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A WOMAN living in an abandoned mining town purchased the whole place to pursue her dreams of starting an artist registry, however, the property comes with some challenges.
Eileen Muza is working on rebuilding the town by herself and is the only person living in the former ghost town, known as Cisco, Utah.
The town is described by Muza as a “high desert,” meaning it’s a really “harsh environment” with degrees reaching over 100 in the summer and below freezing in the winter.
“When I first came out here, my biggest worry was, ‘Am I going to die?’ Muza is seen explaining her situation to VICE, in a YouTube video titled, “Population of One: Living Alone in an Abandoned Ghost Town.”
She explained: “I mean I’ve lived in a city my whole life and the thing about it out here in the country, if something happens it’s going to happen to you. And there’s nobody out here to help you.
“The day after I bought this place someone had broken into the trailer … they totally trashed it. And then I really did wonder, ‘What have I done?'”
“The desert draws a lot of artists because it’s a really good creative space, you’re not distracted by anything, actually,” she said.
Muza recounts moving to the former ghost time approximately three years ago in hopes of making it an artist residency.
She bought the land for a cheap price, however, she didn’t specify the exact amount. But she did spend all the money she had on it.
As for the space she lives in, with her dog, it’s a vintage trailer home dubbed a 1750 Spartan Mansion.
Muza noted that the town was created to service the steam engine railroad, however, there’s no water in the town.
“Technically, it was abandoned in the 90s, but people started leaving in the late 60s,” she added, before jokingly calling the area a “pile of garbage.”
The determined artist showed a porch she built with wood from a kitchen she tore down behind her log cabin.
As for the bathroom, she, or anyone in the town, would have to use an outhouse as there is no sewage system or water.
She’s also working to convert the Winnebago trailer found there into a workplace – which is just one of the many projects she’s working on there.
However, due to the state being very conservative and religious, Muzi, who is a member of the LGBTQIA community, feels it’s not completely safe for her to be there alone. She even hides her gay pride flag inside her home.
Despite her fears, she admits that “99 percent of the people out here have been very welcoming to me.”
Her neighbor bought her “a whole bunch of ammunition” as a gift and even gave her one of his guns after she had an “incident,” which she didn’t go into detail about, take place.
She explained further: “I’ve had some problems with people at night, and it gets really dangerous.
“The last thing that you want is somebody to come into your house at night because they think it’s abandoned and they’re drunk.”
Muza also said that she carries a gun just for self-defense, not to make a statement about freedom.
