Category: Family
Stories that focus on the entire family
Chiaroscuro – Between Dark and Light (by Wrangler)
Summary: Little Joe is emotionally caught between dark and light when Trenton’s brother Preston devises a plot to capture him by using Pa as bait. Will he break under the trauma of another captivity? Part three of the Stay in the Darkness series, links to stories provided within.
Rating T, WC 42,240
If Silence Keeps You (By Wrangler)
Summary: With word of Ben Cartwright’s death, the three Cartwright brothers must decide if they’ll keep the Ponderosa going in order to preserve their father’s legacy. Meanwhile, it’s Little Joe whose nightly dreams propel him to search for the truth about how his father perished and if he’s really dead. Rating – T, WC 28,200, Family/Drama/Hurt/Comfort
The Arroyo (by Lillian Montane)
Summary: Little Joe is having a rough go of it. Things get worse when a fired ranch hand decides Joe owes him. Will life get better for the youngest Cartwright?
Written as a response to 2nd quarter chaps and spurs challenge.
Word count: 15,015
Rated: T
A New Light (by Wrangler)
Summary: The Cartwrights go after the Dalton brothers and Joe struggles to face the horrors done to him in the cabin in order to leave the darkness and come into A New Light. (updated 2026)
Rating: MA (graphic violence and adult subject matter) WC 56,939
Vengence (By Lillian Montane)
Summary: Ben and Little Joe are targeted in retaliation of being key witnesses in a murder case that lead to a hanging.
Word count: 4,928
rated: M
My Work is Not Yet Finished (by Pat D in PA)
Summary: Long after death, love maintains a bond between those who shared it and can help ease a troubled young man’s soul.
Rating: K/G 4,175 words
Stay in the Darkness (by Wrangler)
Summary: After Little Joe is finally found after months spent in captivity, his family’s joy is short-lived. Now Ben, Adam, and Hoss must decipher why Joe adamantly insists that for the rest of his life he must “Stay in the Darkness”
Rating T-13. Word count 40,990
Catamount (by SydneyFate)
Summary: The Cartwrights’ new friend, Black Bear, encounters a wild cat, and they catch the tail end of the adventure.
This story was written for the Chaps & Spurs 2025 1st Quarter Challenge.”
Rating: T (2,350 words)
The Family Conference (by Glenandme)
Summary: When Joe gets into big trouble he expects a punishment, but a family conference? That’s worse than any punishment.
Rating: G, Word Count: 1365
Little Boy Joe (by JC)
There are definite advantages to being the youngest Cartwright. And who would know that better than Little Joe?
Rating: G Word Count: 657
Bonanza – a Lost Episode (by SydneyFate)
Summary: The Cartwright family is forever changed when Adam encounters a wandering stranger in Virginia City.
Rating: T (12,420 words)
As Ye Sow, or Minor Adjustments (by Pat D in PA)
Summary: In this AU tale of the Cartwrights of the Ponderosa, evidence from a very painful part of Adam’s past turns up to forever change his present and that of his family.
Rating: T Mature language and themes are present throughout this story. (122,275 words)
Every Purpose Under Heaven #4 – All Our Yesterdays (by Wrangler)
Summary: In the long-awaited conclusion of the Every Purpose Under Heaven series, the family helps Joe as he seeks closure. Along the way he is forced to deal with a friend’s struggle, a gunfight, an injury and an unplanned pregnancy.
Rating: PG (36,630 words)
Links to stories within the series are included within.
Our Blood (by Wrangler)
Summary: After his father is shot, Joe fights to keep him alive while hiding a deadly secret
Rating: T, WC 28,900
For Real? (by ElayneA)
Summary: The Cartwright brothers take a Christmas trip?
Rating: G 1,725 words
Written for the Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
