William Anderson, Former owner of Ponderosa Ranch

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PyrateJohn

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Jun 16, 2008, 12:23:53 PM6/16/08
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William Anderson
Former owner of Ponderosa Ranch


William Anderson, 84, former owner of the Ponderosa Ranch western-
themed tourist attraction on Lake Tahoe's north shore, died June 4
[2008] at his ranch house in Dayton, Nevada, his family said.


Anderson opened the Incline Village park in 1968 and was its owner
and
president for more than 30 years.


It was the fictional home of the Cartwright family on NBC's "Bonanza"
television show, starring Lorne Greene, Michael Landon and Dan
Blocker. The show's 428 episodes ran from 1959 to 1973.


Among other attractions, the park featured a replica of the
Cartwright
house and barn, a wax figure of Ben Cartwright, wagon rides, gold
panning and food such as "Hoss" burgers.


The park closed in 2004 after the land was sold to high-tech
billionaire David Duffield.


Born in Alhambra in 1923, Anderson opened a wrecking yard in San
Lorenzo, near Oakland, at age 16 before becoming a paratrooper during
World War II.


In the early 1960s, he moved a heavy-equipment business from San
Lorenzo to Incline Village to assist in the Lake Tahoe community's
development.


http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings14-2008jun14,0,7...




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DGH View profile
More options Jun 15, 8:16 pm

Newsgroups: alt.obituaries
From: DGH <perin...@eudoramail.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:16:26 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Sun, Jun 15 2008 8:16 pm
Subject: Re: William Anderson, Former owner of Ponderosa Ranch, 84
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Not to be confused with William R. Anderson, 85, who sailed the first
nuclear submarine beneath the North Pole, who obituary was in
alt.obituaries on March 5, 2007.




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Charlene View profile
More options Jun 15, 8:30 pm

Newsgroups: alt.obituaries
From: Charlene <charlene.vick...@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:30:13 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Sun, Jun 15 2008 8:30 pm
Subject: Re: William Anderson, Former owner of Ponderosa Ranch, 84
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On Jun 15, 7:13 pm, DGH <perin...@eudoramail.com> wrote:


> -

> William Anderson
> Former owner of Ponderosa Ranch


> William Anderson, 84, former owner of the Ponderosa Ranch western-
> themed tourist attraction on Lake Tahoe's north shore, died June 4
> [2008] at his ranch house in Dayton, Nevada, his family said.


> Anderson opened the Incline Village park in 1968 and was its owner and
> president for more than 30 years.


> It was the fictional home of the Cartwright family on NBC's "Bonanza"
> television show, starring Lorne Greene, Michael Landon and Dan
> Blocker. The show's 428 episodes ran from 1959 to 1973.



Not quite: the fictional Ponderosa Ranch in Bonanza was on the east
shore of Lake Tahoe. (The map in the opening credits has North to the
left, not towards the top.) The Andersons renamed their ranch
Ponderosa and opened a theme park (with the approval of NBC and
Michael Landon) because tourists who didn't notice where North was
pointing and who thought Ponderosa was therefore north of Tahoe often
showed up at their door, and they saw opportunity. According to the
Reno Gazette-Journal, the ranch made money every year it was opened,
and more after Bonanza was cancelled than before.

http://www.westernposterpage.com/ponderosamap.htm


wd44

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