Happy trails for Buckskin Joe: Colorado’s Old West replica will be dismantled and moved
By APFriday, September 3, 2010
Happy trails for Colorado’s Buckskin Joe
CANON CITY, Colo. — It’s happy trails for Buckskin Joe, the replica Old West town that served as a setting for Westerns that include “True Grit” and “White Buffalo.”
Owner Greg Tabuteau said Friday he sold the tourist attraction near Canon City, along with neighboring Royal Gorge Scenic Railroad. The new owner plans to dismantle it and move it elsewhere in Colorado, but Tabuteau won’t identify the buyer.
He said he isn’t certain whether Buckskin Joe — named after a former mining town — will remain open to the public or used privately as a movie set in its new location.
The town, which entertains visitors with dramatized shootouts and hangings, will remain open through Sept. 12, as first reported by the Pueblo Chieftain. It was designed in 1957 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer producer Malcolm F. Brown using real remnants of old Colorado mining towns.
Tabuteau said he’s selling partly because the summer season is shorter now that school starts earlier, and because he doesn’t think the cash-strapped state has done enough to promote tourism. After 40 years working tourist season, he’s ready for a break.
“I want to have a summer vacation,” Tabuteau said.
