George Gordon Belt (1828–1869), soldier, 49er, businessman, judge, Confederate sympathizer who organized the

Mason Henry Gang The Mason Henry Gang were bandits operating in Central and Southern California in 1864–1865. As the Civil War was in progress, they were able to pose as Confederate Partisan Rangers, and their original mission was to rid the area of (anti-slave ...

in California during the American Civil War.

Early life and California

George Gordon Belt was born on September 25, 1825, in

Beltsville, Maryland Beltsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The community was named for Truman Belt, a local landowner. The 2020 census counted 20,133 residents. Beltsville includes the unincorporated ...

. George Belt had joined

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Jonathan D. Stevenson Jonathan Drake Stevenson (1800–1894) was born in New York; won a seat in the New York State Assembly; was the commanding officer of the First Regiment of New York Volunteers during the Mexican–American War in California; entered California mi ...

's First Regiment of New York Volunteers that were raised as part of the American occupation army in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...

. Colonel Stevenson raised ten companies or 770 men to go to California with the understanding that they would after their service muster out and stay in California. Belt held the rank of quartermaster-sergeant when he was discharged in 1847 and settled in California. On April 7, 1848, George G. Belt married Bebiana Asorca and they had nine children by 1869.

Belt's Ferry

Belt then settled in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquired Rancho Campo de los Franceses. The city is named after R ...

, in 1849, opening a tent store. In 1850 he was appointed as a licensed trader at the Merced Indian Reservation. Belt's Ferry and store on the

Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and steep course through ...

were about seven miles up-river from Snelling's Ranch. This tent-store was used mostly for supplying the Indians in that part of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

under contract with the federal government. He became the first

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) ...

or judge of Stockton, California. On one occasion he rode with the posse that caught and hanged the

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are dra ...

robber Tom Bell near Firebaugh's Ferry on October 4, 1856.

Civil War

A dedicated southern sympathizer, in early 1864 Belt used his ranch on the Merced to organize a group of

partisan rangers The Partisan Ranger Act was passed on April 21, 1862 by the Confederate Congress. It was intended as a stimulus for recruitment of irregulars for service into the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. The Confederate leadership, lik ...

including John Mason and " Jim Henry" and sent them out to recruit more men and pillage the property of Union men in the countryside. For the next two years the

, as they became known, posed as Confederate partisan rangers but acted as

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill th ...

s, committing robberies, thefts and murders in the southern

, Santa Cruz County,

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together ...

, and in counties of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. William B. Secrest, California Badmen: Mean Men with Guns, Word Dancer Press, Sanger, California, 2007. pg. 143-147
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Death

On June 3, 1869, Judge Belt was shot and killed in Stockton by William Dennis over a dispute between them.

References

External links

Root Web; George Belt Stockton - Merced Area, Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belt, George Gordon People of California in the American Civil War Bushwhackers Quartermasters 1869 deaths 1828 births Deaths by firearm in California