Koch Brother Buys, Disassembles Mining Town
There's rich, and then there's Koch family rich: William Koch, brother of wealthy Tea Party bankrollers David and Charles, evidently liked a quaint historical mining town so much that he bought it.
The town of Buckskin Joe, Colo. was actually reconstructed using structures taken from old mining towns, and served as a set for Westerns like True Grit and Cat Ballou. Its former owner, Greg Tabutea, sold off the 805 acre property and the buildings on it for $3.1 million to an at the time anonymous collector.
The buyer is adamant about wanting to remain anonymous, Tabuteau told the Pueblo Cheiftain last year. He will concentrate on moving Buckskin Joe right away and then later, the scenic railway.
Koch is now in the process of dismantling the town and moving it to his ranch near Gunnison. He is a fan of old Western memorabilia, having previously shelled out $2.3 million for what is believed to be the only surviving photograph of Billy the Kid.
William has not garnered the same media attention as his more politically minded brothers, owing partially to the fact that a family legal battle has estranged them. A 1994 Vanity Fair profile bestowed upon him the nickname Wild Bill.
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