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
Cross S Ranch Headquarters Cross S Ranch Headquarters The Cross S Ranch Headquarters is a historic building located in farmland south of Olustee, Oklahoma. The two-story stone building served as the headquarters of the Cross S Ranch, a cattle ranch founded in 1891. As a major cattle trail passed through the area, the ranch took advantage of the open land to raise free-range cattle. By 1902, the ranch had decreased in size due to homesteaders and raised horses rather than cattle. The ranch eventually became a wheat farm, reflecting a broader shift in Jackson County agricultural production. A larger wheat farm purchased the ranch