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
George Cartwright (trader) George Cartwright (trader) George Cartwright (12 February 1739/40 – 19 May 1819) was an English army officer and a trader and explorer in Newfoundland and Labrador. His name is borne by Cartwright, a settlement at the entrance to Sandwich Bay. George Cartwright was born at Marnham in Nottinghamshire, England, an elder brother of Edmund Cartwright, clergyman and inventor of the power loom, and of John Cartwright, naval officer and English parliamentary reformer. Cartwright became a gentleman cadet in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, London when he was fifteen. He served in India as ensign in the 39th Foot. In