She deservedly earned the title of the Mother of Belt,for-Mattie opened
the Castner Hotel,around the town which grew.Mattie ran a dinning room whose reputation for hospitality,elegance,and excellence spread across the Territory.Mattie Castner's generosity was rivaled by her exquisite cooking. She soon became the owner of a successful laundry.At Fort Benton she met John Castner a young white,Pennsylvania freighter who ran several mule teams for the Missouri River terminus.John had scouted the country and filed mineral claims along Belt Creek,east of the Great Falls.Mattie married John in 1879 and settled in a log cabin at the Belt Creek ford.Mattie made two trips to North Carolina to try and find her relatives who hadn't been sold.She found a sister and brought her and her family back to Montana.On her second trip back the elder brought back her 13 year-old niece and namesake Mattie Byers.The younger graduated from 8th grade in Belt Montana.In 1911J.L.and Mattie moved their family to Great Falls where they felt their children would have a better education.
For forty years the Castners pursued separate commercial endeavors,while offering hospitalityand support to the people in the Belt area.
Her generosity became legend.Mattie kindness flourshed unchecked.
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