J. K. Ralston

James Kenneth "J.K." Ralston (March 31, 1896 – November 26, 1987) was an American painter of the Old American West whose primary topics were the American West and images of cowboys and American Indians. He also did commercial artwork.

Life and career Ralston's family moved to Colorado from Independence, Missouri in 1859 by ox team, then Idaho in 1863, and finally Montana in 1864, seeking gold each time. Ralston was born in 1896 in Choteau, Montana. His family moved to Helena, Montana before he was 10 years old. When he was 10, in 1906, they moved to the Capital P ranch in Dawson County, Montana in northeastern Montana. He spent his early adult years as a cowboy in eastern Montana. In 1917, after completing high school, he "rode a cattle train to Chicago," where he attended the Chicago Art Institute for three months before joining the United States Army in spring of 1918. as well as a post office mural, The Fate of a Mail Carrier - Charloie Nolan - 1876 in Sturgis, South Dakota. He earned He also created public art for the First National Bank in Billings, and for the Westerners Club in Las Vegas.

Legacy The MonDak Arts & Historical Society, which is located in Sidney, Montana and was founded in 1967, opened the J. K. Ralston Museum and Art Center in 1972. This operated until 1984 when the Center was moved to the newly completed MonDak Heritage Center in Sidney. Ralston's works are on display at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, the Western Heritage Center in Billings, the Montana Historical Society in Helena, the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument near Crow Agency, Montana, and the Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, Missouri. After his death, Ralston's log cabin studio was first moved to Rocky Mountain College in Billings and then to the Western Heritage Center in 2005.