Bonanza various times) Guy Williams, David Canary, Mitch Vogel, and Tim Matheson. The show is known for presenting pressing moral dilemmas. The title "Bonanza" is a term used by miners in regard to a large vein or deposit of silver ore, from Spanish "bonanza" (prosperity) and commonly refers to the 1859 revelation of the Comstock Lode of rich silver ore mines under the town of Virginia City, not far from the fictional Ponderosa Ranch that the Cartwright family operated. The show's theme song, also titled "Bonanza", became a hit song. Only instrumental renditions, absent Ray Evans' lyrics, were used during the
Bonanza "One suggestion was to return Pernell Roberts, who had played another Cartwright son when "Bonanza" first premiered on NBC fourteen years ago. We only considered that briefly, [producer Richard] Collins says... Some people felt it was a logical step—the oldest son returning at a time of family need—but most of us didn't think it would work.' Dan Blocker was 6-foot-4, 320-pounds when chosen to play the gentle middle son Eric, better known as "Hoss". The nickname was used as a nod to the character's ample girth, an endearing term for "big and friendly", used by his Swedish mother (and Uncle