Kathryn L. Marbaker Tubb

Quick Facts

Significance:

Ran store & saloon business, Associated with DV Junction school & the area’s establishment with Lila C. borax mine, Death Valley Tourist Attraction in her later years

Date of Birth:

11/15/1886

Date of Death:

03/20/1957

Kathryn “Kittie” Lucy Marbaker was born on November 15, 1886 in Pennsylvania. Her father fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. According to “family legend,” Kathryn advertised herself as a mail order bride when she was just 16 years old. Robert Tubb, a 34-year-old freighter from Texas who was passing through Pennsylvania at the time, saw the advertisement and the two were married.  

They ended up in Death Valley in 1907 because of the Lila C. borax mine. Robert filed a homestead claim just south of Death Valley Junction and the Tubbs made their money not in the mines but from the miners. Robert built a business that became a one stop shop: saloon, grocery store, hotel, and brothel. Kittie was definitely not a passive partner in this business; she ran the grocery store, served food in the saloon, cooked for the boarding house, and took care of the women in the brothel. After her husband opened the school in Death Valley Junction, Kittie ensured the schoolteacher’s propriety by not allowing her to stay in the hotel and brothel area. The very school they built did not approve of Tubb’s immoral businesses near the school, so Robert & Kittie moved out to Ash Meadows. They divorced but both remained in Ash Meadows for the rest of their lives. 

Kittie was known for her shotgun around the Death Valley area, known for carrying it with her everywhere— on her porch, in her bathroom, and into bars. Her crack shot was well known to locals and visitors alike. From her porch, Kittie was able to hunt and ward people off of her property. Her dog was so well trained that she never had to leave the porch to acquire dinner— she just had to shoot a bird and the dog would fetch it for her so she could pluck it on the porch before going inside to cook it. It seemed Kittie could always be found on her porch with her shotgun. Sometimes she was chatting with brothel customers or tourists to Death Valley Junction, while other times she was warding froggers off her land in the dark. 

“Shotgun Kittie” took control of her life from an early age and did not let gender or societal roles define her. While she probably died from complications related to obesity, Kittie lived happily as a 4’11” woman weighing about 280 pounds. She made a life for herself that allowed her to both have four children and be a Western legend.