This Colorado Ghost Town Has Been Sold And Moved Across The State Two Different Times
If you have ever visited one of Colorado’s 1,500+ ghost towns, you know that each one is more incredible than the last, thanks to each community’s fascinating history, empty buildings, and eeriness surrounding these once bustling towns. When it comes to the most unique Colorado ghost town, however, the title may just go to that of Buckskin Joe:
Like all great towns of its time, Buckskin Joe, Colorado, got its start thanks to the mining boom, and during its prime, housed everything from homes to a post office to hotels, banks, and stores.
Named for miner and claimant "Buckskin" Joe Higgenbottom, Buckskin Joe once enjoyed a population in the thousands, which, sadly, began to decline once the mines became dry.
Originally located just west of Alma in Park County, the deserted Buckskin Joe was surprisingly resurrected in the 1950s when it was purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios art director Malcolm F. Brown and Royal Gorge Scenic Railway owner Don Tyner, who moved the buildings and re-created the town for films and, later, an amusement park.
Opened to the public in 1958, the Buckskin Joe theme park showcased 30 of the town's original buildings, plus staged shootouts, a saloon and restaurant, horse-drawn trolley rides, and much more.
During this time, dozens of Hollywood movies were also filmed at Buckskin Joe, including True Grit (starring John Wayne), The Dutchess and the Dirtwater Fox (with Goldie Hawn and George Segal), and Comes a Horseman (James Caan and Jane Fonda).
In 2010, Buckskin Joe owner Greg Tabuteau placed the park for sale and sold it the following year to William Koch, who moved the buildings to his private Bear Ranch near Paonia.
