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
The Big Bonanza The Big Bonanza The Big Bonanza is a 1944 American film starring Jane Frazee, Richard Arlen, Gabby Hayes, Robert Livingston and Lynne Roberts. Escaping from jail after being falsely accused of cowardice, Army captain Jed Kilton ends up at odds with his old friend, Sam Ballou. Sam has been raising Jed's little brother during the Civil War, but when Jed and sidekick Hap ride into Nevada Springs, they find Sam owns a saloon and has the boy is living there in an unsuitable setting. Jed becomes acquainted with Sam's sweetheart, dancehall gal Chiquita McSweeney, and with a prim and proper