Marta Becket was an artist from New York City. Then in 1967, when she was on a road trip with her husband, she discovered an abandoned social hall in the California desert town of Death Valley Junction. She left New York and moved there to transform this hall into the Amargosa Opera House to live out her dream as an artist.

To read more about Marta Becket, you can check out her autobiography To Dance On Sands, or watch the documentary that was made about her life, called Amargosa.