Dennis Martin also struck gold in the Sierra and purchased ranch properties from the grantees of Rancho Cañada de Raymundo and Rancho Corte de Madera which include much of the modern day back lands of Stanford University, including the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, the Ladera subdivision and the Webb Ranch. After financial misfortune and land disputes typical of the era, his lands were bought by Leland Stanford in November, 1882.
Dennis Martin died in June 1890 and was buried at the St. Denis Cemetery (Martin had built his own church) on his former property (then Stanford's). Woodside's Dennis Martin Creek is named for him.