Passengers listened with horror to the string that spewed out of the man’s dry lips, and he could barely hide his smile as he turned around to see the horror on the passenger’s face. Each day was an unnerving 12-hour ride, enjoying the reign of terror against soft-legged newcomers.

Upon arriving at Tombstone, the passengers, who had been sitting for hours, plummeted out of the carriage, slightly unsteady on their feet. Mostly men, the majority came to this desert wasteland in search of wealth in the silver mines that opened a few years ago. Just as the stageman was about to return to his seat to prepare for the stables, a small, attractive young woman stepped down.

Samantha Fallon jumped swiftly out of the carriage, tried in vain to brush the dust off her clothes, put on her feathered hat, grabbed her bag, and surveyed the city.

Records do not indicate when Samantha first arrived in Arizona, and although she often gave conflicting dates about her whereabouts, property, and husband, this was not her first trip to Tombstone. rice field.

Born Samantha Elisabeth Steinhoff in Canada on August 14, 1857, she was separated from her husband by the time she reached Tombstone Street. There are no records of her marriage, but she may have left Fallon in California.

On October 9, 1879, Samantha purchased some land on the corner of Fremont and Fifth Avenue in Tombstone with the idea of ​​building a boarding house. In December of that year she sold her one of the premises, presumably to obtain additional funding, but still did not have enough money to complete the project. She started looking for other sources of income.

Still in her twenties, Samantha caught the attention of many of the eligible men in town, including Tombstone founder Ed Schieferin. According to Samantha, Ed refused to marry because he could not be satisfied with just one man in his life. However, he was more than happy to lend her what she needed to complete her boarding house.

By June 1880, Samantha’s San Jose House was in operation as one of the first facilities built in Tombstone to accommodate overnight visitors and long-term boarders. The 12 room hotel had very few vacancies.

The boarding house quickly became known as one of the best meeting places in town. Samantha frequently hosted fundraising dinners for the Methodist Church and held auctions promoting the sale of various items. Laces, corsets, socks, hats and more were put up on the auction block.

Samantha, who boasts that Ulysses S. “Buck” Grant II, the son of former U.S. President Ulysses S. A share of was also offered.

According to attorney Wyatt Earp, he “used to take prisoners to Roomhouse in San Jose. At the time, there were no prisons in Tombstone. That was before the county was divided. That’s all.” It’s Pima County, and we had to get the POWs to Tucson, and when they were housed in Tombstone, I had a room in San Jose to keep an eye on them.”

The lively activity at San Jose House and Samantha’s penchant for an active social life led many in town to suspect that her store was actually a brothel with Samantha, one of the local madams. Speculated, the rumor was never proven. And her status in her community greatly improved when she married Zachary Hugh Taylor, a local stable owner, on December 14, 1880.

According to an article in the Arizona Weekly Citizen, “The wedding was very quiet, with only the couple’s closest friends in attendance. Immediately after the wedding, the Taylors drove to Benson in a private four-seat carriage. I left and took the train from there to San Francisco and the East.”

In 1882 Samantha added a greenhouse to the back of San Jose. According to the epitaph, “Flowerbeds richly planted with carefully selected plants are tastefully arranged around the sides of the building, with a low fountain in the center. If successful, it’s a fountain.” In the near future, it will “spring in the midst of roses.” This was one of the first experiments of its kind attempted on Tombstone, and Mrs. Taylor’s undertaking and skill in projecting it are to be commended greatly. ”

The exact date Samantha sold her San Jose home is a guess. She claimed to have sold her land to Mrs. Williams in 1909, but Mrs. Galen declared that she had purchased the site in 1907. By then Samantha had left Tombstone and eventually settled in Glendale, California, where she again established herself as her mistress. She rents out a room in her home. When she needed money, she rented her own bedroom and slept on a cot in the kitchen.

Samantha died in Glendale on March 16, 1931 and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park. She is credited with leaving her manuscripts of her days in Tombstone, detailing events she witnessed and acquaintances who made the town famous or infamous. . The manuscript has not been found.

Today, you can still spend the night at the San Jose House. If a woman with a feather hat walks past your window, bow. She knows no one reveals about this town.