Will James

At 50 years old, Will James physical status not available right now. We will update Will James's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Will James (June 6, 1892-1942), a French Canadian artist and writer of the American West, died on September 3, 1942) was born in France.

He is best known for writing Smoky the Cowhorse, for which he received the 1927 Newbery Medal and a number of "cowboy" books for adults and children.

His artwork, mainly depicting cowboy and rodeo scenes, was referred to as "in the style of Charles Russell," and a substantial portion of it was used to illustrate his books.

He was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Great Westerners in 1992.

Early life

Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault was born in 1892 in Saint-Nazaire-d'Acton, Quebec, Canada, but later, when he began mythologizing his life and autobiography, he said he was born in Montana. He accounted for his French accent by saying that after his mother died while he was a child and his father was four (having been gored by a steer), he was adopted by a fur trader ("old trapper Jean") whose native language was French. In addition, Beaupré was not fluent in English.

James was born in 1910 near the original Val Marie, a french cowboy, and discovered to be a western cowboy. He was taught by local cowboy Pierre Beaupre, and the two established separate homesteads along the Frenchman River in southwest Saskatchewan. Later, James' farm became part of the Walt Larson ranch, which has since been turned into the new Grasslands National Park.

James immigrated to the United States, where he took the new name "William Roderick James" instead. In 1914, he moved to Nevada from Montana. He was arrested for cattle rustling and was sentenced to twelve to eighteen months in jail, first in Ely, Nevada, and later at the Nevada State Penitentiary in Carson City. While in jail, he concentrated on his drawing and made photographs that were published in the Ely Record. "With proper preparation, he will soon be able to do first-class service," Ely Record praised. "I have had ample time for reflective thought and it is my intention to follow up on my art at the state prison," he did in a sketch titled "A Turning Point" with the note: "I have had ample time for reflective reflection and it is my intention to follow up on my art."

James, a cowboy and folksinger, went to San Francisco to sell sketches and began working as a stuntman in western films. He was in the United States Army from 1918 to 1919, and from 1918 to 1919. He started painting in earnest after his release. He returned to Nevada in July, arriving in Reno in time for the First Annual Nevada Round-Up, in which he illustrated the program's cover and was charged $50. In addition, he served as a horse wrangler for the round-up.

Fred Conradt and Elmer Freel, two men he knew before the war, joined James in Reno to produce "broncobusting" exhibitions. When he landed headfirst on a railroad track, James was thrown from a horse and sustained a serious concussion. He convalesced at the Conradt household.

Source

Art education and early career

James described his first interest in drawing as a pastime he took up (with stick in dirt or charcoal on the "rough boards of the bunk-house porch") to alleviate his boredom during the long stretches when his father was away working under a contract to break horses. His first extended period of concentrated drawing took place while he was in prison. While convalescing at the Conradt home he again took up drawing in earnest. It was there that he decided on a career in art. This decision was encouraged by Conradt's 15-year-old sister Alice.

In 1919 James decided to move to San Francisco to pursue an art career. He enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco where he took evening classes, while working as a theater ticket-taker by day. In San Francisco he met both Maynard Dixon and Harold Von Schmidt. The three occasionally rode horses together and spent time discussing art. At the end of the year, through Von Schmidt's connections, James was able to sell two series of sketches to Sunset, a West Coast periodical. They both formed a narrative and contained text written by James; they ran in the January and November issues.

James returned to Reno and married the 16-year-old Alice Conradt. The couple then travelled first to Kingman, Arizona, then to Santa Fe, New Mexico, near an artists' colony. Ranchers near the colony met James and introduced him to Burton Twitchell, dean of students at Yale University. As a result of the meeting, and with financial assistance by the same ranchers, James enrolled in Yale University the following fall. Alice soon followed but James was ill-suited for academics. The couple, with an introduction from Twitchell, travelled to New York City to sell his work. When Life Magazine declined his work, the couple returned to Reno. They soon moved to a cabin built by Alice's father in Washoe Valley. It was there that James first began writing for publication.

Source