fascinatingbonanza

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Michael Landon

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Do you ever wonder how they managed to make this show for 14 years, when they clearly started to run out of ideas by season 6?

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Bonanza chronology

(so far, which is the first 5 seasons)

As someone quite interested in history, I always enjoy stories set in the past and I always like to know when exactly in the past they are set. So recently I found myself trying way to much to figure out when does "Bonanza" actually take place. And It seems to be a far more difficult problem than I initially thought. But here's what I've got so far, after watching 5 seasons.

But then, as I was watching the series episode after episode, I quickly realised, that this 'canonical chronology' is bullshit and that time in "Bonanza" works in mysterious and extremely convoluted ways.

Generally the series takes place roughly somewhere in the 1860s. The first half of the decade to be a bit more precise, somewhere right before and during the American Civil War (something that is occasionally brought up in the episodes). That's literally what wikipedia says. However, as I dived a little into the fanpages and whatnot, I discovered that there seems to be a some sort of a more specific, canonical, chronology that basicly says that the pilot ("A Rose for Lotta") is set in 1859, then the first season is 1860, the second - 1861, the third - 1862 and so on.

(To be honest, that's quite cool actually, because it would mean that the series takes place exactly 100 years before it's premiere)

To realize that the canonical chronology just doesn't apply to the actual show, you only have to watch the first two seasons, where some episodes have literally a written year at the beginning.

We have it in season's one "San Francisco":

And that's ok, I mean, yeah, the first season (supposedly set in 1860) is coming to an end and now we are getting into the next year. It makes sense.

It still makes sense in the second season where we have "The Courtship", again with a date at the beginning:

Don't know why would they say it again, but all right, it's still 1861, no problem here.

And then, just two episodes later, comes "Bank Run" with this audacity:

What on earth happened here??? They just totally skipped 1862 and now we're a year later, with no explanation or a reason. And that's the moment when you realize that there is no such thing as 'linear chronology' in "Bonanza".

Especially when you also take into account all those stories involving real historical figures which were quite often in the first season. Sometimes the show just doesn't really care about historical facts and for example Lotta Crabtree (from "A Rose for Lotta") in 1859 would be only 12 years old. "The Julia Bulette story" is a bit closer to history altrough Bulette's death was changed a lot as in reality she died in 1867. Mark Twain, who appeard in "Enter Mark Twain", in reality visited Virginia City in 1863, so again, why is this a part of the first season which takes place in 1860?

Then you also have episodes which literally bring up real historical events, but they do it in such a clumsy way, that it's just painful. The one episode that strikes me the most with it is propably "A House Divided" which obviously quotes Lincoln's famous speech. Ben Cartwright even reads this speech in a brand new newspaper, but guess what, it's a speech from 1858, which is before the Comstock Lode was even discovered, so how can this whole episode be set around supplying the south with silver?! (But since it is about supplying the south with silver, I assume it must be around 1861, right at the start of the war)

After the first season "Bonanza" slowed down a bit with those 'history lessons', so in the second one there isn't really anything that could suggest any particular date (apart from "The Courtship" and "Bank Run" that I mentioned earlier). And maybe events from the second season do actually happen in 1861, as the canonical chronology would like it to.

But then comes my beloved third season, and boi oh boi, does it make an even greater mess. In "The Frenchman" the title character (apparently a reincarnation of Francois Villion) reads his last poem and starts with:

So we go back in time now? How nice. October 17th 1860, they couldn't be more explicit with it.

Towards the end of the season, we also get a little throw back to Bonanza's history lessons with "Look to the Stars" which tells a story of young Albert Michelson, future physicist and a Nobel Prize winner, who happend to live in Virginia City somewhere in the 1860s. The episode specifically focuses on his efforts to become a student at the Annapolis Naval Academy, which he started in 1869, so we can assume that this episode takes place around 1868-69. That's again a long jump in time.

