Good news for fans of the painted buffaloes scattered around Great Falls this summer. Many of the gorgeous creatures are staying in northcentral Montana.Good news for the C.M. Russell Museum. Its live auction Saturday night of 26 big buffaloes and four calves drew bids totaling $214,000.”It was higher than our conservative estimate,” said Carol Mungas, co-chairwoman of the Buffalo Hunt project. Complete figures, including total silent bids for 20 small buffalo, were not available at press time. The original estimate was $150,000.”I’m so pleased,” said co-chairwoman Kitty Wright. “The whole energy in the room was phenomenal.”Artist Thomas English, who painted a blue buffalo with the moon shining down, drew one of the highest bids, $11,500, for his “Buffalo Nights” piece. He called the auction results “fantastic.”

Posted: 09|12|05 at 9:37 am. Filed under: US News.