Archives West Finding Aid

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.