Bonanza
The family lived on a thousand square-mile (2,600 km) ranch called the Ponderosa on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada opposite California on the edge of the Sierra Nevada range]. The vast size of the Cartwrights' land was quietly revised to "half a million acres" (2,000 km) on Lorne Greene's 1964 song, "Saga of the Ponderosa." The ranch name refers to the Ponderosa Pine, common in the West. The nearest town to the Ponderosa was Virginia City, where the Cartwrights would go to converse with Sheriff Roy Coffee (played by veteran actor Ray Teal), or his deputy Clem Foster (Bing Russell).
Bonanza
Carlos Malcolm & His Afro-Jamaican Rhythms released a ska version of the song as "Bonanza Ska" on Trojan Records in 1964. This version was later covered by Bad Manners (1989) and the Hurtin' Buckaroos (1997). Michael Richards, as Stanley Spadowski, sang a bit of the theme song while being held hostage by Channel 8's news goons in "UHF" (he did not know the words to the song he was originally supposed to sing, "Helter Skelter"). Michael Feinstein was the last to record the song in 2002 on his "Songs of Evans and Livingston" tribute CD. The "Little House on the Prairie" theme (also by Rose), was heard first in a 1971 episode of "Bonanza". The overture for "The High Chaparral" composed by Harry Sukman can be heard briefly at the start of the 1966 episode "Four Sisters from Boston". On January 29, 2011, Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives performed the song on episode 56 of "The Marty Stuart Show". The band often includes the song in their live shows.