 Collier worked as a cowboy on the ranch owned by his former commander, General and later Governor of Texas Lawrence Sullivan Ross, the namesake of Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas and savior of Texas A & M University.Upon the murder of Collier's former master, Howell Hinds, Collier returned to Greenville for the funeral and resided there for the remainder of his life.He killed more than three thousand bears during his lifetime, more than those taken by Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone combined.