
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.
Jeb Drummond is a murderous sheep herder who has Adam taken hostage to try and force Ben to sign over a large section of Ponderosa land to him.
A potential mayoral candidate attempts to stir up trouble between majority and minority groups in town.
A Ponderosa ranch hand faces charges of killing the wife of the U.S. marshal who came to arrest him.
As Ben prepares to run for governor, Joe must come to his rescue when a disabled police officer from New Orleans comes to arrest Ben on a 20-year-old murder charge.