St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-13
IDAHO,s HORSE QUEEN.
Romantic Story of the Rapid Rise
Of Kittie wilkins.

Of Kittie wilkins.
San Francisco Examiner
Miss Kittie G. Wilkins, the horse
queen of Idaho, is at the Palace hotel.
She arrived on Monday, accompanied
by her brother, j. f. Wilkins, direct
from her residence on the Bruneau
river, in Owyhee county. Miss Wilkins
, Is one of the most noted women of the
West. A Californian and educated at
San Jose, she early engaged I'm the
stock business, and has amaSsed large
fortune. A reporter sent up his card
to her last evening and was promptly
asked to come up. Miss Wilkins is
somewhat tall, with a high forehead,
regular features and rather light hair,
being something of a blonde. Her eyes
are dark and her manner very charm
ing. Altogether she impresses one as a
very Intelligent young lady of about
twenty-three.
/ 81 have been referred to as a cattle
/ queen" said she, but this is incorrect.
The Wilkins company, of Idaho, own
both horses and cattle. and this is how
the mistake originated, but my own
specially is horses. InOw own between
seven hundred and eight hundred of
} I my own. They are Percherons, Nor
gans, Normans, Hambletonians and so
on. l have no native Oregon or Span
ish horses at all. Besides these, /
now have, if you will excuse my speak
ing in the first person singular, l have
sold great many hundreds, l could not
begin to tell how many; Do I like liv-
ing away in Idaho? Oh, so much! 1
am perfectly fascinated with it. go
out to round up in the spring and fall
and enjoy myself ever so much. 1t is a
fascinating business and grows upon
you. 1t was really romantic the way /
got my start. The way of it was this:
over twenty years ago my parents
were returning to San Fran
cisco when our friends gathered round
30 give us mementes of various sorts.
When they got to me they said: well,
now, she's only little thing'-I was but
two years old then-'we'll just give her
some money to be invested for her.
each. Shortly after returning here my
father concluded to go to Idaho
and engage in the stock bust
ness. He went to Oregon and
bought a lot of horses. When he
went to pay over the money he be-
thought him of my $40, and seeing fine
little filly yet left offered the $40 for her
The owner valued her at $50, but seeing
that my father was taking the others he
finally concluded to let this one go, even
if it was for less than she was worth.
From the increase all my bonds have
come. OF course l could tell you of
many ups and downs, for it was not al
ways smooth sailing back there in those
early days, as l grew up from childhood,
but need not enlarge upon this. At
langth | came to San Jose to school, put
III three or four years, and in addition
Travelled considerably in America, see
ing all the large cities and many of the
great natural curiosities. But when
got back to Idaho | was so lonesome I
didn't know what to do. l used to say
to my mother then the only man 1
cared anything about was the man
in the moon. l got over being so lone
some. though, in a little time, and
now | am already homesick to get back.
AS L said, the stock business is very
fascinating, and horses very profitable,
much more so than cattle. A three or
four year-Old steer, for instance, is
worth but $50. while a horse of the
same age is worth $85 or 800 anyhow.
Another thing, horses are much more
easily raised, and do not require half
the care. They paw away the snow
and get at the grass much better
than cattle. Last year the average loss of
cattle sin Idaho was 60 per cent. Some
owners lost 100 per cent, or all they had.
Although our home and many of our
,corrals and buildings are on the Bru-
neau river, fifty miles southeast of Boise
City, and twenty-five sonth of Mountain
House, the station on the Oregon Short
slime. our range is seventy-five miles
away, 1t is what is known as the Sew
enty-one Range and it is there that
many cattle and horse owners gather
twice year to sort out and brand.
go out there every year and look on and
see how the stock is coming in. / ride
a great deal, but don't take part in the
roundup. AS many as forty men are
oftentimeS out rounding up and cutting
out stock there during the season, and
things are very lively. I shoot good
deal-that is, am good shot-but
don't often go hunting, although there
is lots of fine game1