[5] In her school-days she was noted for her elocutionary powers, and she often gave dramatic entertainments and acted in amateur theatrical organizations.

[4] In 1887, she fell ill with tuberculosis and was advised to move to the drier climate of the Montana Territory to improve her health.

She went to Iowa, where she taught classes in French and German in a seminary for a short time, and rhetoric and elocution at Western Normal College.

In that same year, she was appointed a notary public by Governor Leslie, and she was the first woman to hold such an office in Montana.

She went on to convince the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Hoke Smith, to grant Montana $200,000 worth of land for schools near Great Falls.

As the populist movement grew in Montana she remained active and campaigned in support of William Jennings Bryan, for he was chosen as the Democratic nominee for the presidency in 1896.

[5] The Magistrate Courtroom on the Fourth Floor of the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse in Billings, Montana, is named in her honor.