 In 1886, Catherwood joined Riley, Maurice Thompson, and several dozen others to form the Western Association of Writers.The actor Otis Skinner turned one of her last books, "Lazarre" (1901), into a stage play in 1902; the cast included Nanette Comstock.She was working on a new novel, to be titled "Tippicanoe", when in 1902 she died of cancer in Chicago, Illinois.