The fourth season gives us even more specific dates and events to go over. First of all, right at the beginning, we have "The First Born", personally one of my very favourites, but that's not important here. The important thing is that Clay tells Joe that he was fighting in a war in Mexico:

But you know, that war in Mexico was kinda spread over time (from 1861 to 1867) so just mentioning it isn't quite enough to give us a more narrow period of time. Fortunately, Clay later tells just enough detail to do it:

So it's not all over yet, it's just that moment when the royalists won and the French took over Mexico for a while. From my very general knowlege about this I can guess that it's somewhere after 1863 then. Not much though. I like to think it's 1863 or 1864.

But all right, that may be to much guessing. Let's focus on those more obvious hints.

"The War Comes to Washoe" is one of those episodes that mention the Civil War and this time it tells a story of Nevada becoming a state. There's that voting and all, and basically it means that it's 1864, because that is when Nevade became a state (or maby 1863, because from thet voting to actually becoming a state it could've been a longer process). Just like that.

But the one episode that surprised me the most with the fact that it gives us a specific date is "The Last Haircut". And you can miss it, but right at the beginning we see an interesting banner:

So it's February 2nd, 1868... Well, that was easy. But again, a huge jump in time.

The fifth season greets us with another completely nonsensical historical figure appearance in "A Passion for Justice". From what I know, Charles Dickens never went west during his visits to America, but whatever. They wanted Charles Dickens in Virginia City so they put Charles Dickens in Virginia City. For the record, he was in America in 1842 and in 1868, so I guess we can pretend it's his 1868 visit. But still, it's just absurd.

But this season is mostly known for it's Laura and Will subplots, and you know what? We can actually precisely tell when it takes place. At the beggining of "The Waiting Game" we see Laura's husband's grave:

And look! February 20th, 1861! So that's when it all started. Later Adam says that it's been four months since Frank died, so we have June 1861. Then in "The Pressure Game" they celebrate the 4th of July, and in "Triangle" it is said that it had been a year since Adam gave Peggy her pony so now it must be around June 1862. And since at this point it all conects to Will's subplot, then "Return to Honor", "The Roper" and "The Companeros" must've happen somewhere inbetween.

Meanwhile there's also "The Prime of Life" about building the transcontinental railroad, and since we know that it reached Reno in 1868, then I guess the episode must be set somewhere right before that.

And to top it all off, in the season's finale, "Walter and the Outlaws", we get that one useless piece of information that Obie had last seen his sister in 1843, and it's been 16 years since then. So by easy maths we can say that the episode is set in 1859, just like the show's pilot.

And that's all for the first five seasons. What we get form it, is that "Bonanza" diefinietly doesn't have any chronology and that this canonical one is just right out of the blue.

To sum it up I can say that this show is just made out of random Catwright's adventures from several years and in no chronological order whatsoever. It's funny when you start to think about it and for example realise that when the Laura/Will story takes place, many of the adventures from previous seasons hasn't even happen yet.

Of course there's also four prequels that tell the stories about Ben's wives, but I think I'll leave it for some other time, because while talking about it, I would also have to talk about the ages of each Cartwright and generally it's a whole different complicated subject.

Also, if now there are episodes happening as late as 1867 and 1868, then when exactly did Adam leave the Ponderosa? Well that's something I'll have to think about while watching the 6th season. I hope there will be some answers to that.

[English isn't my first language so please excuse any mistakes. And I know there must be some.]

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Joe wearing his vest from the 1st and 2nd season in season 6

s6e04 - Thanks for Everything, Friend

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Look, there's more!

s5e34 - Walter and the Outlaws

All the "Joseph, take your feet off the table" moments I've collected so far.

s1e30 - Feet of Clay s4e21 - The Hayburner s4e29 - Five into the Wind s5e01 - She Walks in Beauty

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Adam - The Big Sly Cat™

s5e15 - Ponderosa Matador

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The Cartwright Curse is real.

Don't mind me, I'm just making random memes in my spare time.

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They often have to put Little Joe in his place

s2e04 - The Mill

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l watched "Bullet for a Bride" and this episode was... interesting...

