Ponderosa Ranch
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The Ponderosa Ranch was a theme park based on the popular 1960s television western Bonanza. The amusement park operated in Incline Village, near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, from 1967 until 2004. Portions of the last four seasons of the TV series were also filmed at that location.
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[edit] Origins
The Ponderosa was the fictional setting for Bonanza. According to the storyline, it was a 600,000 acre ranch on the shores of Lake Tahoe, nestled high in the Sierra Nevada with a large ranch house in the center of it. Ben Cartwright was said to have built this ranch after moving from the east coast with his two sons, Adam and Hoss. He had started with a small area of land and built up the massive ranch over time. The ranch was about two hours ride from Virginia City, Nevada.
Whether the inspiration for that name was the presence in the area of a great number of Ponderosa pines or whether it was taken from the original Latin meaning of large (root of the English word ponderous) is debated. The exteriors for the TV show were occasionally shot here, usually out of sequence. Crews sometimes were able to complete an entire season's work in just a few days' time.
[edit] Creating the Amusement Park
The idea for the amusement park came about in 1965. Bill and Debbie Anderson owned a small horse ranch, which happened to be located at about the same area as the Ponderosa on the fictional burning map. According to the Andersons, tourists would regularly show up at their gates, asking where the Ponderosa was. Smelling opportunity, the Andersons contacted NBC and Bonanza producer David Dortort. They proposed turning their small ranch into a theme park. NBC saw the idea as a great promotional tool for the series, as did Michael Landon and Lorne Greene. All parties agreed to share the cost and the profits (at least at first).
The park opened to the public in 1967, complete with a scale replica of the Cartwright ranch house, and barn, similar to the ones seen on TV each week. A replica of Virginia City was later added to the property. The original plan, was to open the set to tourists once filming had wrapped. However, shuttling cast and crew up to Incline Village on a weekly basis became cost prohibitive. Thus, very few episodes of Bonanza were actually shot there. A majority of ranch specific scenes were shot on a sound stage at Paramount studios in Hollywood. Outdoor scenes were filmed on location at nearby Big Bear Lake, Red Rock Canyon, Mojave or eastern Kern County, California. However, Landon, Greene and co-star Dan Blocker made regular visits to the ranch, in costume, to mingle with fans and sign autographs. Blocker died in 1972. NBC cancelled the series the following year. Copies of the "Bonanza Map", autographed by the three were handed out as souvenirs at the ranch for years afterward, along with tin cups bearing their likenesses.
Episodes that were filmed entirely or in part at the ranch, bear a title plate at the end of the credits, indicating such. These episodes are from the 10th season (1968-69) on.
[edit] The Ponderosa Experience
Parking for visitors was at the highway level; only official vehicles, such as the park's conestoga wagons, were actually allowed up to the top of the ridge where it was located. Depending on the time of day, a park visit could include breakfast; lunch, including a "Hoss Burger", if one was desired, could also be purchased; estimates are that over 3,000,000 of these were sold during the park's existence.
A visit to the park consisted of the wagon taking visitors up being "robbed" by "outlaws", and then disembarking at the main house of the set. Adjacent to the house were the "graves" of the three Cartwright wives, each of whom had borne one of the (half) brothers to Ben Cartwright prior to her death. Graves of the Cartwrights themselves were later added, following the deaths of Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, and Victor Sen Yung, who played Hop Sing. The house was inhabited by a less than realistic carved figure of Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright sitting at his desk, and of Hop Sing working in the kitchen. The only parts of the house that actually existed were the living room, dining room, kitchen, and office; the stairs led nowhere, as the "bedrooms" were actually located back on a sound stage in Hollywood. Thus, the tour of the house took very little time.
The main attraction was the ranch's version of Virginia City, which was miles from the real Virginia City but immediately adjacent to the rear of the house set. Here were activities such as a haunted house, panning for gold, amusements based on old-time Wild West shows, and the like, as well as concessions such as the aforementioned "Hoss Burger" (named after the character portrayed by Dan Blocker) and souvenirs.
The real Virginia City set that was used in the show was also located on a backlot at Paramount, and turned up in episodes of "Have Gun, Will Travel", "Mannix" and "The Brady Bunch". None of the original Bonanza series was shot at Ponderosa's "Virginia City", although it was prominantly featured in the Bonanza TV movies, which aired on NBC and PAX in the 1990s.
[edit] The Ponderosa Ranch's Decline
The park remained a popular seasonal attraction for many years after the network run of Bonanza ended; business finally began to dwindle in the late 1990s. The park was permanently closed in September, 2004.
An article in the RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL of September 26, 2004 (Ponderosa rides into the sunset) quoted "co-owner Anderson [son of the original owner]" as saying: "This is the biggest year we’ve ever had", and who estimated 250,000 people visited the Ponderosa during the last spring and summer season.
Anderson said he decided to sell the ranch because "land values are so high."
[edit] Trivia
- Only the front of the ranch house was ever shown because a highway ran directly to the right of the house.
- In most outdoor shots, the background is just a painted backdrop.
- The ranch was actually about a two hour ride on horseback from Virginia City. No wonder Sheriff Roy Coffee complained about making the trip out there!
- The ranch house was a single story structure. However, from the outside it appeared to have a second story. Inside there was a staircase that leads to the ceiling and any upstairs shots were filmed in Hollywood.
- Visitors could see a wax figure of Ben Cartwright, sitting behind his desk in the study, as well as Little Joe's green, courdoroy jacket, and Hoss' brown suede vest, haning on the rack.
- When the ranch opened in 1967, Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright) had long since departed the series. As such, he was not featured as part of Ponderosa's promotional campaign, until after the show's initial run. At that time a bulk of the shows seen in syndication featured the Adam Cartwright character. His picture was in the group painting on the sign promoting the park at the entrance. As of 2000 because Pernell Roberts is still alive, there was no grave marker with the rest of the Cartwright family. The park was purchased by David Duffield in 2004, so there is no way to get in to verify if there is now a grave marker for Adam. There is a grave marker for Hop Sing (Victor Sen Yung) outside the kitchen of the ranch house.
- By the early 1990's, Ponderosa had expanded beyond the western genre to include an exhibit featuring historic cars. However it was a work in progress, and most of the "exhibits" were falling apart and were in need of repair.
