
Ben Cartwright is the patriarch of an all-male Nevada ranching family. Set during and after the Civil War, "Bonanza" is the story of life on the family's thousand-acre spread, known as the Ponderosa, near Virginia City. Ben has his three sons, each with a different (and deceased) mother. Serious eldest son Adam hopes to follow in his father's footsteps; middle son Hoss is a gentle giant -- physically strong, but sometimes naive; and youngest son Little Joe is the most impetuous and romantic of the offspring.

Little Joe runs into romantic complications when he tries to teach a deaf girl sign language; guest Albert Salmi.

Adam and Little Joe warn Hoss when he tries to help Arnie, a man with the mind of a child and an uncontrollable temper.

Ben tries to help his paraplegic neighbor Tom by setting up a grain mill on his unused land; Tom's hired hand raises his suspicion about Ben's plan.

An Easterner swears revenge for the death of his father, a drunk that a Cartwright killed in self-defense.