Charles Russell wrote a letter to a friend in Great Falls, dated August 25, 1917 which had this painting of Kid Fredericks get in a fight while working with a trail crew in Glacier Park. Russell had seen the Kid in prizefights in Great Falls more than a decade prior. Note the cane on the ground beside Kid Fredricks.
" Friend Bill:
I saw Kid Fredericks the other day. He's holding down a ranch north of here. The kid's looking good, but he's got something wrong with his hind legs. He packs a cane, but they say he's still good with his front feet. You remember him; he was a lightweight fighter in the lawless days before the good people came west--when nobody owned a key.
A few days ago the kid's out with some lumber-jacks, clearing timber for a new road. One of this bunch is a guy that loves to lick cripples. he says something to the kid that ain't flattering one day, and the kid comes back with some talk.
There's only one round. The kid can't side-step like he used to, but the front end of him is still working fine and he ain't forgot the geography of a human. He finds this cripple-hunter's chin, heart, wind, dinner, and kidneys, and when it's time for the gong to ring, Mr. Trouble-Starter is in the timber, mighty groggy, feeling his way toward Whitefish, and he ain't been heard of since."
https://scontent-den2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=67CC5EFB
https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/17526
