Ponderosa Ranch high in the Sierra Nevada, with a large ranch house in the center of it. Ben Cartwright was said to have built the original, smaller homestead after moving from New Orleans with his pregnant third wife Marie and his two sons, Adam and Hoss. The grown Adam, an architect/engineer, designed the later sprawling ranch house as depicted on TV ("Bonanza, The Philip Diedesheimer Story", Oct. 31, 1959, NBC-TV; "Bonanza: The Return", April 1993, NBC-TV). The fictional ranch was roughly a two-hour horse ride from Virginia City, Nevada. (Note: There are slight variations as to the origin of the Ponderosa Ranch,
Bonanza, Utah Bonanza, Utah Bonanza is a census-designated place in eastern Uintah County, Utah, United States. The name refers to a rich mineral strike. Near the community is a coal-fired power plant owned by Deseret Power Electric Cooperative. Bonanza is also in the area of the Colorado Plateau where oil drilling and extraction takes place from oil shale and other fossil fuel deposits. According to the 2010 Census, there is one person residing at this location. Bonanza was established in 1888. The basis for establishing the community was a discovery of Gilsonite, a natural asphalt substance. Bonanza is southeast of Salt Lake