Media mogul Ted Turner buys South Dakota buffalo ranch tied to ‘Dances with Wolves’ movie

FORT PIERRE, S.D. – Media mogul Ted Turner has bought a South Dakota ranch that was the setting for part of the Academy Award-winning movie “Dances with Wolves.”

Triple U Buffalo Ranch owner Kay Ingle confirmed the sale to the Capital Journal newspaper in Pierre and KCCR radio, saying the family is selling the property to pay off debts.

Auctioneer Scott Shuman also confirmed the sale to KCCR. The Capital Journal reported that the registered deed for the ranch shows it was sold to a limited liability partnership based at another South Dakota buffalo ranch that Turner owns.

Turner spokesman Phillip Evans told the newspaper that Turner does not comment on private business deals.

The price listed with the register of deeds is $32.4 million, or about $720 per acre. Turner is worth about $2.2 billion, according to Forbes Magazine. He owns three ranches in Argentina and 15 in seven U.S. states, according to the Ted Turner Enterprises website.

Ingle’s parents, Roy and Nellie Houck, bought the ranch in the mid-1900s. The buffalo and horses on the ranch are included in the sale, according to Ingle’s daughter, Darla Tibbs, who is married to Raymond Tibbs, a great-nephew of the late rodeo legend Casey Tibbs.

“We’re done with this now. It’s in Mr. Turner’s control and it’s his operation,” she told the Capital Journal.

“Dances with Wolves” was a 1990 western epic about a Union Army soldier who befriends Lakota Indians. Kevin Costner, who co-produced, directed and starred in the movie, filmed much of it in central and western South Dakota. It won seven Academy Awards, including best picture and best director.