Bonanza Settings

Good Resource: http://www.williamsmith.org/bonanzabeckysbackground.html

Historical maps: http://www.nevada-history.org/county.html

Towns/Cities/Forts:

Songs the Cartwrights might know & sing.

Towns/Cities: without a clear idea of exactly where the Ponderosa house sits, I am using Virginia City as a starting point.

California:

· Placerville (originally Hangtown): 102 miles from Virginia City, via the Eldorado National Forest (today's designation), and the southern pass through the mountains.

· Rubicon: Used in "The Tin Badge." No current reference could be found to a town of this name. Wikipedia showed this information as of June 27, 2010:

o Rubicon is a former settlement in El Dorado County, California. It was located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of Emerald Bay. A post office operated at Rubicon from 1901 to 1906 and from 1909 to 1913.

o Rubicon Springs, California

o Rubicon Peak

· Downieville: According to Google Maps, 114 miles northwest of Virginia City by highway, but less "as the crow flies." Former gold mining camp that grew into a town, with a population of 5,000 by 1851. Began to decline in 1865.

· Nevada City: 60 miles northeast of Sacramento.

· Stockton: 160 miles southwest of Virginia City.

· Sacramento: approximately 140 miles southwest of Virginia City.

· San Francisco: Approximately 230 miles southwest of Virginia City

Nevada:

· Virginia City

· Carson City

· Reno

· Ghost Towns: information per http://home.earthlink.net/~ghosttowns3/nevada/index.htm

Aurora: 23 miles SW of Hawthorne (Mineral County). Founded 1860. Gold and silver mining town. (Hawthorn is about 114 miles southeast of Virginia City.)
Candelaria: Founded 1863. Midway between US 95 & SR 360 on a dirt road (Mineral County)

Candelaria had a reputation for being one of the toughest camps in the West. It boasted 27 saloons and no church at it’s peak in the 1880s.

Dun Glen (Chafee): Founded 1862. 9 miles NE of Mill City (Pershing County).

In 1863, and 1865, a small army garrison was stationed in the town to protect the miners from Indians.

Grantsville: Founded 1863. Gold and silver mining town. 5 miles SW of Berlin (Nye County)
Humboldt City: 151 miles northeast of Virginia City. Founded 1860. Silver mining town. (Now a ghost town.)
Rhodes: Founded 1862. Mines: Salt and Borax. Was a salt distribution center for the Hawthorne/ Comstock/Tonopah mining areas. Rhodes was also a station on the Carson and Colorado Railroad. Near the intersection of U.S. 95 & SR 360 (Mineral County).
Star City: Founded 1861. Silver mining town. About 40 miles SW of Winnemucca (Pershing County)

Forts

Fort Churchill: located due east of Virginia City; 35.2 miles by freeway (Google maps); however, "as the crow flies" the distance would be much shorter (maybe 15 miles?).

According to Wikipedia: "Construction on the fort began on July 20, 1860 and was completed in 1861."

Camp/Fort Lowell : in operation from 1866 to 1891. Known as Camp Lowell in 1866; moved and became Fort Lowell in 1870. Referred to in Season 14, "The Hunter." Southeast of Virginia City; 845 miles per Google Maps.

Sutter's Fort: Near Sacramento

Songs

Popular American music collection http://www.stephen-foster-songs.de/archive01.htm

Buffalo Gal

Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

Camptown Races

Down in the Valley

Ellen Bayne

Lakes of Ponchartrain

Long, Long Ago

My Own True Love <?> from "Broken Ballad"

Oh, Susanna!

Sweet Betsy from Pike from Quality of Mercy

**Little Joe the Wrangler (Included for the fun of it; but this wasn't written until around 1898)
Listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBWzpfOYClI&feature=related

Buffalo Gal

Published in 1844. Featured in "The Thunder Man," this was the tune whistled by a man who murdered a young woman on her way to Joe's birthday party.

Listen on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S92bWBB0ymo&feature=related

Chorus:

Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight?

Come out tonight, Come out tonight?

Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight,

And dance by the light of the moon.

As I was walking down the street,

Down the street, down the street,

A pretty gal I chance to meet

Under the silvery moon.

Chorus

I asked her if she'd stop and talk,

Stop and talk, Stop and talk,

Her feet covered up the whole sidewalk,

She was fair to view.

Chorus

I asked her if she'd have a dance, have a dance, have a dance

I thought that I might get a chance to shake a foot with her

Chorus

I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin',

And her heel kep' a-rockin' and her toe kep' a-knockin',

I danced with a gal with a hole in her stockin',

And we danced by the light of the moon.

Chorus

I asked her if she'd be my wife,

Be my wife, be my wife

Then I'd be happy all my life,

If she'd marry me.

