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
Cartwright, Manitoba Cartwright, Manitoba Cartwright is an unincorporated urban community in the Cartwright – Roblin Municipality within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held village status prior to January 1, 2015. It was originally incorporated as a village on December 31, 1947. Situated along the Badger Creek, the original location of Cartwright (also known as the Badger, or Old Cartwright) was established in 1879 by pioneers following the Boundary Commission Trail. Old Cartwright began on two townsites, one owned by P.C. McKibbin, the other by J.C. Waugh. The two men admired Sir Richard Cartwright and agreed to name their communities "Cartwright." Waugh's