Somewhere between the solace of the Mojave National Preserve and the brash neon of Primm, Nev., stands the Nipton Trading Post.

The century-old building is a way station for bikers and Nevada residents buying California lottery tickets — the store had a multi-million-dollar winner in 1991, a yellowed sign on the wall boasts. On Wednesday, two bikers sat outside on railroad ties in the shade of Eucalyptus trees, sipping 22-ounce Mojave Death Race IPAs at noon.

"So a marijuana company bought the town?" Mike Reichard, a self-described "California expat" in a stars-and-stripes bandanna, asked a reporter.

A marijuana company is in the process of buying the town, at least. American Green, a cannabis investment firm, said they've made a binding offer for the 80-acre property and the businesses on site — the trading post, hotel, cafe and RV park.

The company said it put $200,000 down, and if water and other due diligence tests go well, they'll give the owners another $1.8 million in cash and take possession of Nipton.

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"Begun as a 20th century railroad depot, Nipton is re-forming into a 21st-century gateway to the Mojave National Preserve," reads a historical plaque in Nipton's dusty town square.

Or, in the words of Stephen Shearin, who is managing the Nipton acquisition for American Green: Nipton "becomes an icon. This is a legitimate effort to do something significant in this arena. It’s an idea whose time has come.”

But for its 15 to 20 full-time residents, Nipton already is an icon — a weird, welcoming desert hamlet where they found homes.

Understanding Nipton starts with Jim Eslinger, who at eight years has lived there longer than anyone else. He's "the mayor, the sheriff, the judge, the executioner," he said on the porch of the Hotel Nipton Wednesday night, leaning back in a wooden rocking chair and laughing a little more with every word.

Eslinger moved to Nipton in 2009 with a lifelong friend, Ed. They'd recently run into each other in a convenience store in central Washington, and Ed told Eslinger "he was going to come out here because there's a folklore of an underground river of gold."

Ed's father had been a superintendent at a Mojave Desert mine, and Ed vividly recalled a childhood memory: A river of black sand, full of gold.

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Eslinger, who'd just quit his job as a truck driver after 18 long years, agreed.

"I said, okay, I'll give you a couple months," Eslinger said. "Every now and then I ask myself, what the hell happened?"

The story sounds apocryphal, but Eslinger tells it matter-of-factly. They lived their first two months in the mountains — eating rabbits and rattlesnakes, sleeping in a makeshift camper with a queen bed strapped to the roof and driving to Nipton to fill up their water jugs. Eventually the town's de facto leaders offered them free rent if they worked in town. A few years in, a resident moved away and mailed Eslinger the title to his RV.

At that time, the men lived on the north side of the red asphalt two-lane street that bisects the town. The businesses and two permanent houses sit on the south side. Eslinger boasted that he once showered at the hotel, but forgot his clothes and had to run across the street naked — "Look at where you are. Like anybody gives a s---?"

The 80 acres of land underneath Nipton were consolidated in the mid-1980s by Jerry Freeman, a geologist who dreamed of creating a self-sustaining desert village on the rich Mojave aquifer. He bought the land and the handful of permanent structures in town — a hotel, cafe, trading post, two houses and an old school. He added "eco-cabins," a ring of five wood-and-canvas structures, in the desert past the hotel for vacationers. In 2010, the town's 80-kilowatt solar array began operating.

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Freeman died in 2016, and his widow, Roxanne Lang, listed the town for sale. For $5 million, a buyer could have the land and the businesses, including the RV park in which nearly all the town's residents rent space.

American Green, the prospective buyer, was founded in 2009 and claims to be the second-oldest publicly traded cannabis company in the U.S. The company manufactures marijuana vending machines that can verify ID and age, and also sells non-psychoactive CBD products like mints, body balm and dog treats.

American Green's Shearin described the company's vision for Nipton as a boutique cannabis destination. They could produce CBD water and grow marijuana on site, and users could spend a weekend in the hotel or RVs, eating cannabis-infused food in the cafe, taking mineral baths in CBD water and smoking on their porches. The company even wants an artist-in-residence program.

