Featured in this rare early bronze sculpture titled "Pursued" by Montana artist Earl E. Heikka circa 1933. The sculpture features a wonderfully and professionally crafted bronze on wooden base construction that shows range cowboy with a pack horse holding his buffalo rifle with hammer cocked, pointed behind him as if he knew he was being pursued by an adversary. The bronze is marked on the bronze part of the base as follows: E.E. Heikka - 43/48. Earle Erik Heikka (1910 - 1941) was active/lived in Montana. Earle Heikka is known for Western genre sculpture, dioramas. In 1963 Joe De Yong Charles M. Russell's only protege 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. Unfortunately, his most productive years were during the Great Depression when prices for all goods and services dropped dramatically. Spending on art for even the wealthy was greatly reduced until after WW II. Heikka worked with mainly water-based air drying clay known as Marblex and used solid wire armature anchored to a wooden base. Many of his models were then beautifully and finely painted before they were ready for sale. Best known for his pack train sculptures, often with a number of riders and horses that were designed for mantles in lodges, Heikka sculpted them as his tribute to Glacier National Park and the Rocky Mountains. His finest was Taking Up the Slack, and others included: Trophy Hunters, Bringing Home the Bacon, Sun River Packers, Hunter's Return, Pack Train, Pack String, and Successful. He was also a master of predicament subjects such as Pursued. Heikka struggled for sales his entire shortened life. Like so many others during the brutal days of the Depression, he committed suicide on May 18, 1941 in Great Falls and left a young family behind. Only a number of years after he died were his models cast in bronze and his sculpting abilities better appreciated. Today, his sculptures are highly prized and collectible. The condition of this bronze sculpture is well preserved with no obvious signs of damage and shows a well preserved overall condition. The measurements of this bronze sculpture is 17" x 21" x 8". The collective weight of this bronze sculpture 53lb.