Ponderosa Ranch "Bonanza" episodes were shot at the theme park's Virginia City site, although the town was prominently featured in three "Bonanza" television movies. Because the movies showcased the next generation of Cartwrights, they began circa 1905. The Ponderosa park expanded beyond the buggy era to include an exhibit featuring antique cars. It was a fledgling endeavor as tourists wanted to see horses flanked by Cartwright saddles. The idea for the theme park came about in 1965. Bill and Joyce Anderson owned a small horse ranch, which is located in about the same area as the fictional Ponderosa on the burning map.
Bonanza 1857), "Bonanza" is also set in what in real life would have been Utah Territory. Several early episodes have fallen into the public domain. These episodes have been released by several companies in different configurations, with substandard picture and sound quality, edited, and by legal necessity with the copyright-protected Evans-Livingston theme song replaced with generic western music. In 1973, NBC licensed the distribution rights to the series, along with the rest of its pre-1973 library, to National Telefilm Associates, which changed its name to Republic Pictures in 1986. Republic would become part of the Spelling Entertainment organization in 1994 through