I just noticed some things and want to talk about them.

First of all, it was the closest any of the Cartwrights got to getting married so far. Like, Little Joe was literally two words away from it. This whole situation was kinda suspenseful and definitely unexpected, but I don't know if I liked it or not.

Also it looked like Joe's best man was Adam and that's an interesting detail, because I guess it would be more fitting to put Hoss in that role. Yet you can clearly see that Adam is standing right behind Joe, while Ben and Hoss are a bit further and on the side. Maybe it's because Adam is the eldest brother? Idk how the whole 'best man' thing works. But to be honest, Joe and Adam's relationship is very underrated and for me it completely makes sense that Joe would chose him to be his best man. I'd love to see their conversation behind that.

Speaking of Adam and maybe going back to the actual plot of the episode - the beginning is just soooo similar to "My Brother's Keeper" that I was disappointed they didn't mention it. Sometimes I wish the episodes were just a little bit more connected with eachother. Whereas here, when Joe is upset and feels guilty for Tessa's injury, Adam just sits there saying "Oh, that could've happen to anybody". Like, yeah, that literally happened to you a few episodes ago, when you accidentally shot Joe, and you felt the same about it. Those Cartwrights just have such a bad memory, don't they?

And then the ending with that piece of dialog that felt like some fourth wall breaking, or at least a funny nod to the fact that Tessa was just one of many girls Joe wanted to marry in the series.

"You are the prettiest girl that I ever almost married" says Little Joe as he remembers those eight fiancees that came before her. Well, at least that one didn't die.

In genaral, I think it was a good episode and one that I will definitely remember. There's many episodes that feel like they tried to put too many themes or "life lessons" in them, that in the end just fell flat and didn't make a lot of sense, but here it all worked and I really enjoyed the story. Just that whole wedding at the end was a little overwhelming and unnecessary. They could've keep the story more low-key by resolving the problem without a bride running away from the altar and all that, but at least we got a sneak peek of how a Cartwright wedding looks like. I'm also glad that it wasn't as sad as I thought it would be, because we already had a depressing 'Little Joe want's to marry someone' episode, which was "The Storm", and I'm not sure if I want to experience it again.

(English isn't my first language, sorry for any mistakes)

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He's the bull of the woods

s5e13 - The Prime of Life

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*everyone is fighting* "Hold it!" *everyone stops fighting* Joe: *punches a guy anyway* *grins*

s5e13 - The Prime of Life

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They really hate Little Joe sometimes

s3e21 - Gift of Water

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Favourite Bonanza episodes in no particular order:

The Way Station (1962)

Can't say no to a nice episode with Adam as a main lead. This time also guest starring Robert Vaughn, who I'm always happy to see, playing a likeable villain (a rare thing on Bonanza). His character and Adam have a very interesting, slightly gay chemistry (I mean - those looks!). They just make this episode for me, what can I say. I'm also very fond of the trope 'a bunch of random people are trapped in one place and chaos ensues'. Always works.

Some drama, some fun, some tension, nice acting and Adam being the cool Cartwright that he obviously is.

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Favourite Bonanza episodes in no particular order:

Twilight Town (1963)

I love seeing something different and original from time to time and this episode was just that. A bit eerie with an interesting, mysterious story and a perfect ending (obviously inspired by "Twilight Zone").

I like the fun they had with some shots, especially those 'crooked' ones at the beginning, which added so much to the general atmosphere. It's a great and memorable episode not just because of the plot, but also because of how well made it is.

Now I wonder if Louise should be counted as another love interest of a Cartwright that dies. Bc does she die? or is she alredy dead? or what? god I love that ending.

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Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright, back left, Dan Blocker as Hoss Cartwright, Michael Landon, front left, as Little Joe Cartwright and Lorne Green as Ben Cartwright from “Bonanza”

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All the "Joseph, take your feet off the table" moments I've collected so far.

s1e30 - Feet of Clay s4e21 - The Hayburner s4e29 - Five into the Wind s5e01 - She Walks in Beauty