Bonanza: Season 6
Season 6 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Picks up essential narrative continuity directly following the events of Bonanza Season 5.
- Character alliances, factions, and personal loyalties undergo significant shifts under escalating stakes.
- Addresses unresolved cliffhangers and thematic mysteries introduced during previous seasons.
- Establishes the primary seasonal conflict that drives serialized character arcs toward the finale.
Episode Guide
Season 6 Progress Shield
Invention of a Gunfighter
Sep 20, 1964 · 49 min
Joe teaches Johnny Chapman how to use a gun for defense. What Joe doesn't see is the deadly consequences that it has in the long run when Johnny becomes a gunfighter.
The Hostage
Sep 27, 1964 · 49 min
Outlaws capture Ben and hide him in an abandoned mine, holding him for a ransom. The boys must come up with a plan to save him before it's too late.
The Wild One
Oct 4, 1964 · 49 min
Lafe Jessup doesn't really want to be married, and now he's about to be a father! The horse wrangler finds a fight with Hoss at his reluctance to perform his duties.
Thanks for Everything, Friend
Oct 11, 1964 · 49 min
After inadvertantly falling into the river, Adam is rescued by Tom Wilson. Wilson has feelings for Sue Miller, which bring him into trouble after her father is killed.
Logan's Treasure
Oct 18, 1964 · 49 min
Sam Logan is released from jail after serving his twenty year sentence for stealing $100,000 worth of gold dust. He is followed by a bounty hunter who believes Sam will lead him t
The Scapegoat
Oct 25, 1964 · 49 min
Hoss hires Waldo as a ranch hand after keeping Waldo from killing himself. Hoss soon learns that Waldo is lousy at his job and only causes problems for everyone else due to his cl
A Dime's Worth of Glory
Nov 1, 1964 · 49 min
An author is inspired to write about the heroic Cartwrights after watching first-hand as they fight off an attempted robbery of a stage. As Ben and Adam see no use for the glory o
Square Deal Sam
Nov 8, 1964 · 49 min
A conman heads into town and takes advantage of the Cartwrights with a fake land deal. The conman ends up staying in Virginia city to run an orphanage.
Between Heaven and Earth
Nov 15, 1964 · 49 min
When Joe and his friend Mitch go after a puma, Joe climbs a big peak and throws his gun up higher, intending to crawl up after it. But as he looks down, things begin to spin. He
Old Sheba
Nov 22, 1964 · 49 min
As payment for a performance in a circus, Joe and Hoss are given an elephant. They want to keep it but encounter opposition from Adam and Ben.
A Man to Admire
Dec 6, 1964 · 49 min
Hoss relies on clever attorney Whitney Parker, who has a drinking problem, to clear him of a murder charge.
The Underdog
Dec 13, 1964 · 49 min
Little Joe convinces Ben to hire Harry Starr, a half-Indian who is accused by other ranchers of being a chronic horse thief. Joe sets out to prove the others wrong, but is the youn
A Knight to Remember
Dec 20, 1964 · 49 min
Two robberies take place on stagecoaches that Adam is traveling on, and both times a knight in shining armor scares the robbers away. Adam is accused of robbery, and his story abo
The Saga of Squaw Charlie
Dec 27, 1964 · 49 min
A peaceful Indian is framed for the kidnapping of a young girl, a stunt which ends of tragedy.
The Flapjack Contest
Jan 3, 1965 · 49 min
Hoss unknowingly enters a flapjack contest and Joe puts Hoss on a diet which Hoss doesn't care for. Joe's betting on the flapjack contest could get him into some trouble and will
The Far, Far Better Thing
Jan 10, 1965 · 49 min
On their way to prevent a young woman from encountering the renegade Indians, Joe and Tuck are captured, and in order to save them all, Joe must fight Sharp Tongue, who is the lead
Woman of Fire
Jan 17, 1965 · 49 min
Ben's friend, Don Miguel, visits the Ponderosa with his two daughters, Margarita and Elena, and Elena's two very anxious suitors. Their mission? They're on their way to California
The Ballerina
Jan 24, 1965 · 49 min
Kellie Conrad dances and her father plays the fiddle to earn a living. Hoss feels a sense of guilt after he unintentionally hurts the arm that Kellie's father uses to play the fid
The Flannel-Mouth Gun
Jan 31, 1965 · 49 min
Adam becomes involved with a quick-triggered range detective hired by the Virginia City Cattleman's Association to find out who is responsible for all the rustling going on in the
The Ponderosa Birdman
Feb 7, 1965 · 49 min
Professor Klump and Amanda pull Hoss into their flying machine scheme. The ""Hoss-mobile"" doesn't seem to be destined for a great take-off.
The Search
Feb 14, 1965 · 49 min
Adam sets out to track down the man who has been impersonating him to clear his reputation.
The Deadliest Game
Feb 21, 1965 · 49 min
The Cartwrights play host to Guido Borelli, a world renowed aerial acrobat who once saved Ben's life in Italy. Borelli's troup is beset by internal strife, and is performing in Vi
Once a Doctor
Feb 28, 1965 · 49 min
Hoss' latest acquaintance, an Englishman named Professor Poppy, is actually Percival Alexander Mundy, M.D., who has given up the practice of medicine. However, when Hoss is shot i
Right Is the Fourth R
Mar 7, 1965 · 49 min
While working as a substitute teacher, Adam uncovers an ugly secret about the territory's past that others prefer remain hidden.
Hound Dog
Mar 21, 1965 · 49 min
Cousin Muley Jones returns to the Ponderosa, along with a pack of noisy hound dogs, in this funny sequel to "The Saga Of Muley Jones".
The Trap
Mar 28, 1965 · 49 min
One of Joe's old girlfriends thinks he killed her husband so they could come together. Unfortunately, that is what her husband's twin brother also believes.
Dead and Gone
Apr 4, 1965 · 49 min
Adam tries to find the good in Howard Mead, a talented troubadour who refuses to stay on the right side of the law. Dramatic debut of singer/songwriter Hoyt Axton. Last episode P
A Good Night's Rest
Apr 11, 1965 · 49 min
First Ben's sons are making lots of noise, so he goes into town to sleep in the hotel. Then, various noises and things interrupt Ben's sleep. Will he ever get his desired good nig
To Own the World
Apr 18, 1965 · 49 min
One of the wealthiest men in the world, Charles Augustus Hackett, offers to buy the Ponderosa, price no object. Ben says the ranch is not for sale and Hackett refuses to give up.
Lothario Larkin
Apr 25, 1965 · 49 min
Ladies' man Lothario Larkin creates havoc whenever he hits Virginia City, so Roy Coffee orders him out of town. Naturally, Hoss takes him in.
The Return
May 2, 1965 · 49 min
No one in Virginia City is happy to see ex-con Trace Cordell, especially the man he crippled in a gunfight, now married to Cordell's former girlfriend.
Jonah
May 9, 1965 · 49 min
The Ponderosa hands are upset when new hand George Whitman is hired on, it is rumored he is a jinx. Hoss tells George to ignore such foolishness, but a gypsy fortune teller says o
The Spotlight
May 16, 1965 · 49 min
Ben invites opera singer Angela Bergstrom to perform at Virginia City's anniversary celebration. She accepts, but does not tell him that her famous singing voice is long gone
Patchwork Man
May 23, 1965 · 49 min
Hoss befriends a self-demeaning recluse named Patch, who makes the best apple pie Hoss has ever tasted. Hoss is so impressed with him, especially his pie, that he hires him to wor