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
Bonanza, Colorado for the town was $66,857. None of the population and none of the families were below the poverty line. Bonanza, Colorado The Town of Bonanza is a Statutory Town located in Saguache County, Colorado, United States. Formerly known as Bonanza City, Bonanza is a largely abandoned former silver mining town. "Bonanza" is a Spanish language word meaning prosperity. The town population was 16 at the 2010 United States Census, ranking Bonanza as the second least populous municipality in the State of Colorado. The Villa Grove Post Office (ZIP Code 81155) now serves Bonanza. In 1880, Tom Cooke of Salida, Colorado