Silver gelatin photograph, 8 x 10 in., with "Charles J. Belden, Z/T Ranch Pitchfork, Wyoming" handstamp copyright on verso as well as typed caption, "The Spirit of the Pitchfork Passing the Denver 3/4 Billings Train of the Burlington Route in Sheep Canyon just below Greybull, Wyoming." A fine view capturing three men in a small boat and one man in a raft watching a Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad train travelling through the mountains of central Wyoming.

Charles J. Belden (1888-1963) was born in San Francisco into a wealthy California family. He developed a life-long passion for photography when he purchased his first camera to record his travels throughout Germany and Russia after graduating from MIT in 1909. Upon his return to the US, 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, Wyoming. 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. Belden's photographs were featured in various publications, including National Geographic and the Saturday Evening Post.