From milking cows to owning two of the best hunting lodges in America.
The Weinreis Family. If you have had the chance to visit either The Signature Lodge or The North Platte Outpost, I am sure you have heard this familiar name. Whether it be from a booklet on a table, an article on the wall, or from our General Manager, Sean Finley, when he introduces an infamous piece of beef for dinner. For our first blog we would like to truly introduce you to the owners of two of the best hunting lodges, The Weinreis Family.
Work ethic. It’s a family thing.
Born and raised in a small town of Golva, North Dakota, the 12 siblings, consisting of 7 brothers and 5 sisters were raised to view life a little differently than others. Brought up to churn butter, farm wheat, corn, and alfalfa, and help start the cattle operation; the family came to understand the words blood, sweat, and tears firsthand, all coupled with a solid trust and faith in God. This wasn’t just a simple lesson to be learned at a young age. It was a lesson to help lay the foundation for the upcoming generations in the Weinreis Family.
Work hard. Play hard.
One word you will constantly hear spoken within the siblings is FAMILY. Always having family events like “Christmas at the Ranch”, “Grandma’s Campout”, and “Cattle Brandings”, are days the brothers and sisters and all the members of the family looked forward to the most. Grandma’s Campout was always held in a small town called Beach, North Dakota. In this town of 1,024 people, the Weinreis family put up tents and camped out in Grandma’s yard. Grandma’s yard was about the size of a city block; the perfect size for endless games and fun.
Meanwhile, saying the women of the family are incredible cooks/bakers is an understatement. Combine that with the grill-master men, food is always a highlight at family events. Simply put, everyone enjoys the family and GOD’S COUNTRY.
The annual summer Cattle Brandings are other events the family looks forward to every year. Having started out in North Dakota, the family has expanded these brandings to South Dakota and Nebraska. However, no matter where these are held, you’ll always look forward to seeing 100+ members of the family. Grandparents, grandkids, aunts, uncles, cousins, and some of your closest friends. With everyone in one place you can only imagine the amount of fun and hard work that goes into one of these brandings. Waking up at the crack of dawn, sweating in the 100-degree summer heat, and ending the night with a huge ribeye surrounded by your family is what makes these moments so special.
No risk. No reward. Owning two of the best hunting lodges in America is both.
As the “Band of Brothers” grew with age, they came together and decided to become entrepreneurs of their own, not only cattle production, but in real estate and farm/ranch stores across the US. With the cattle business beginning to expand into Nebraska in 1985, two of the brothers decided to make a move to an agricultural town, Minatare, Nebraska. Here, they began their feedlot operation and continued to grow the ranch and farming business. This was probably one of the most profitable moves the family could have made at the time, and it set in stone the future for upcoming generations.
Next comes The North Platte Outpost
With the Brothers love of the outdoors and the hunting life, this led them to turn pieces of land near their feedlot into hunting ground. This land happened to be surrounded by the waterfowl heaven, The North Platte River. If you haven’t heard of this river, let us share one thing with you. IT’S DUCK AND GOOSE HEAVEN. In the early 2000’s the brother’s ended up purchasing a cattle auction barn from the Boss family. While originally thinking they would use the barn for cattle purposes, they soon imagined it’s next chapter. With that, they decided to use the barn as the hunting lodge. The Brothers remodeled the massive building into the North Platte Outpost Lodge while keeping the great history of the salebarn.
Expanding into The Signature Lodge
Over time, with the family being located hours apart, the siblings had another idea. Instead of everyone traveling across states to see each other, why don’t they buy a piece of land located halfway between Golva and Minatare? And so, they did. If you look at a map and measured the center point between those two locations, you end up on the famous SD capital, Pierre.
In the early 2000’s the brothers purchased a beautiful lodge from Mike McClelland. Over the years the lodge has been the meeting place for several memorable family gatherings. In 2010, realizing both lodges had potential to become two of the top hunting lodges in the nation. Consequently, the Weinreis Family reached out to High Adventure Company, proposed an idea, and started to create another empire. The empire you all know and love that has become known as two of the best hunting lodges in America, Cheyenne Ridge!
