Would you like to become mayor of your very own Wild West town?
asserted
you → like → town
It comes with a catch, however, you'll have to buy it first.
asserted
you → come → it
The town of Belden, California, a Gold Rush settlement in the spectacular Sierra Nevada, has popped up on the market for $4.75 million.
asserted
town → pop → million
It comes with a riverside lodge, a restaurant and bar, colorful cabins nestled among the trees, a swimming hole, an old schoolhouse and even your own stretch of the Feather River.
asserted
It → come → River
The new owner will also inherit a town with 15 residents and an extensive history – as well as the enticing possibility that there is still gold waiting to be found beneath your feet.
asserted
owner → inherit → feet
After 56 years, Belden’s longtime owner, 87-year-old Ivan Coffman, is finally ready to hand over the keys to the mountain settlement he turned into his home, business and personal kingdom.
asserted
he → hand → home
'I love the town, I love the area, it has so much to offer, I've been living and mining here for many many years,' Coffman told the Daily Mail.
asserted
Coffman → love → Mail
He revealed the town's best kept secret: 'We have a lodge that has decking on the back of the river and the fresh canyon air, I love to sit out there and watch the river go by.
asserted
river → reveal → river
Belden, a tiny settlement hidden deep in the Sierra Nevada, has gone on the market for $4.75 million - offering one buyer the chance to own what is effectively an entire town
There is a riverside lodge, restaurant, bar, general store, cabins, gardens, a swimming hole, a former schoolhouse and even an abandoned phone booth
Ivan Coffman the town's current owner, came across Belden in 1970 when we was a young masonry worker from Fresno enjoying a week away from work.
asserted
we → hide → work
He followed the winding road through to Yellow Creek meets the Feather River where he noticed gold nuggets laying in the stream
The discovery changed everything.
asserted
discovery → follow → everything
Coffman estimated he pulled around 50 ounces of gold from the area that week.
asserted
he → estimate → area
Rather than return to his old life, Coffman decided to stay
‘Who wants to be the next mayor of Belden Town?’ Josie Litchfield, a friend helping Coffman market the property joked.
asserted
Coffman → return → property
Coffman's story of ownership began with an extraordinary stroke of luck.
asserted
story → begin → luck
'I was a young masonry worker from Fresco, dredging for gold,
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I → dredge → gold
In 1970 I had a week away from work and I decided to drive up the Feather River Creek,' he said.
asserted
he → have → Creek
Near Belden, he stopped where Yellow Creek meets the Feather River and decided to explore upstream.
What he discovered in the creek bed was enough to persuade him that he had found somewhere worth staying.
asserted
he → stop → somewhere
Gold nuggets were scattered through the gravel.
asserted
nuggets → scatter → gravel
Coffman returned to his truck, collected a five-gallon bucket and began filling it with pebble-sized pieces of the precious metal.
asserted
Coffman → return → metal
‘It’d been hidden for all them years,’ he recalled.
asserted
he → hide → years
By his estimate, he found around 50 ounces that week.
asserted
he → find → ounces
Gold was then selling for roughly $35 an ounce; at today’s prices of around $4,400 an ounce, the same amount would be worth about $220,000.
asserted
amount → sell → 4,400
Now 87, he is still mining for gold in the area but after more than five decades in his adopted home, he is finally ready to leave.
asserted
he → mine → home
And the unusual property is being offered as one package for $4.75million
asserted
property → offer → 4.75million
The settlement sits in a dramatic canyon, squeezed between steep forested mountains, the Feather River and a railroad line
At its heart is the two-storey Belden Town Resort and Lodge, the eccentric centerpiece Coffman spent decades rebuilding.
asserted
Coffman → sit → decades
Inside, prospective buyers will find a restaurant and bar filled with curiosities - including taxidermy, antique bottles, artwork, a vintage slot machine, a leather saddle and a remarkably lifelike human-sized rooster.
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buyers → find → taxidermy
Outside, brightly painted cabins sit beneath the trees, while murals and hand-painted signs announce that visitors have arrived in ‘Belden Town’
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visitors → paint → Town
He called his business partner in Fresno to explain that he would be staying in Belden longer than planned.
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he → call → Belden
As it turned out, he never went back.
asserted
he → turn → ?
Over the following decades, Coffman made a life around the gold he found in the Feather River, becoming a jeweler and lender crafting 'all kinds of necklaces and rings' while continuing to prospect in the surrounding country.
asserted
he → follow → country
Then, in 1989, he took the biggest gamble of all and bought Belden itself.
asserted
he → take → Belden
During its heyday, around 1,000 people lived in the canyon as prospectors arrived in search of fortunes buried in the river, but by 1989 the once-bustling mining camp was in serious decline.
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camp → live → decline
Later, the railroad brought a new wave of activity, followed by tourists drawn to the Feather River for fishing and the mountain scenery.
asserted
railroad → bring → fishing
But the boom eventually faded.
asserted
boom → fade → ?
A series of dams transformed the river into a chain of hydroelectric reservoirs, while declining fish populations and a struggling local economy left Belden facing an uncertain future.
asserted
populations → transform → future
A fire in the 1970s had already destroyed much of the old settlement when Coffman arrived on the scene and left the settlement derelict.
asserted
Coffman → destroy → settlement
Yet, rather than let it disappear, he rebuilt it and the result is the wonderfully eclectic collection of buildings that exists today.
asserted
that → let → buildings
The place has become particularly famous among Pacific Crest Trail hikers and motorcyclists, while summer music festivals can bring thousands of visitors to the otherwise sleepy canyon
During California’s 19th-century gold rush, thousands of fortune seekers descended on the Feather River Canyon, extracting millions of dollars in gold.
asserted
thousands → become → gold
Belden reportedly reached around 1,000 residents during its heyday.
uncertain
Belden → reach → heyday
Then the gold rush faded
Railroads and tourism took over, with fishing and riverside resorts attracting a new generation of visitors.
asserted
fishing → fade → visitors
But dams built along the Feather River transformed the landscape, fish populations declined and the local economy suffered
asserted
economy → build → landscape
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
