Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-01-26
A CATTLE QUEEN.
ROMANTIC CAREER OF MRS. NAT
COLLINS ON WESTERN PLAINS,

"Qulet' - At DO as Vigorous as at 20
Time Still Hangs Heavily Upon Her.
The city of Minneapolis has within
its gates, says the Tribune of that
city, notable guest, no less a per-
sonage than Mrs. Nat Collins, who is
known throughout the Northwest as
"the Cattle Queen of Montana
"Mrs. Collins presents picturesque
figure of the rare and perfect Western
type which is fast giving way to an
other order of things. She is the
product of the conditions which pre-
vailed upon the Western plains many
years ago, and q history of her event
full life is about as interesting as
could possibly be painted by the great
est living novelist.
Mrs. Collins is en- route to Chicago
and she came to Minneapolis with a
tralnload of cattle - thirty-two car
loads-all her own property. She
makes this trip each year, and accom-
panies the stock from the point of
shipment in Montana to Minneapolis,
the last feeding point before reaching
| Chicago. From there she takes reg
ular passenger train and travels as be-
fits her condition as mistress of a
great fortune. The cattle are directly
IN charge of six cowboys from her
ranch, and they are with the stock
from Montana to Chicago.
Mrs. Collins, although a married
woman, is master of the various
ranches in her name in Montana. This
property is located in the vicinity of
Choteau, little town north of He!e-
ma and is about sixty-fye miles from
Great A-"l'S' which is the nearest
large town. Choteau Is ubC-.a . --..,t,-
five miles from her ranches, and is
also thirty-fve miles from the nearest
railroad. Thus it can be seen that
the cattle queen is located remotely
enough almost to rival Robinson Cru
soc for isolation.
Mrs. Collins has had romantic
career, although not devoid of what
would be considered grievous hard
ships by the average American woman.
She is now about fftg-fve years of
age and is just as lively aud vigorous
rs any young woman in the twenties.
She is an industrious worker, aud is
of that nervous temperament which
must find employment to keep the
mind at rest and the heart salts
fed. She began her Western expert
ence at the age of ten years and has
lived upon the plains ever since. 1t
is her boast that she went through
Denver when that great city of today
contained but one log cabin and a
few tents. Long before she was
twenty years old she had made ten
trips across the plains between Omaha
and Denver, acting in the capacity of
cook in the wagon train of which her
brother was wagonmaster.
Later on the spirit of adventure
which had begun to dominate her dis
position impelled her to remove to
the new mining fields of Montana, at
the time of their first opening. She
visited Bannock and many other
points, and was the first white woman
in Virginia City. She was at Helena
before there was such a place, and it
was at Helena some time later that
she welded Nat Collins, we'll known
and respected miner. The marriage
occurred about thirty years ago, and
shortly after the ceremony the young
couple quit the mining camps and
went into the northern part of Mon
tana and established themselves in
the stock-raising business, to which
they have clung persistently and with
great success ever since. They have
but one child, daughter sixteen years
old.
They began ranching with about 450
head of stock. The animals were
turned loose upon the plains and al
lowed to increase and multiply as rap
idly as they would, and today Mrs.
Collins says it would be utterly i'm
possible for her to give an estimate of
the number of head Of cattle upon her
various ranches. No effort is made to
count them. Each year they round
up as many as they care to ship and
the others are unmolested.
The cattle queen has we'll earned
her reputation. Probably no one in
Montana has larger cattle interests
than she. Her success has been due
to her own interest and exertions,. for
her husband is one of those quiet in
dividuals who prefer to take life with
as little trouble as possible. When
Mrs. Collins began to ship her stock
to the eastern market she found her
self confronted by railway rules and
regulations which expressly stated
that no woman could ride in the ca
booses attached to the stock trains.
She Immediately put in protest, and
as the agent could give her no salts
faction she carried the matter to the
division superintendent. That official
found himself powerless, and finally
James J. Hill, president of the Great
Northern, was appealed to. Mr.. Hill
reluctantly refused her the desired
permission, and by so doing raised
storm of indignation about his head.
In few days he was fairly smothered
with letters from prominent ranch
4 Al y