thesaloonsceneswaterfowls

Barks had always been fascinated by the Klondike gold rush. After he had repeatedly used the subject in his comic stories book and duck oil paintings, he also made it a recurring theme in his waterfowls series (see more HERE).

BILLY THE DUCKLING

05-78 Billy the Duckling

12-78 Billy the Duckling on Guard

Barks felt especially attracted to the controversial William H. Bonney (1859-1881) to whom he dedicated no less than three paintings; two of which depicted him in very similar saloon environments. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, became a desperado in his early teens and is said to have killed more than 20 men until he was shot by sheriff Pat Garrett.

SALOON GIRLS

18-78 Dangerous Dan McGoose The title is a quote from Robert W. Service's popular ballad The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1907). See more HERE.				25-78 Klondike Kate and Troupe Kathleen Eloisa Rockwell (1876-1957), known as Klondike Kate, was a famous dancer during the gold rush in Alaska.

34-78 The Lady Known as Lou The title is a recurring refrain from Robert W. Service's popular ballad The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1907). See more HERE.				4-79 Belle of the Yukon The 1944 musical of the same name was set during the gold rush and starred singer Gypsy Rose Lee as Belle de Valle.

EXTRA

Barks made several other idea sketches to be used in saloon decors, but none of them were finished. Perhaps the most interesting rough was this one, which Barks gave the working title Gunfight over Cards. In it he depicted himself in the background as an expectant mortician!!!