Longtime Falcon resident Walter Dennis is a cowboy the way little boys sometimes dream of being cowboys. He’s also a historian whose life is woven into the history that he writes about.Dennis is at least fifth generation cowboy. His great-great-grandfather, Hugh Dennis, was a rancher in Texas in the mid-1850s, and was a neighbor to two of the most famous cowboys in American history – Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. The Goodnight-Loving cattle trail, by which the two cowboys took their herds from Texas to Denver, went right through land near Falcon that would years later become the Banning-Lewis Ranch, where Walter Dennis eventually became caretaker.One of Hugh Dennis’s sons, Thomas Jefferson Dennis, was Walter Dennis’s great-grandfather. He, along with several family members, moved 700 cattle and 100 horses to Colorado and settled a ranch north of Ordway. Walter Dennis’s father, Clyde Dennis, began working as a cowboy at the age of 13. Clyde Dennis later married and was working on a ranch near Pueblo when Walter Dennis was born in 1953. In 1955, the family moved to the 30,000-acre Banning-Lewis Ranch near Falcon, where Clyde Dennis became a manager.As a boy, Walter Dennis rode along with his father and learned the work of the ranch. He started receiving wages in 1967 at about the age of 14. During the rest of his childhood and young adult years, he worked after school and during school breaks at the Banning-Lewis Ranch and other ranches around the area, including the huge Highlands Ranch near Denver (owned by Lawrence C. Phipps, Jr.), where his brother Merlin Dennis worked as a cowboy.As a teenager, Dennis also became interested in rodeo clowning. At age 15, he began clowning for amateur rodeos in the area, especially the Hanson Rodeo Company. Throughout college, Dennis worked as a rodeo clown and bullfighter for college and amateur rodeos in Montana and Colorado. He also clowned for the Broadmoor convention rodeos.In 2004, all rodeo clowns were inducted into the Cowboy Capital Walk of Fame in Stephenville, Texas. His commemorative document reads, “In honor of the fearless funnymen of the rodeo arena who have entertained audiences and saved lives of cowboys for the past 100 years.”During Dennis’s growing up years, his family neighbored with another famous cowboy from the Falcon area, Hugh Bennett. Bennett owned a large ranch on Meridian Road and was one of the first board of directors of the Cowboys Turtle Association, which later became the Rodeo Cowboys Association. Bennett was named the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association Man of the Year in 1986.Dennis attended Falcon schools from first grade through high school graduation. He attended what was then Southern Colorado State College in Pueblo for two years, majoring in pre-veterinary studies. After a transfer to Montana State University, Dennis earned a bachelor’s in agricultural business in 1976.After a stint with Western Agri-Management Company in Fort Collins, Dennis began writing for the Record Stockman livestock newspaper, and later for the Western Livestock Journal. He also wrote for the Texas Longhorn Journal and the Hoof and Horse rodeo magazine.Dennis was a contributing writer to the book “El Paso County Heritage”, where he wrote, “Dad always told me to do something else besides be a cowboy and sometimes would not want to teach me some cowboy skills, especially shoeing horses, but since cowboying has been in my family for five generations it is hard to change.”In 1983, Dennis returned to the Banning-Lewis ranch, where his father was managing the Jimmy Camp Ranch branch. In 1984, Dennis’s father passed away and Dennis became manager of the ranch.Dennis is perhaps the best source of history on the Banning-Lewis Ranch, having spent most of his life working or living on it. He wrote the history of the Jimmy Camp and the Banning-Lewis Ranch for the aforementioned book “El Paso County Heritage”. He also has an extensive collection of rodeo history, documents and photographs. Before Hugh Bennett passed away, he called for Dennis to come to his home, and Bennett gave Dennis the documents from the founding of the Rodeo Cowboys Association. Dennis handed the most important documents over to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs.Since 2002, Dennis has maintained apartment complexes, sold real estate, worked in manufacturing and advertising. He has served on the Cheyenne Frontier Days Ticket Committee since 1997, where he said he gets to meet many great people.He continues to write for Quarter Horse News, a magazine of Cowboy Publishing in Ft. Worth, Texas, and he writes for The Wrangler, a Wyoming livestock newspaper. Dennis enjoys writing historical articles for livestock publications. He said, “One of the good things about the newspaper business, you get to meet a lot of people others just get to read about.”Dennis is also a successful freelance rodeo photographer. One of his best-known photos, entitled “Tuff Hedeman on the job,” features Hedeman winning the bull riding competition at Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1995. It was first published in Western Horseman in October 1996.Yep, a cowboy life some only dream about.More on Walter DennisWhat are your hobbies? I collect autographs of rodeo stars, queens, and clowns, mostly on hats and jackets.Who are your heroes? I’ve got a lot of local heroes. Hugh Bennett, Earl Hale, Billy Hale, Tom Elliott, Rusty and Randy Solberg (grandsons of Earl Hale), Doug and Lane Johnson.Any favorite childhood memories? Growing up on the ranch. Working cattle with older cowboys and kids. At one time, about 15 people worked on the ranch. Everybody was like family.Other highlights of your life? When I was 6 years old, I met James Arness. In 1959, he was looking to buy property in Colorado and came to the ranch. I also enjoyed meeting J. Evetts Haley, the author of Charles Goodnight.Favorite books or authors? I like to read western rodeo history.Favorite artists? Tom Ryan, Charles Russell. I greatly admire the work of Rusty Phelps, who lives in the Falcon area and did the Range Riders sculpture downtown.Other hobbies? Swimming, tennis, watching baseball, watching PBRs (Professional Bull Riding).Favorite places to go? Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. I go to all their functions. I like bookstores, the library, the Garden of the Gods. I like to spend weekends with my mom in Pueblo.Favorite movies? “Africa, Texas Style;” “National Finals Rodeo Highlights;” “Run, Appaloosa, Run.” “8 Seconds,” the movie about Lane Frost (a rodeo clown), who was killed at Cheyenne Frontier Days. I was there when it happened. “The Rounders,” with Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda.
