After graduating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Charles Belden bought his first camera to record a European tour with his school friend, Eugene Phelps.
Belden's 1921–1940 photographs of the Pitchfork Ranch were widely published, including in The Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, and on the cover of Life magazine.
In the late 1920s, Charles became involved in raising antelope and sending them by airplane to zoos around the world, including some to Germany in the Hindenburg.
In addition, he helped the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission conduct a census of wildlife herd populations using aerial photographs.
After many years of strained relations, Charles divorced Frances in 1940 and moved to Florida with a new wife, Verna Steele Belden.