Chorus

Back Up to Songs List

Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

Adaptation of The Ocean Burial which was published in Boston in 1839 by Rev. Edwin H. Chapin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD0GJA5HLdE&feature=related

“Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie,”

These words came low and mournfully

From the pallid lips of a youth who lay

On his dying bed at the close of day.

“Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie,

Where the wild coyotes will howl o’er me.

In a narrow grave just six by three,

Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie.

“It matters not, I’ve oft been told,

Where the body lies when the heart grows cold.

Yet, grant, oh, grant this wish to me:

Oh, bury me not on the lone prairie.

I’ve always wished to be laid when I died

In the little churchyard on the green hillside.

By my father’s grave there let mine be,

And bury me not on the lone prairie.

“Oh, bury me not” and his voice failed there,

But we took no heed of his dying prayer.

In a narrow grave just six by three,

We buried him there on the lone prairie.

And the cowboys now as they roam the plain,

For they marked the spot where his bones were lain.

Fling a handful of roses o’er his grave,

With a prayer to Him who his soul will save.

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Camptown Races

Published 1850 (Stephen Foster)

Listen on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noYptXPHiAE

Camptown ladies sing this song Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
Camptown racetrack five miles long Oh! doo-dah day!
I come down there with my hat caved in Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I go back home with a pocket full of tin Oh! doo-dah day!

Chorus:

Goin to run all night!
Goin to run all day!
I’ll bet my money on the bobtail nag
Somebody bet on the bay.

The long tail filly and the big black hoss Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
They fly the track and they both cut across Oh! doo-dah day!
The blind hoss stickin in a big mud hole Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Can’t touch bottom with a ten foot pole Oh! doo-dah day!

Chorus.

Old muley cow come on to the track Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
The bob-tail fling her over his back Oh! doo-dah day!
Then fly along like a rail-road car Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Runnin’ a race with a shootin’ star Oh! doo-dah day!

Chorus.

See them flyin’ on a ten mile heat Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
Round the race track, then repeat Oh! doo-dah day!
I win my money on the bob-tail nag Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I keep my money in an old tow-bag Oh! doo-dah day!

Back Up to Songs List

Down in the Valley
(origins, ca. 1860, but "Birmingham Jail" not added until sometime after 1871; substitute other city names.)

Listen on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z39QwP7_4Fc&feature=related

Down in the valley, the valley so low,

Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.

Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow,

Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.

If you don't love me, love whom you please;

Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease.

Give my heart ease, dear, give my heart ease, etc.

Write me a letter, send it by mail;

Send it in care of the Birmingham Jail.

Birmingham Jail, dear, Birmingham Jail, etc.

Writing this letter, containing three lines,

Answer my question: "Will you be mine?"

"Will you be mine, dear, will you be mine?" etc.

Build me a castle, forty feet high,

So I can see her as she rides by.

As she rides by, dear, as she rides by, etc.

Roses love sunshine, violets love dew;

Angels in heaven know I love you.

Know I love you, dear, know I love you, etc.

Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair

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Ellen Bayne

(published by Firth, Pond & Co., N.Y., 1854)

Soft be thy slumbers,

Rude cares depart,

Visions in numbers

Cheer thy young heart.

Dream on while bright hours

And fond hopes remain,

Blooming like smiling bowers

For thee, Ellen Bayne.

Chorus:

Gentle slumber o’er thee glide,

Dreams of beauty round thee bide

While I linger by thy side,

Sweet Ellen Bayne.

Dream not in anquish,

Dream not in fear;

Love shall not lanquish;

Fond ones are near.

Sleeping or waking,

Warm hearts will beat for thee,

Sweet Ellen Bayne.

Chorus:

Scenes that have vanished

Smile on thee now,

Pleasures once banished

Play round thy brow,

Forms long departed

Greet thee again

Soothing thy dreaming heart,

Sweet Ellen Bayne.

Chorus:z

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Frere Jacques

Listen on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKNxKeydnEs

Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques,

Dormez vous? Dormez vous?

Sonnez les matines; Sonnez les matines,

Din, din, don! Din, din, don!

Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
Brother Joe? Brother Joe?
Morningbells are ringing. Morning bells are ringing.
Ding dong ding. Ding dong ding.

Lakes of Ponchartrain

ca. 1812

Listen on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuOh63Gknfk

'Twas on one bright March morning
I bid New Orleans adieu.
And I took the road to Jackson town,
my fortune to renew,
I cursed all foreign money,
no credit could I gain,
Which filled my heart with longing for
the lakes of Pontchartrain.

