Later in life, Josephine Sarah Marcus aggressively protected hers and Wyatt's history while in Tombstone. Marcus was deliberately vague about this period, causing modern researchers to question what she was hiding. She said that she first visited Tombstone as part of the Pauline Markham Theater Troupe on December 1, 1879, for a one-week engagement, but modern researchers have not found any record that she was ever part of the theater company. The many contradictions in her story have led to considerable speculation about her past.