Plentywood, Montana

Sacagawea, Jean Baptiste, and Seaman

Miniature by Michael Westergard, 1998

Photography by David Nelson.
ichael Westergard and his wife Patricia operate the Westergard-Ragucci Bronze Studio in Plentywood, a small town in the extreme northeast corner of Montana, north of the Fort Peck Assiniboine/Sioux Indian Reservation. His bronzes portray the history, wildlife and people of the American West with accuracy of detail and respect for the subject.

His work can be seen throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, including the collection of Lord Friederick Wilhelm of Wied (Germany) a descendent of Prince Maximilian, who led the Maximilian/Bodmer expedition up the Missouri River in 1833-34. His bronzes are also in the permanent collections of the National Park Service and the Favell Museum in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The most extensive collection of his work is at the Michael Harrison Western History Research Center of the University of California at Davis.

--Joseph Mussulman