The Ponderosa Ranch
is the home of patriarch Ben Cartwright and his
three sons Adam, Hoss and Little Joe. The above
illustration is seen in every opening of the
western Bonanza as a flame consumes the
map to reveal the stars of the show riding up on
horseback.
According
to The Travel Channel 2-hour special "TV Road
Trip" (2002) hosted by John Ritter, the above
Ponderosa map is not accurate. In reality,
Carson City lies East of the Ponderosa, not
North. To fix this mistake, the series producer
David Dortort rotated the north-south
orientation marker on the map to the left
(instead of straight up and down) to compensate
for the error. But since the TV series is
fictional, and therefore its entire universe as
well, there is no mistake. It's only a mistake,
when we compare it to our own reality, on which
the series is based.
As a matter of western fiction, Carson City's
position is just fine with me.
