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
Kyle Ranch Kyle Ranch The Kyle Ranch was established by Conrad Kiel in 1875 in what is now North Las Vegas, Nevada. The ranch's name is spelled alternately as "Kiel" and "Kyle" because Conrad Kiel spelled his name and ranch both ways. The site is currently managed by the City of North Las Vegas Parks and Recreation Division as the "Kiel Ranch Historic Park." As of July 2016, the park is open to the public. The original adobe structure, one of the oldest extent buildings in Las Vegas, a wooden shed known as the "Doll House" and the Kyle Ranch Cemetery are