Bonanza series's long run. In 2002, "Bonanza" was ranked No. 43 on "TV Guide"s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 "TV Guide" included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time. The time period for the television series is roughly between 1861 (Season 1) and 1867 (Season 13) during and shortly after the American Civil War. During the summer of 1972, NBC aired reruns of episodes from the 1967–1970 period in prime time on Tuesday evening under the title Ponderosa. The show chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by the
Peter Cartwright (revivalist) notoriety as the father of Illinois Methodism. Peter Cartwright had little formal education and was skeptical of its value at first, but reversed course and promoted Methodist education. He helped found McKendree College (Lebanon), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington); and Illinois Conference Female Academy in Jacksonville (now MacMurray College). Peter Cartwright jumped into politics as a Democrat. In the election for what became his second term in the Illinois legislature, Cartwright was one of four candidates elected (in a field of thirteen including a Kentucky store clerk and rail splitter named Abraham Lincoln, who came in eighth). "I was beaten", Abraham