the struggle, the joy, the determination, the sadness of that time and told the stories of what it was like for the pioneers and the native peoples and land. Born in Choteau, MT, in 1896, he knew the stories first hand.  Ranching in Richland County and traveling the state, he witnessed the end of the open range and he listened to the old timers' tales. His passion to preserve these stories is the mission of the newly forming nonprofit the J.K. Ralston Preservation Committee.  This committee is dedicated to preserving the paintings and murals of this great artist and historian.  In the fall of 2023, a 33-foot long by 4-foot wide mural of his was destroyed in the fire at the Jordan Hotel, Glendive, MT.  The mural served as a bar back and depicted cowboys driving a herd of longhorns across the Yellowstone River.  The loss was devastating.  Never again will one be able to sit with this story.  Never again will one be able to witness the power, danger and determination of the cowboys and their horses. Fueled by this loss, the J.K. Ralston Preservation Committee decided to move full steam ahead with preserving other important Ralston paintings starting with a large mural in Richland County!

The committee in collaboration with the Richland County Commissioners and the MonDak Heritage Center engaged in the removal, restoration and preservation of the Ralston mural located in the old post office, now known as the Nutter Building, in Sidney.  This 5' by 12' mural, General Sully at the Yellowstone, tells the story of General Sully bringing his men and wagon trains into the Montana Territory to meet up with the paddle boats on the Yellowstone River near Sidney.  Preservation efforts are currently underway to preserve this iconic Ralston painting. In June, thanks to funding from the Richland County Commissioners, the large oil painting was carefully cleaned, stabilized and removed from the wall in the Nutter Building by a crew of conservators from Colorado Art Restoration Services. A crew of four art restoration specialists spent three days cleaning the oil painting and stabilizing it for removal from the wall. The art conservators tested each color on the canvas and surface-cleaned every inch of the painting with small brushes and Q-tips. They then applied a protective paper to the front to stabilize the oils and add structure to the 82-year-old canvas. Scaffolding and a hanging system were constructed to support the massive canvas and eventually the painting was carefully removed from the wall. It was then packaged and transported back to Colorado to the environmentally-controlled workrooms of the Colorado Art Restoration Service for further cleaning, restoring, and framing.

To clean, restore, and preserve General Sully on the Yellowstone the MonDak Heritage Center is partnering with the J.K. Ralston Preservation Committee to raise funds for the final phases of the project. We are asking for community support for the completion of phases three and four.  Phase three which will begin early this fall will cost $30,000.  This will cover the cleaning, restoration, and the framing of the mural.  Phase 4 will bring the mural back to Montana in early spring to be placed on permanent display at the MonDak Heritage Center.  The estimated cost for this phase is $10,000. The estimated total cost of the final phases is $40,000. Please consider donating to this important project at the MonDak Heritage Center by mailing a check labeled for the "Ralston Preservation Project" or by coming into the MonDak Heritage Center at 120 3rd Ave. SE and dropping off your donation. Your generous donation will ensure that the stories captured by Ralston will be here for future generations. The stories that shaped the people and landscapes of Montana and the Old West will not be forgotten.  These stories are who we are, where we came from and how the times shaped our values.

The MonDak Heritage Center is open Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday from 1-4 p.m. Admission is FREE. For more information call 406-433-3500 or e-mail [email protected].