Ponderosa Ranch

The Ponderosa Ranch was a theme park based on the television western Bonanza, which housed the land, timber and livestock-rich Cartwright family.

[1] Ben Cartwright was said to have built the original, smaller homestead after moving from New Orleans with his pregnant third wife Marie and his two sons, Adam and Hoss.

David Dortort, the show's producer, said that the inspiration for the name was the large number of Ponderosa pines, which grow above 5,000 foot altitude, in the fictional ranch's location.

In the 1970 Bonanza episode "The Night Virginia City Died", Deputy Clem Foster's pyromaniac fiancée leveled the town in a series of fires.

Bill and Joyce Anderson owned a small horse ranch, which was located in about the same area as the fictional Ponderosa on the burning map.

[2] All parties being of one accord, the cast agreed to promos being shot at the ranch site and the Virginia City set – including the nearby Silver Dollar Saloon – for financial consideration.

The park opened to the public in 1968, complete with a scale replica of the Cartwright ranch house and barn similar to the ones seen on television.

Outdoor scenes were filmed on location at nearby Big Bear Lake, Red Rock Canyon, Mojave, or eastern Kern County, California.

However, Michael Landon, Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, and David Canary often made appearances at the ranch in costume to mingle with fans and sign autographs.

Copies of the "Ponderosa Map", autographed by three of the Cartwrights, became souvenirs at the ranch for decades afterward, along with tin cups bearing their likenesses.

Graves of the Cartwrights and cook Hop Sing were later added, following the deaths of Dan Blocker (1972), Victor Sen Yung (1980), Lorne Greene (1987), and Michael Landon (1991).

The house contained a less-than-realistic carved figure of Ben Cartwright sitting at his desk, and of Hop Sing working in the kitchen.

There were activities such as a haunted house, panning for gold, amusements based on old-time Wild West shows, as well as concessions and souvenirs.

Near the main house were sculptures of the horses ridden by Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon that visitors could have their pictures taken either on or alongside of.

The ranch and park remained a popular seasonal attraction for decades after the network run of Bonanza ended, having outlived most of the series' original cast.