PANAMINT BECOMES THE PONDEROSA Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 11, March 14, 2004, Article 25
PANAMINT BECOMES THE PONDEROSA
Bob VanRyzin writes: "The following may be of some interest
to your readers, as I've noticed past discussions in The
E-Sylum concerning Panamint. Below is from the March 8
online version of the "Nevada Appeal" concerning a plan to
sell the Ponderosa Ranch, Incline Village, Nevada.According to the article, the original idea of a name for the
Cartwright ranch on the old "Bonanza" TV series was
Panamint."[See The E-Sylum v4n47,48,53 (2001) and v6n2,31 (2003)
Panamint Balls were conceived in the days of the old West:
"When mines shipped bars of silver from the West coast
they were frequently stolen enroute. Their solution was
brilliant: Cast the silver into balls large enough no one
person could lift." -Dick Johnson, E-Sylum v4n47,
November 18, 2001. -Editor]"The impending deal to sell the 548-acre Ponderosa Ranch
to a consortium of government agencies has generated shock
and surprise from people all across the country.The ranch, which was built by longtime Incline Village resident
Bill Anderson in 1968, is based on the setting of the popular
TV Western "Bonanza," which ran from 1959 to 1973.While few scenes from the show were shot at the ranch itself,
the producers made good use of the surrounding property,
featuring Lake Tahoe as its centerpiece.David Dortort, the man who created ''Bonanza' in 1959, said
that the idea to shoot locations in the North Shore area was
essential to his vision.""Joan Markowitz worked for Dortort when he was developing
the pilot for 'Bonanza,' and was instrumental in a key component
of the show."I named the ranch," Markowitz said from her Apple Valley,
Calif., home."David was writing the script in long hand and I was typing it
for him," Markowitz said. "One morning at about 3 a.m., David
and some of the other people involved in the project starting
arguing about the name of the Cartwright ranch. David was
calling it 'Panamint' (an obscure mining term.)"Finally, I blurted out that the show was about this big, strong
like-a-tree man who was surrounded by trees on his property.
So I suggested, name the ranch after the trees. Call it
Ponderosa," Markowitz said."To read the full article, see: Full Article
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