Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse under the Metromedia Restaurant Group. The names of the restaurants were derived from the classic TV series "Bonanza", which was set at a place called Ponderosa Ranch. In 1963, Dan Blocker, who played Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on "Bonanza", started the Bonanza Steakhouse chain. The first Bonanza opened in Westport, Connecticut. Sam Wyly and his brother Charles Wyly bought the small Bonanza restaurant chain three years later. The company grew to approximately 600 restaurants by 1989, when the Wylys sold it to Metromedia. In 1965, Dan Lasater, Norm Wiese and Charles Kleptz founded Ponderosa in Kokomo, Indiana, moving the headquarters to
U Lazy S Ranch 1966, the ranch spanned 90,000 acres. In October 1968, Lott and his wife hosted François Tombalbaye, the President of Chad, on his official visit to Texas. A year later, in 1969, they donated a carriage house from the ranch and US$10,000 to the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock, Texas. In 1973, a fundraiser for the public library in Post, Texas was held on the ranch. U Lazy S Ranch The U Lazy S Ranch, formerly known as the Square and Compass Ranch, is a historic ranch in Garza County, Texas, USA. The ranch was established as the Square and