Charlie Russell Skit at Art Show

The Western Heritage Artists Show and Sale at the Holiday Inn in Great Falls, MT sponsored a fun skit last Saturday night.

Characters portrayed Charlie Russell during his early days in the Judith Basin when he met trapper Jake Hoover. Hoover ended up taking “Kid” Russell under his wing and the story goes that Charlie probably would have starved to death if it hadn’t happened that way. Charlie Russell was only sixteen years old when he came to Montana from Missouri so Jake Hoover helped him get his roots here.

The stage was set up saloon-style and the actors did a good job. It was noisy in the room since the accoustics weren’t the best, but I enjoyed the effort that went in to this little production. A couple of “saloon girls” were also wandering around the room and that added a little more flair to the evening!

There were silent auction items lining two walls so people were wandering around to check their bids. Proceeds from the silent auction items all went to Montana Special Olympics.

Mike Roberts, owner of the Yogo Sapphire mine in the Judith Basin (near Utica) had donated several pieces of Yogo jewelry for the auction.

A refresher on sapphires – the Yogo is found in a six mile stretch (bar) near Utica, MT. When you find the stone it is a cornflower blue and doesn’t have to be heat treated like all other sapphires. The stone is beautiful and they are very expensive. One legend says that Native Americans named the valley where the stones are found “Yogo” which means blue sky.

You can now purchase Yogo PayDirt filled with Yogo dike ore direct from the mine (Roberts Yogo Sapphire Mine). It comes in one pound satin bags or three pound velour bags. Dike ore is also available in bulk twelve pound boxes.

It was great to see information about the Yogo sapphire hard rock mine getting out. That mine is a gem…no pun intended! Time to start saving my money for a piece of Yogo sapphire jewelry.