Samson was well over six feet tall, exceptionally strong and well proportioned. He was renamed by Robert Wilson, the missionary who established Port George IV Mission in Western Australia, because he could not pronounce Samson's native name, Tjangaloli. In 1913, Samson was arrested on suspicion of murdering the MacGuire brothers, beachcombers from Broome searching for pearl shell and beach-de-mer. After being detained for a short time on remand in Perth, Samson was released due to lack of evidence. He returned to his community and used his strength to help the missionaries relocate his community to Kunmunya. In 1935, Samson set out for Montgomery Island in a dugout canoe with Vera, a woman he had stolen and taken as wife. A cyclone hit while they were travelling over the water and drowned Samson and his wife.
