Trusted media reviews for families
Bonanza Season 3

Bonanza

Season 3

September 24, 1961 34 episodes

All Episodes

The Smiler
E1
Guide

E1. The Smiler

49m Sep 24, 1961

A drunk is killed in a saloon brawl with Hoss, and though the man's brother insists there are no hard feelings, he is actually a silver-tongued devil bent on revenge.

Springtime
E2
Guide

E2. Springtime

49m Oct 1, 1961

A friend of Ben's (Mr. Milbank) arrives at the Ponderosa at a bad time...when the Cartwright boys are fighting in the mud. Mr. Milbank, who is injured by a flying log during the fight, gives an assignment to each of the three boys. Can they fulfill the assignments, or has Springtime gotten to them all?

The Honor of Cochise
E3
Guide

E3. The Honor of Cochise

49m Oct 8, 1961

The Cartwrights and a bigoted army captain are pinned down by Cochise and his braves, who claim the officer poisoned 30 of their people.

The Lonely House
E4
Guide

E4. The Lonely House

49m Oct 15, 1961

Little Joe pays a visit to the widow Lee Bolden, and brings her a bank draft for her husband's investments with Ben. Actually, the investments were losing propositions. Ben just wanted to help out his friend. During his visit, a wounded man stumbles into the house, and Joe recognizes him as Trock, who had just robbed the local bank. Lee Bolden was a nurse to her husband physician, and removes the bullet from Trock. Joe soon learns that Lee is in love with Trock, and that is the only thing standing between him and an early grave.

The Burma Rarity
E5
Guide

E5. The Burma Rarity

49m Oct 22, 1961

In this comic episode involving a precious emerald and the sweet widow, Clemantine Hawkins who is attracted to Ben, turns the tables on a pair of land swindlers.

Broken Ballad
E6
Guide

E6. Broken Ballad

49m Oct 29, 1961

Adam tries to help a reformed gunman who wants only to live peacefully near Virginia City. Good story without a tidy ending. Pernell's first chance to sing on the series.

The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch
E7
Guide

E7. The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch

49m Nov 5, 1961

Hoss and Joe become involved when "Bullethead" Burke vows revenge on an old man he claims cheated him in an investment deal.

The Friendship
E8
Guide

E8. The Friendship

49m Nov 12, 1961

Joe befriends and takes responsibility for an ex-convict named Danny. Danny loves horses and is not used to people's ways on the outside of jail. Will his rough jailhouse upbringing mar any hopes of friendship?

The Countess
E9
Guide

E9. The Countess

49m Nov 19, 1961

A woman Ben once loved, Lady Chadwick, returns and attempts to trick him into marrying her by ruining his business. Ben says almost losing the Ponderosa will make him and his sons appreciate it more.

The Horse Breaker
E10
Guide

E10. The Horse Breaker

49m Nov 26, 1961

A professional wrangler working for the Cartwrights is paralyzed when thrown by a particularly mean bronco. The woman nursing him was once engaged to the late son of a neighboring rancher out to get Ben.

Day of the Dragon
E11
Guide

E11. Day of the Dragon

49m Dec 3, 1961

Joe wins a card game and an unexpected prize...a young lady. She goes to the Ponderosa and serves them, not wanting to be set free. Meanwhile, an army is looking for her and the Cartwrights.

The Frenchman
E12
Guide

E12. The Frenchman

49m Dec 10, 1961

An irritating man who boasts of being the reincarnation of French poet Francois Villion shows up causing trouble for the Cartwrights.

The Tin Badge
E13
Guide

E13. The Tin Badge

49m Dec 17, 1961

Joe accepts the job of temporary sheriff in the town of Rubicon, unaware he is being used to facilitate a scheme involving murder.

Gabrielle
E14
Guide

E14. Gabrielle

49m Dec 24, 1961

In this Christmas story, inspired by Johanna Spyri's "Heidi", Hoss and Joe come across a blind girl whose family has been killed in a wagon wreck, learning later that her grandfather is a bitter hermit who spent 21 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Land Grab
E15
Guide

E15. Land Grab

49m Dec 31, 1961

The Ponderosa is overrun with settlers bearing phony property deeds, and one of Ben's oldest friends is responsible.

The Tall Stranger
E16
Guide

E16. The Tall Stranger

49m Jan 7, 1962

Hoss plans to marry Margie, a pretty blonde, but Margie becomes fascinated with a tall, traveling stranger named Mark Connors. Margie marries Mark but soon finds it was far from a match made in heaven.

The Lady from Baltimore
E17
Guide

E17. The Lady from Baltimore

49m Jan 14, 1962

An overbearing friend of the family tries to force her daughter into marrying Joe, though she does not love him. The situation grows more complex when Adam stumbles onto the scheme.

The Ride
E18
Guide

E18. The Ride

49m Jan 21, 1962

Adam races against the clock to prove a man who was once his friend is guilty of robbery and murder and Adam is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt he is guilty.

