The Sites Ranch project is a 154 acre section of the original Sites Ranch and adjoining Line Lila Ranch, two of eleven ranches in Hays County that were recognized by the State of Texas as having been operated by the same family for 100 years or more. The Sites recent operation of 1,000 acres is a portion of the property acquired by Bob Sites’ grandfather D.W. Dent, and great-grandparents Thomas & Louise Dodsworth. D.W. (Derrick Wells) Dent came to Texas from New York in 1879 and started this ranch with the purchase of 800 acres for 7 1/2 cents per acre. Texas was still primarily “open range”, and consequently, land was cheap. D.W. Dent married Louise Dodsworth, his neighbor on the present day or Lin Lila Ranch.

​

Louise had immigrated as an 8 year old child with her parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Dodsworth, who in 1872 decided to pack up a few belongings and leave their upper class life in London England to settle in Hays County Texas. They purchased 160 acres, which is part of the adjoining Lin Lila Ranch. They raised their three children here, Louise being the youngest. (Two of their 5 children remained in London).

​

D.W. Dent and Louise Dent became successful in the ranching of cattle, sheep and goats. One year he even produced cotton, which is a remarkable feat considering he had only five mules and one plow to thin rocky soil. The cotton was ginned at a Blanco River mill on the property now known as the Burnett Ranch.

​

In December 1896, Mr. Sites’ grandmother, Louise Dodsworth Dent, lost her husband and parents to pneumonia. Their graves can be seen in the historic Mt. Sharp Cemetery near the ranch. She was left with three young girls and a ranch to run, which she did quite successfully, extending her holdings to 2300 acres.

​

In 1881, it was one of the first ranches to introduce large-scale Angora goat raising in Hays County. At the time, stock had to be herded because of the lack of fencing and abundance of predators, including wolves and mountain lions. In order to earn extra money, Louise allowed draft horses from Lockhart to winter on her ranch. As a young man H.R. Sites was one of the men who moved the horses. It was on one of the drives that H.R. met Ima, Louise’s youngest daughter. The two started corresponding and eventually married.