Don Sammons and Pham Dinh Nguyen. Photo courtesy of www.billingsgazette.com
By
MARGIE MASON, Associated Press
HA
NOI ― Vietnamese businessman Pham Dinh Nguyen flew to the United States for the
first time, drove to a tiny, frigid trading outpost and bought his own piece of
the American dream: Buford, Wyoming – population 1.
Nguyen’s
name was not released last week when he won the auction for Buford – billed as
the nation’s smallest town – but he has since drawn attention in Vietnamese
media and on social networks. Many are lauding him for showing the world that
Viet Nam has moved far beyond war and poverty.
Nguyen,
who bid $900,000 for Buford, runs a trade and distribution company in southern Sai
Gon. He said that although he is not exactly sure what he will do with the town
just off Interstate 80, he expects to use it to sell items made in Viet Nam.
“Frankly,
I just see Buford as part of the United States: A large and potential market for
Vietnamese goods,” Nguyen told state-controlled media. “Buford is
likely to be the showroom for such goods.”
Nguyen,
38, has been quoted widely by local media since the April 5 sale, but he did
not respond to emailed requests for comment from The Associated Press or return
phone messages left with his company, International Distribution Services. An
employee confirmed that Nguyen bought the town.
His
purchase impressed many Vietnamese. Businessman Tran Thanh Tung said in Ha Noi
that he was “surprised, but also proud.”
It’s
“something that one could not imagine few years ago,” he said.
Buford
consists of a gas station and convenience store, a 1905 schoolhouse, a cabin, a
garage and a three-bedroom house on 10 acres between Cheyenne and Laramie.
The
town was formed as the Transcontinental Railroad was built in the 1860s. Up to
2,000 people lived there before the railroad was rerouted. Now, it’s more of a
stop off the busy interstate for passersby eager to get a snapshot with the
green road sign that reads “Buford, Pop 1.”
The
remote property is 8,000 feet above sea level, and Nguyen said that when he
visited this month on his first trip to the U.S. that, “waves of
skin-cutting cold blew into my face.”
“However,
I was undeterred because of the desire to own this town,” he said.
Nguyen
put down $100,000 and will have 30 days to complete the purchase. He says
family members in the U.S. are helping to finance the investment, which will
help overcome barriers faced back home. Any land bought outside of Viet Nam
requires government approval and a license to transfer money abroad.
Not
everyone in Viet Nam thinks Buford is a smart buy.
Ha
Noi student Nguyen Hoang said it was “nonsense to invest such a large
amount of money to buy a town in the middle of nowhere.”
“It
would make more sense if he invested the money in Viet Nam to create jobs for
his countrymen,” he said.
The
town was sold by Don Sammons, the self-proclaimed “mayor” who owned
it for the past two decades and was its sole inhabitant. He now plans to retire
and write a book about his life there.
Sammons
served a tour in Viet Nam from 1968-69 as a U.S. Army radio operator, and said
at the time of the sale that his life has come full circle.
Nguyen
said he is not sure where he will take the town but looks forward to the ride.
“To
be honest, I do not have a specific plan for the town,” Nguyen said.
“But I think we Vietnamese should not feel inferior. Nothing is
impossible!”
Associated Press writer Tran Van Minh
contributed to this report from Ha Noi.
