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Rocky Mountain Online Archive

Collection Summary

Biography

Scope and Content

Restrictions

Preferred Citation

Processing Information

Acquisition Information

Related Materials

Access Terms

Container List
Series I.
Photographs, 1908-ca. 1940

Series II.
Negatives 1908-ca. 1940

Inventory of the Charles J. Belden photographs and negatives, 1908-ca. 1940

University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.

Email: ahcref@uwyo.edu
URL: http://ahc.uwyo.edu/

"©" 2006 University of Wyoming


Collection Summary
	Title	Charles J. Belden photographs and negatives,
	Dates (Inclusive)	1908-ca. 1940
	Creator	Belden, Charles J., 1887-1966
	Abstract	Collection consists of 3000 photographs and glass plate and soft positive negatives taken by Charles J. Belden from 1908-ca. 1940. Most of the images were produced in the 1920s and 1930s on the Pitchfork Ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming. The images include depictions of everyday life on the ranch, photos from Belden's trips to various foreign countries (including Panama), Yellowstone National Park, raising antelope, dude ranching, and Belden's family members.
	Collection Number	00598
	Size	7.7 cubic feet. (4 document boxes, 1 slim document box, 17 shoe boxes, 1 record box)
	Repository	University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
	Language(s)	English

Biography

Charles Josiah Belden (1887-1966) was born into a wealthy California family. His grandfather, Josiah Belden, was an early pioneer in California who made millions in San Francisco real estate. Charles was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He bought a camera to record a tour of Europe he and his friend Eugene Phelps made in 1909. The focus of the trip was the journey to Russia. Belden’s 1908 Packard was the first automobile to make such a trip in the country. After the tour, Belden joined Phelps at his family’s ranch in Wyoming. In 1912, Belden married Eugene’s sister Frances after working as a cowboy for a number of years. Charles and Frances had three children, Annice, Margot, and Mary Elizabeth, who died while still a toddler. In 1922 Louis Phelps died, leaving the Pitchfork Ranch to Charles and Eugene. The two, however, did a poor job of managing the ranch. Charles was more interested in photography and Eugene in tinkering with farm machinery. In 1940, Charles and Frances divorced. He moved to Florida with his second wife, Verna Steele Belden. There he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1966.

Belden was known for his beaver Stetson hats. Stetson actually named a model after him, "The Belden." Airplanes became a fascination for Belden. In the late 1920s, Belden was involved in raising antelope and sending them by airplane to zoos around the world, including some to Germany on the Hindenburg blimp. Belden helped to pioneer the process of planting fish from the air and filmed the experience for future reference. He also helped the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission conduct a census using aerial photographs to count large herds in 1940. Made famous because of his articles and photographs, Belden wrote about ranch life, the dude ranch, and his one of a kind bighorn and domestic sheep hybrid.

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Scope and Content

The Charles J. Belden Collection consists of approximately 3,000 original negatives. Most of the images were taking in the 1920s and 1930s on the legendary Pitchfork Ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming. Located at the base of the Absaroka Mountains, the 250,000-acre ranch provided fertile ground for Belden’s photography. By filming cowboys and cattle against the dramatic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, he created some of the classic images of the American West. Belden used these photographs to publicize the Pitchfork Dude Ranch and to illustrate articles he wrote about cowboy life. Belden, however, was a versatile photographer and the collection contains a variety of images. These photographs depict everyday life on the Pitchfork Ranch, a trip to Europe in 1909, Yellowstone National Park, raising antelope, dude ranching, and trips to the Southwest and Latin America. His photography can be found in National Geographic Magazine and the Dude Rancher’s Association’s magazine the Dude Rancher.

Also found in the collection are photographs of Belden’s many travels including trips to Holland, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Panama, as well as Yellowstone National Park and the Southwestern United States. Belden’s family appears not only in the travel prints, but also in portraits and candid shots.

Each print is titled and numbered by the American Heritage Center. The negatives correspond with the numbers on the prints. Most of the negatives are glass plate, although many soft negative copies and several positives are included. Prints with the same title description may or may not be identical. A note has been made where only a print or a negative exists of an image.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

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Ranches -- Wyoming

Belden, Frances

Belden, Margot

Cowboys -- Wyoming

Panama -- History -- 1903-1946

Panama Canal (Panama)

Photographers

Photography -- Wyoming.

Photography of animals --Wyoming

Photography of livestock --Wyoming

Photography of mountains --Wyoming

Pitchfork Ranch (Wyo.)

Sommers, Annice

Wyomiong -- History -- 1890-1918.

Wyomiong -- History -- 1919-1945.

Wyomiong -- History -- 1946-

Yellowstone National Park

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Container List

Series I.
Photographs, 1908-ca. 1940

This material is arranged arbitrarily and consists mostly of photographs concerning cattle and sheep ranching in Wyoming. Included are images of the Belden family, the dude ranch, and travel.

Description

Container

Belden with camera near a horse and buffalo skull, 1908-ca. 1940