MEDORA, N.D. -- Scott Lippert of Williston and five others went home owning some dream property in the North Dakota Badlands after the breakup of a big Little Missouri River ranch at an auction.
Dean Myers, a North Dakota native and successful Atlanta developer, sold his 4,400-acre Southern Cross Ranch, figuring he'd had a good run and it was time to move on.
Monday's heavily advertised sale drew about 100 spectators and about 50 bidders, some checking in by phone and Internet. The per-acre price ranged from $550 for some crop and pasture miles west of the ranch, up to $1,625 an acre for 242 acres of irrigated river bottomland.
Less than three hours after it started, Myers had $4.4 million in his pocket -- just about $1,000 an acre average -- and buyers like Lippert owned a piece of the North Dakota Badlands.
Bob Tuchscherer of Kansas, another North Dakota native who made it big in drug store chain ownership, bought the ranch headquarters for $800,000 and also purchased other surrounding parcels.
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Tuchscherer said he's been in the market for some hunting land for two years, looking in Wyoming where land prices are twice as high. He heard about the sale a week ago and showed up, ready to buy. His only concern was that his wife hadn't seen the property.
"She loves a lot of trees, well, and she loves a view. The view is gonna be there," Tuchscherer said.
Myers, who owned the ranch for 11 years and invested in new buildings, fence and other improvements, said he was satisfied with the sale, though he'd pegged it earlier at a possible $5 million or more.
"I think we did pretty well," Myers said afterward. He plans to hold an auction within the next couple of months to sell equipment and other property and do his best to move things along because he knows the new owners are anxious "for a chance to take over."
He said he might be back to North Dakota.
"You only have the energy to do this so often," he said.
Lippert said he's looking forward to owning his land, two of the Little Missouri River front parcels, one on each side of the river.
"It feels good. Now I've got to write the check," he said. He said he doesn't have too many plans, yet, but he's thinking about building a hunting lodge out there.
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No one bid when the ranch, minus the two crop parcels near Montana, was offered for $4,067,000.
Vern Fortak, a Wyoming rancher, was considered the strongest possibility as a whole-ranch buyer, but Fortak said a phone call from Wyoming two hours into the sale discouraged the idea.
"It's too far away for anybody in our outfit to come up and run. I thought the price was in line, fair but not overpriced," he said. For a little less, he might have bought it anyway, he said.
Kevin Pifer, whose company conducted the sale and auction, said the sale went slightly better than he expected, with bidding staying strong throughout a fairly long auction, for a mix of parcels.
Pifer said the ranch sold Monday was one of the nicest in the Badlands. "It's nicer than Teddy Roosevelt's ranch (preserved in the national park near Medora), and if he were here, he'd say so," Pifer said.
Not everyone who wanted to went home with a purchase deal in their pocket.
Bill Hecker, 28, of Wibaux, Mont., wanted to buy the crop and pasture parcels close to Montana, but the sale price of $550 an acre was considerably more than his banker OK'd.
