Earle Erik Heikka

In 1963 Joe De Yong—Charles M. Russell’s only protégé—wrote a tribute to Earl E. Heikka, “What has received far less attention than deserved is the wholly untrained, yet artistically admirable quality of modeling that was produced in the all-too-short-lifetime of Earl Heikka of Great Falls.” Heikka was born in Belt, Montana on May 3, 1910 to Finnish parents.  When he was two years old, the family moved to Great Falls. He was only sixteen years-old when Charles Russell died, so it is uncertain how much time, if any, he observed Russell working in his studio in Great Falls. Like Russell, he learned a great deal about big game by hunting and packing. He also learned from spending time in Rumford’s Taxidermy Shop in Great Falls.