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Mortimer W. Belshaw (April 20, 1830 – April 28, 1898) was an American Inventor and Mine Manager whose Silver ore contributed to Los Angeles's first 19th century boom. A New Yorker and one of the few college-educated "argonauts" who came to California after the 1848 discovery of Gold, Belshaw operated Cerro Gordo's Union Mine with partners from 1868 to 1876, and after a legal battle stayed on as a Director in a new company for the mine's last three years. After an illness of six months, Belshaw died in his son's home in Antioch, California

Early life
Mortimer Belshaw was born in Columbia, New York, United States, on April 20, 1830 to William and Mary Belshaw. The young Belshaw acquired an education superior to most of his associates and at the age of 16, he began to teach school during the winter months. Mortimer took a course of study at the Oxford Academy in Chenango County, New York with the money he saved from teaching. During this period in his life, he also learned the trade of watchmaker and jeweler. Belshaw graduated from Genera College (now known as Hobart College) in 1850 and in 1852; he went from Panama to San Francisco where he worked as a carpenter for a time. After a while, he opened a jewelry store in Fiddletown, California He also held a position as an agent for the Wells Fargo Express Company. In 1856, Belshaw was president of the Gwin Mine Development Company of Calaveras County and was also the Republican candidate for an assemblyman from Amador County.

Personal life and Tragedy
Belshaw married his childhood sweetheart Jane E. Oxner in 1858 and the couple welcomed a son William Conrad Belshaw on June 3, 1859 and another son; Charles M. Belshaw was born on March 11, 1861.

On July 5, 1864, William Conrad passed away just after his 5th birthday.

Learning the ropes
In 1862, Mortimer left California for Sinaloa, Mexico to try his hand at mining. After two years of learning the silver mining trade, he returned to San Francisco in 1864, where he connected with the Pacific Refinery. While at the refinery, Mortimer who was a mechanical genius, invented a number of useful devices such as the Belshaw water-gate which is still used in many mining districts.

Inyo Mountains
In 1868, Belshaw heard the news of the Inyo Silver Strike so, he went to Inyo County with his partner Abner B. Elder who was a Civil War veteran and a native of Ohio. The two men then opened up the Cerro Gordo Mine While there he successfully solved the problem of smelting the rebellious Galena ore, and invented the water jacket furnace now used in all smelters.

Belshaw and Elder contacted Remi Nadeau to create a freight company using mule teams and wagons in order to haul the silver from the Mojave Desert to the Los Angeles area in June of 1868. In Los Angeles, he was able to secure financing to build his own smelter that was superior to all other smelters at Cerro Gordo, as well as to build the first wagon road up the mountain. This road became known as the Yellow Road from the color of the rock that it had been cut through. By operating the Yellow Road as a toll road, Belshaw was able to earn income and control the shipments of silver from the mountain. By 1875, the Union and Cerro Gordo Mines began to fail and upon severing his connection with the mines as manager, Mr. Belshaw retained a large financial interest.

Retirement and death
Belshaw moved to the Antioch area of California in 1877 and it was during this time that he and his partners Egbert Judson and Rouse opened the Empire Coal Mines in the foothills of Mount Diablo; together, they built a railroad complete with dockage. As a stockholder and director of the Empire Coal Mine, Belshaw showed interest in the Kennedy Mining and Milling Company near Jackson in Amador County. Belshaw established the Antioch Water Works in 1877 and due to his failing health, he retired from all personal control of his interests. Six months after he retired, Mr. Belshaw passed away at the age of 69 on April 28, 1898.