My family has been in this country from before 1900. Grampa Walter Dennis got here in 1900, joining a sister, Ona who was married to John Timmons. He also had a brother Edwin who came about the same time. As all the children had left home in Valisca, Iowa, Henry and Maggie Dennis, the parents of Walter, Ona and Edwin, loaded up the wagon and moved to South Dakota also. Henry, Walter and Edwin all took adjoining claims when they homesteaded. Henry’s was only 60 acres, I suppose because he was a Civil War Veteran and got the land for free, where Walter and Edwin had to pay a fee with the government for their quarter section of South Dakota prairie. Walter and his wife Lizzy eventually ended up with all this land and bought out adjoining land from neighbors as the neighbors gave up and moved away during the dirty thirties. Walter and Lizzie had three sons, Harry, Roy and Wayne. The ranch eventually passed to Roy and his wife Dorothy. They in turn passed it on to me and my wife Cindy. We have three sons, Tyler, who is a Catholic Priest, Tate, who is married to Kass and they have 7 children. Chance has two son’s, Gus and Sam and a daughter, Adelaide!
We have had people from all over the world come and stay for anywhere from an afternoon to three weeks. A new friend from Denmark who was here and stayed in the fall of 06 has come back every two years and is expected back this September for a short stay with family and friends. So we have room for visitors and usually enjoy them! Give us a call if you’d like to come visit. There are always cattle around that need attention. Come with me and we’ll saddle a horse or hook up the team and go do something with them! Lord knows there are lots of horses round here!
Branding, September, 2011
Dennisranch 