The Mother of Belt: Mattie Bell Castner

Birds-eye view of Belt, Montana with Belt Mountain in the background. [1989.138.0004]

Mattie Bell was born into slavery in Newton, North Carolina on April 10, 1855. She was owned by Mr. Bob Setter until she was 8 years old when she was freed. After, she worked in Newton as a child’s nurse until she was 15. From there she moved to St. Louis, Missouri and worked as a hotel maid for 6 years. While in St. Louis, Mattie made friends with Mrs. Sire, and she left her children in Mattie’s care. Mattie later brought them to Fort Benton to join their mother. The journey took 3 months. Mattie stayed and ran a successful laundry. She met John Castner, a white Pennsylvania freighter, and they married. John Castner founded the first coal mines at Belt and freighted coal to Fort Benton.

They settled along Belt Creek and built the first log cabin. This cabin grew over time and became the Castner Hotel. It was also a station for the Great Falls-Lewistown stage line. As the town grew in population, the cabin gained additions until it assumed the picturesque appearance of a southern plantation. Mattie’s chicken dinners were held in fond memory for many old-time guests.

Castner Hotel, Belt, MT, c. 1910. Multiple buildings surrounded by wooden fence and road in foreground and hills in background. [1999.069.0233]

Mattie also owned her own ranch that was located fifteen miles east in the foothills of the Highwood mountains. The ranch was 640 acres, 70 of which were used for farming. It was well watered by streams and numerous springs. She had six head of beef cattle, 20 horses and 8 hogs, as well as raising 45 acres of winter wheat, oats, barely and timothy. The ranch property was valued at $25 an acre.

Image of the Mattie Castner Ranch, scan from The Belt Valley Times, Special Harvest Eidition, 1915

In 1879, a young boy named Albert was left with her and she raised him as her own son. In 1886, Mattie went back to Newton, NC to look for any family she could. She only found one brother and one sister. Her mother, father, and other family had been sold to someone and no record could be found. After she returned to Belt, Mattie sent for her sister and brother-in-law, the Byers. They stayed until 1889, when they returned to North Carolina due to Mrs. Byers failing health. In 1897, Mattie brought her great niece and namesake Mattie to Belt from North Carolina.

The Castner’s generosity and hospitality made Belt into a community from the very beginning. Mattie and John ran their own independent commercial endeavors and businesses. John Castner passed in 1916. At the time of her death in 1920, Mattie was the largest single landowner in Belt. She donated most of her estate, nearly $25,000, (over $325,000 today) to local charities.