By Jody Drake

(In 1988, Arizona pioneer resident, Samar Inzer Roman, self-published a book called "Gold in Coyote Canyon." Although written in novel form with the characters’ names changed, these stories were her memoirs describing the life she and her husband led while living on a small gold placer mining claim in the 1930s. Around 1996, Jody Drake, the director of Sharlot Hall Museum’s Blue Rose Theater, acquired a copy of the book, fell in love with it and became determined to meet Mrs. Roman. She persuaded Mrs. Roman to let her fashion it into a play which was first presented at Blue Rose in 1997 under the name, "All that Glitters." When Mrs. Roman died, she left the rights to make plays using the book to Jody. This is Jody’s account of her acquaintance with Mrs. Roman.)

I remember quite clearly what sparked my interest. Richard Strub gave me a book entitled "Gold in Coyote Canyon." He said he knew the author and that it was a true story just begging to become a play. It was a great book but far too much fun to be true! I asked Richard to tell me more.

He showed me gold scales and some dynamite boxes that had been mentioned in the book. I had to meet this woman and asked Mr. Strub to arrange it. It was a hot, sticky summer afternoon. Her trailer rested on a plot of land just behind the lumber yard in downtown Humboldt. Now in her late 90′s (she guessed), Samar Inzer Roman welcomed me to sit in her dimly-lit, memory-filled home and listen to the stories that made up her life. Her 4’6" frame had lived life to the fullest and every line on her smiling face seemed to speak of being in the Arizona sun. Her husband made sure my intentions were honorable, then kissed her and said he would be back in a couple of hours and instructed me not to leave until he returned. This would be the first of several visits with her.

Mrs. Roman, or Samar as she asked me to call her, had been married four times. She out-lived three husbands and divorced one. In one of our many journeys into her memories, she casually mentioned that she had tried to kill the husband she later divorced, but it was OK because he had tried to kill her first! One of her good marriages, the second one, ended up in a book, "Gold in Coyote Canyon." The book is about their time together placer mining in the Bradshaws. It was so descriptive and rich; could it be true?

In the following weeks I spent Thursday mornings listening to Samar and it became clear that every memory was based in fact; her pictures and mementoes all supported this colorful life. Of course, Mrs. Roman assured me she had changed all the names in her book to protect the innocent. When I asked who the innocent were, she replied, "Why, me, of course!"

After leaving Coyote Canyon, she and her husband moved to an apple farm where he would later die. In the years that followed, she would become owner of the Vulture Mine in Wickenburg, a post mistress, a rancher, engage in two more marriages and, in her twilight years, spend many evenings at Prescott’s Pine Cone Inn where she and her last mate would dance the evening away.

The play, "Gold in Coyote Canyon" and that dear little book from which it came, will forever be among my favorites. We will present the play at the Blue Rose Theater at Sharlot Hall Museum on July 30 at 6:30 p.m., July 31 at 7:30 p.m. and August 1 at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m. Call the museum for tickets at 445-3122. The Days Past article for July 6, 1997 at sharlothallmuseum.org tells more of Samar Roman.

(Jody Drake is the Curator of Education at Sharlot Hall Museum.)

Your stories and experiences are important. The public is welcome to submit articles for Days Past consideration. Please contact Scott Anderson at Sharlot Hall Museum Archives at 445-3122 for information.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(m345p). Reuse only by permission.

Panning for gold, 1910. The simplest and easiest method of finding gold, placer mining, was merely finding the gold which had eroded from veins as a result of weathering (rainfall, etc.) and then had been carried downstream. That bit of gold, depending on weight or stream velocity, would eventually be deposited, remaining in place until discovery by a prospector(s) using a pan, rocker or sluice.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(m101pc). Reuse only by permission.

Sharlot M. Hall trying her luck placer mining on Lynx Creek, c 1897, with her father, James Hall, and friends.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(m124p) Reuse only by permission.

Placer mining out Senator Highway in the Bradshaw Mining District, c.1903, showing mining equipment and the camps in the valley near the stream.