When Mules Wear Diamonds

Charles M. Russell’s painting When Mules Wear Diamonds vividly captures a rugged mountain trail scene, where a pack train of mules strains under heavy loads across rocky terrain. In the foreground, a white mule carefully picks its way among the stones while a cowboy on horseback urges the animals forward with whip in hand, the distant mountains rising in majestic contrast to the toil below. Known as the “Cowboy Artist,” Russell (1864–1926) brought authenticity and lived experience to his depictions of the American West, drawing from his years working as a cowboy in Montana; his works, like this one, reflect both the hardship and the enduring spirit of frontier life.