I stepped on board a railroad car,
beneath the morning sun,
I road the roads till evening,
and I laid me down again,
All strangers there no friends to me,
till a dark girl towards me came,
And I fell in love with a Creole girl,
by the lakes of Pontchartrain.

I said, "My pretty Creole girl,
my money here's no good,
But if it weren't for the alligators,
I'd sleep out in the wood".
"You're welcome here kind stranger,
our house is very plain.
But we never turn a stranger out,
From the lakes of Pontchartrain."

She took me into her mammy's house,
and treated me quite well,
The hair upon her shoulder
in jet black ringlets fell.
To try and paint her beauty,
I'm sure 'twould be in vain,
So handsome was my Creole girl,
By the lakes of Pontchartrain.

I asked her if she'd marry me,
she said it could never be,
For she had got another,
and he was far at sea.
She said that she would wait for him
and true she would remain.
Till he returned for his Creole girl,
By the lakes of Pontchartrain.

So fare thee well my Creole girl,
I never will see you no more,
But I'll ne'er forget your kindness
in the cottage by the shore.
And at each social gathering
a flowing glass I'll raise,
And I'll drink a health to my Creole girl,
And the lakes of Pontchartrain.

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Long, Long Ago

Words & music: Thomas Haynes Bayly

(published by Firth & Hall, N. Y., ?1830)

Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm4YqMVS_XQ

"Long, Long Ago" is said to have been the most popular song in America in 1843, and is perhaps best known as an instrumental piece, usually for violin.

Tell me the tales that to me were so dear,

Long long ago, long long ago:

Sing me the songs I delighted to hear,

Long long ago, long ago:

Now you are come my grief is remov’d,

Let me forget that so long you have rov’d,

Let me believe that you love as you lov’d,

Long long ago, long ago.

Do you remember the path where we met,

Long long ago, long long ago.

Ah yes you told me you ne’er would forget,

Long long ago, long go.

Then to all others my smile you prefer’d,

Love when you spoke gave a charm to each word,

Still my heart treasures the praises I heard.

Long long ago, long ago.

Though by your kindness my fond hopes were rais’d,

Long long ago, long, long ago,

You by more eloquent lips have been prais’d,

Long long ago, long ago.

But by long absence your truth has been tried,

Still to your accents I listen with pride.

Blest as I was when I sat by your side,

Long long ago, long ago.

Back Up to Songs List

My Own True Love <?>, from Broken Ballad

I was ridin' in my wagon down the road

My true love for to see

When out of the woods jumped a big brown bear

"Bow-wow", said he

"Heck now", said me

N' I keep ridin' in my wagon down the road

I'll keep a-rowin' out to sea

I'll keep a-walkin' on my feet

Until I find the only one for me

I was rowing on the ocean on a raft

My true love for to see

When up from the deep jumped a flying fish

"Fly high", says he

"Not I", says me

I'll keep ridin' in the wagon down the road

I'll keep a-rowin' out to sea

I'll keep a-walkin' on my feet

Until I find the only one for me

My own true love, my own true love

The only one for me

Back Up to Songs List

Oh, Susanna (Stephen Foster)

Published 1848

Listen on You Tube: http://bonanzaworld.net/forums/showthread.php?t=43392&page=2

I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee

I'm goin' to Louisiana, my true love for to see

It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry

The sun so hot, I froze to death, Susanna, don't you cry

Oh, Susanna, oh, don't you cry for me

For I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee

I had a dream the other night when everything was still

I thought I saw Susanna a-coming down the hill

The buckwheat cake was in her mouth, the tear was in her eye

Says I, "I'm coming from the south, Susanna, don't you cry."

I soon will be in New Orleans, and then I'll look around

And when I find Susanna I will fall upon the ground

If I do not find her, I will surely die

But when I'm dead and buried, Susanna, don't you cry.

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Sweet Betsy From Pike (Quality of Mercy, Season 5)

As sang on the show:

Oh, don't you remember sweet Betsy from Pike

That crossed the big mountains with her lover, Ike

With two yoke of cattle, a large yellow dog,

A tall Shanghai rooster and one spotted hog.

One evening quite early they came on the Platte

’Twas near by the road on a green shady flat.

When Betsy, sore-footed lay down to repose

And a wonderin' Ike gazed on his Pike county rose

They soon reached the desert where Betsy gave out,

And down in the sand she lay rolling about.

While Ike, half distracted looked on in surprise,

Saying, "Betsy, get up, you'll get sand in your eyes."

As posted in http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/sweetbetsyfrompike.php

Did you ever hear tell of sweet Betsy from Pike,

Who crossed the wide mountains with her lover Ike?

With two yoke of oxen, a large yellow dog,

A tall Shanghai rooster and one spotted hog.