VALE, S.D. (KELO) — In 2009, then 23-year-old Neal Wanless of Mission bought a Powerball ticket in the aptly named town of Winner, which turned out to be worth $232 million.
Opting for a single lump-sum payout of $118 million, Wanless wound up with a bit over $88 million after taxes were withdrawn, and used a portion of the money to buy a ranch in western South Dakota near the town of Vale, northeast of Sturgis along the Belle Fourche River.
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall 
Photos by Hall and Hall
In 2020, Wanless listed the more than 40,000 acre Bismarck Trail Ranch for sale at a tune of $41.15 million with Hall and Hall, a top ranch brokerage firm in the U.S.
The ranch has so far gone unsold.
This week, the ranch, which boasts four homes, multiple sets of working facilities, numerous buildings and multiple pastures with water sources has seen a price drop, with the asking price falling to $37.5 million.
Robb Nelson, a Real Estate Partner with Hall and Hall spoke on the phone with KELOLAND News to provide a bit more info about the property.
Nelson says there are many historic markers on the land, showing the locations of now long gone towns and post offices which laid along the Deadwood-Bismarck Trail from which the ranch takes its name.
Asked about the best thing about the ranch, which Nelson says he’s visited many times, he said that what is really special is the size and quality of the property. Nelson says that due to the age of most of the “improvements” to the ranch, such as the building and fences, which are just 12 years old, the ranch will require almost no immediate repairs or maintenance for a prospective buyer.
On the subject of the size of the ranch, Nelson says that it is extremely rare to find one like it in the Great Plains, with most ranches of this size and quality lying in Colorado or Montana.
Nelson himself has a unique tie to the area in which the land sits. He says his great grandfather, Andrew Rosander, was the founder of nearby Vale.
As to why Wanless is selling the property, Nelson cites a lack of use, telling KELOLAND News that Wanless “married a gal from Canada,” and that they spend much of their time between British Columbia and a property they own in Arizona.
Nelson says he made the recommendation to lower the price of the ranch to $37.5 million in order to hopefully encourage prospective buyers.
Check out pictures of the ranch from Hall and Hall here.