The Storm
E19
Guide

E19. The Storm

49m Jan 28, 1962

Joe plans to marry Laura White, daughter of a man Ben once sailed with, but she is fatally ill. Ben consoles him with words spoken years before, by the father of Adam's mother.

The Auld Sod
E20
Guide

E20. The Auld Sod

49m Feb 4, 1962

The Cartwrights pretend the Ponderosa belongs to the town lush, when his aging mother from Ireland arrives.

Gift of Water
E21
Guide

E21. Gift of Water

49m Feb 11, 1962

The Cartwrights dig a well, build a rig and a windmill for a drought-stricken farm family.

The Jackknife
E22
Guide

E22. The Jackknife

49m Feb 18, 1962

Adam gives a second chance to a family man he suspects is one of the rustlers who has been hitting the Ponderosa herds.

The Guilty
E23
Guide

E23. The Guilty

49m Feb 25, 1962

When Ben fails to prevent the death of a friend's son, Adam and Joe, concerned by their father's depression, attempt to prove there was nothing he could have done.

The Wooing of Abigail Jones
E24
Guide

E24. The Wooing of Abigail Jones

49m Mar 4, 1962

In order to keep peace on the ranch, Hoss and Joe try to help ranch hand, Hank Meyers woo the the plain-looking schoolteacher, Abigail Jones. When their first plan backfires, they convince Adam (who doesn't want to get involved) to help and this makes things worse because Abigail believes it is Adam who is wooing her and Hank Meyers believes Adam wants to steal her away.

The Lawmaker
E25
Guide

E25. The Lawmaker

49m Mar 11, 1962

Ben supports the appointment of Asa Moran as Virginia City's temporary sheriff, but Moran goes overboard with his authority, jailing Adam in the process and pistol-whipping a Ponderosa hand.

Look to the Stars
E26
Guide

E26. Look to the Stars

49m Mar 18, 1962

A young genius, Albert Michaelson, vies for a scholarship. Adam assists Albert in the boy's experiments. Albert only needs the school teacher's approval to be granted a scholarship-which will be very difficult to get considering Albert was expelled from school.

The Gamble
E27
Guide

E27. The Gamble

49m Apr 1, 1962

In the town of Alkali, the Cartwrights are jailed on false charges of robbery and murder, but Joe escapes and returns with an army of Ponderosa hands.

The Crucible
E28
Guide

E28. The Crucible

49m Apr 8, 1962

Adam is left to die in the desert after two thieves take $5,000 and his horse from him. Near death, he stumbles into an old prospector named Kane who offers to lend him a mule and supplies in exchange for three day's work at his mine. Kane, however, turns out to be a demented madman. He holds Adam prisoner and tortures him to prove his theory that anyone could be driven to kill, even a man as rational as Adam. This is Pernell Robert's favorite episode along with "The Wooing Of Abigail Jones".

Inger, My Love
E29
Guide

E29. Inger, My Love

49m Apr 15, 1962

Ben indulges in a nostalgic reverie about Hoss's deceased mother. Having worked his way west to Galesburg, IL., Ben is befriended by a girl named Inger, the fiancee of the tavern owner who gave him a job.

Blessed Are They
E30
Guide

E30. Blessed Are They

49m Apr 22, 1962

When two feuding families argue over the custody of two orphaned children, a reluctant Ben is called upon to straighten out the situation before real trouble erupts.

The Dowry
E31
Guide

E31. The Dowry

49m Apr 29, 1962

The Cartwrights get mixed up in the romance of a phony heiress and an equally phony land baron.

The Long Night
E32
Guide

E32. The Long Night

49m May 6, 1962

Ben, Joe and Adam travel to Bowleg to pay the yearly taxes on the Ponderosa. After the transaction is completed, Ben and Joe ride over the summit to join the cattle drive. Adam is on his way to Genoa and is carrying a $10,000 bank draft his father has given him. A prison guard rides into town and announces two hombres have broke out and escaped who are holdup men and killers. Elmer Trace and his partner Poindexter were assisted by a guard in escaping prison and they betray him on the trail. Trace takes his clothes, horse and firearms, leaving Poindexter with only a rifle and rides off. Meanwhile, the Sheriff of Bowleg organizes a posse immediately.

The Mountain Girl
E33
Guide

E33. The Mountain Girl

49m May 13, 1962

Joe promises a dying sheepman he will make sure the old man's granddaughter gets her rightful inheritance from a wealthy San Francisco family. This episode was filmed immediately after "Inger, My Love", which explains why Blocker's arm is still in a sling.

The Miracle Maker
E34
Guide

E34. The Miracle Maker

49m May 20, 1962

Hoss blames himself when a young woman is crippled in a wagon accident, and hopes a faith healer can help her walk again.

Other Seasons