Ponderosa Ranch 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" creator-producer David Dortort. They proposed turning their small ranch into a theme park. NBC, Dortort, and the cast saw the tie-in as a "bonanza" for everyone. 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 ads stimulated revenue for the park. The park opened to the public in 1968, complete
Peter Cartwright (revivalist) for a seat in the United States Congress. As a Methodist circuit rider, Cartwright rode circuits in Kentucky and Illinois, as well as Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio. His "Autobiography" (1856) made him nationally prominent. Peter Cartwright, Jr., the son of Peter Cartwright, Sr., and Christiana Garvin, was born in Amherst County, Virginia, present-day Nelson County, Virginia, between Findlay Mountain and Purgatory Swamp. Soon after his birth, Cartwright's family moved to what was then Kentucky County, now Logan County, Kentucky. In 1801, at the age of 15, Peter Cartwright was converted, at a camp meeting, associated with the Revival of 1800,