Montana Cowboys Photographs By Charles J. Belden

BELDEN, CHARLES J. [PHOTOGRAPHER]

Publication: Photographs By Charles J Belden, n d (ca 1915), St Petersburg, Florida

A nice collection of five 8" x 9 1/2" black and white photographs from the cowboy photographer, Charles Belden of Montana Cowboys. Two of the images are identified on the reverse (one from the Big Horn basin and the other from Jack Creek). Belden's photography is uncommon in any format and is rare in this large size. Each photograph exhibits strong contrasts and the Belden stamp is on the verso. Photograph 1: A nice action photograph of several men branding multiple calves in a corral, including a roper on horseback; with snow-capped mountains in background. Photograph #2: On the open range, several cowboys are preparing to brand a calf in the foreground, with a roper on horseback, a large herd of cattle and rolling hills in the background. Photograph #3: A man attending to a roped and tied steer, being held by two horses, in an open field with 3"-4" of snow, and a treed fence line in a snowy background. Photograph #4: A striking and romantic photograph of a cowboy astride his horse, drinking water from his hat, while his mount stands in a waterhole getting a drink, at Jack Creek; pines in the immediate background and the snow-capped Absaroka Mountains in the distance. Photograph #5: A beautiful photograph of a remuda of 20+ horses at a small waterhole in the high country; rugged mountainous terrain surrounds them, with a stormy sky and snowy mountains in the distance. Charles J. Belden (1888-1963) was born in San Francisco into a wealthy California family. He developed a lifelong passion for photography when he purchased his first camera to record his travels throughout Germany and Russia after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1909. Upon his return to the U.S., Belden worked as a cowboy on the L.G. Phelps Ranch in Wyoming. He then went to work on and eventually managed the legendary Pitchfork Ranch near Meeteetse, WY. During his time at the Pitchfork Ranch between the 1920s and 1930s, Belden produced a variety of images that captured life on the dude ranch, including livestock activities, as well as the surrounding western landscape. Many of his western photographs were taken on horseback aboard his reliable pony Pinky. He thought this gave him the desired perspective he was hoping to achieve. Belden's photographs were featured in various publications, including National Geographic and the Saturday Evening Post. On February 1, 1966, Charles Belden died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in St. Petersburg, Florida, a sad ending to a great American cowboy photographer.