Ponderosa Ranch entrepreneur David Duffield in 2004. In September 2004 he closed the Ponderosa "indefinitely". Ponderosa Ranch The Ponderosa Ranch was a theme park based on the popular 1960s television western "Bonanza", which housed the affluent land, timber and livestock-rich Cartwright family. The amusement park operated in Incline Village, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, from 1967 until 2004. Portions of the last five seasons of the TV series and three TV movies were also filmed at that location. The Ponderosa was the fictional setting for "Bonanza". According to the 9th episode ("Mr. Henry Comstock") in the first season, it was a thousand-square mile
Spahn Ranch notorious for having been the primary residence of Charles Manson and his followers, the "Manson Family", for much of 1968 and 1969. The ranch took its name from dairy farmer George Spahn, who purchased the property in 1948. Silent film actor William S. Hart owned the ranch prior to Spahn. Many western-themed movies and television shows were filmed on the ranch, including "Duel in the Sun" (1946) and television episodes of "Bonanza", "The Lone Ranger", and "Zorro". It was also the filming location for the B-movie "The Creeping Terror". Spahn was 80 years old, going blind and living at his