In the spring of 1871 she joined her husband, William Franklin Burks, to drive a herd of cattle from South Texas to Abilene, Kansas. She is considered the first woman to have gone up the trail with a herd of cattle. She and her husband founded the La Mota Ranch near Cotulla, Texas in 1876 and following her husband’s death continued to trade cattle for another 50 years. She was known as “the Queen of the Old Trail Drivers.”