Beyond the $5 million sale price, American Green would invest up to $2.5 million more to improve the town’s infrastructure and expand the solar plant, Shearin said.

Broker Tony Castrignano of Sky Mesa Realty, who is listing the property, cautioned that no sale has closed. He described American Green as a "serious prospective buyer," but said there are other serious prospective buyers, too.

California and Nevada both legalized recreational use of marijuana in 2016 — although it’s still illegal to carry the drug across state lines. That means Nevadans couldn’t come to Nipton, buy marijuana and take it home, but Californians could.

Dispensaries are booming in nearby Las Vegas, and California aims to have its marijuana stores running next year.

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And there's already pressure on cannabis companies to differentiate themselves. Ken Nisch, chairman of Detroit-area retail design firm JGA, has been working with Colorado-based dispensary company The Clinic to mimic the farm-to-table approach that many natural grocers have adopted.

“Short of making this consumer connection, cannabis stores will live in the retail purgatory, with little uniqueness differentiating one from the other,” he said.

Back in Nipton, trucks begin pulling up to RV spaces on the north side of town around 6 p.m., as the sun retreats. One of them belongs to Al Fierro, 65, a stout man with a lengthy gray beard.

Fierro's family lives in Barstow; for the last two years, he's spent three or four nights a week in Nipton while working maintenance at the nearby Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. At least four other Ivanpah employees live at least part-time in Nipton.

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Fierro's real passion, though, is clowning.

As a teenager in Ventura County, Fierro worked cleanup for a traveling circus. Then, about 25 years ago, a woman at his church asked if anyone wanted to learn about clown acts. The rest is history — he plays a hobo clown character named Elfie, routinely performs at birthday parties and says he even appeared as an extra in Erin Brockovich.

Perceiving a reporter's skepticism, Fierro sweeps into his trailer. In a moment he's back with a tote bag full of long, thin balloons and a pump. He rushes the pump into a red balloon, and the evening wind carries the squeaks across the park. No one complains. In seconds — a sword. Then a hummingbird, then a poodle.

What would Fierro do if Nipton became a marijuana haven? He shrugged.

"I'll look you in the eye and tell you I've never done a drug in my life," he said.

Then he started blowing up another balloon.

Carl Cavaness moved to Nipton from Primm about three months ago. He and his wife had recently talked about what marijuana might be able to do for Nipton, so when they learned of the potential sale, they nodded.

"I thought that would be a good idea for here," Carl said. "We get a lot of traffic through here that doesn't stop... There's a ton of money in it."

His only concern? "I don't know if they would let us live here," he said. They rent space for their RV from the current owner.

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Eslinger wasn't swayed by the potential for wealth.

"Roxanne (Lang, the owner) is not going to sell the town to a marijuana grower, simple as that," he said. "We have other people that have deep pockets that are interested."

American Green estimates it would take about two years to bring their vision to life — starting with incorporating Nipton so it could create its own marijuana regulations. Currently, commercial marijuana cultivation and sales are illegal in unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County.

Even if the town is sold, Eslinger said he won't leave.

He and his partner of six years, Brenda, are happy here. They go for walks around Nipton at night, watching the sun set and constellations rise, and occasionally drive into Las Vegas for museum exhibits.

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Brenda has emphysema now. Eslinger avoids saying it, but alludes to it repeatedly: She may not have much time left.

“I know this is as good as it’s going to get," Eslinger said. "She tries to build a wall between us so when the time comes it’s not so hard. I see right through it. I’m in it for the long haul.”

Rushing winds, carrying a storm into Nipton from the east, roar past the hotel porch. It's past dusk. Thunderclaps echo from the north, and flashes of lightning illuminate Eslinger's silver beard. Carl Cavaness walks over, two more Mojave Death Race IPAs in hand, and switches on outdoor lights, which surround the porch in a warm twinkling glow.

"Life is such an adventure. It's so nice to be able to share it," Eslinger says.

"I'm living. This is not surviving out here. This is real living."

USA TODAY's Trevor Hughes contributed to this story from Denver.

Rosalie Murphy covers real estate and business at The Desert Sun. Reach her at rosalie.murphy@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @rozmurph.

