For Susan
The Bonanza universe lost an ardent fan when Susan Grote passed away unexpectedly on March 2, 2017. The news caught her family, friends, and fellow writers and readers by surprise as she had not been ill.
Susan was a fierce supporter of Bonanza fanfiction, helping many to take their first literary steps. She never failed to offer support and encouragement to all writers, regardless of fandom.
Her family has graciously granted Brand permission to post her stories in our Library so that readers may continue to enjoy them.
~ B ~ O ~ N ~ A ~ N ~ Z ~ A ~
Summary: The family assists Roy Coffee to search for a small group of bank robbers, one of whom happens to be a friend of Joe’s.
Rating: T 9,740 words
A Long Way to Home – by SusanG
Summary: Returning home from running a simple errand for Pa takes a dangerous detour when the stage only runs once a week, and the passengers on this one are a marshal with a prison who says no other tickets are to be sold.
Rating: T 17,215 words
Summary: Unable to stand by and watch an injustice, Joe befriends a man and his wife, and plans to show them that not everyone is against them.
Rating: T 45, 025 words
A Matter of Circumstances Continued – by SusanG
Summary: A WHN story for the episode, A Matter of Circumstances.
Rating: T 11,870 words
Summary: Joe’s life is at stake when a soldier seeking glory captures an Indian medicine man; and it’s up to Ben and Hoss to set events to right.
Rating: G 5,820 words
Summary: Far from home, Joe is charged with a crime he didn’t commit, and the dead man’s brother wants justice…or is it revenge?
Rating: T 14,525 words
Summary: While working on the Ponderosa, Little Joe is kidnapped.
Word Count: 5700 Rated: T
After the Last Viking by SusanG
Summary: A WHN for the episode “The Last Viking”
Rating: T 13 730 words
Summary: Riding home and leading horses from an unplanned purchase, the Cartwrights encounter more trouble than they bargained for.
Rating: T 16,060 words
Between Heaven and Earth: The Aftermath by SusanG
Summary: A WHN for the episode, Between Heaven and Earth.
Rating: T 5,480 words
Summary: Pa’s away, leaving the boys in charge of….what else? Trouble.
Rating: T 36,380 words
Summary: A hunting expedition leads to a fight for life with Mother Nature.
Rating: T 18,820 words
Blood is Thicker than Water – by SusanG
Summary: Little Joe witnesses a murder, committed by a good friend of Adam.
Rating: T 7,170 words
Bushwhacked – The Missing Scenes – by SusanG
Summary: A WHN for the episode, Bushwhacked.
Rating: T 6,975 words
Summary: A new foreman at a neighboring ranch causes trouble on the Ponderosa.
Word Count: 29,000 Rated: T
Cartwright Name (The) – by SusanG
Summary: Living up to the responsibilities that come with the name, almost costs Ben the life of one of his sons.
Word Count: 18,000 Rated: T
Summary: Could it be that St. Nicholas himself ensures that Ben’s Christmas wish comes true.
Rating: G 8,140 words
Summary: A cougar is loose on the Ponderosa.
Rating: T 7,420 words
Creatures Stirring – by SusanG
Summary: As stewards of the land, every now and then, the Cartwrights need someone to watch over them, especially this Christmas Eve.
Rating: G 7,950 words
Summary: Joe is attacked and left for dead on the trail home after winning big at the poker table; and left with a case of amnesia.
Word Count: 23,700 Rated: T
Summary: Adam and Hoss spy Cochise standing in front of the saloon and no Joe in sight. After being informed someone else had ridden the horse, they threaten the rider to learn the truth.
Word Count: 12,500 Rated: T
Summary: The Dutchman mine had long been boarded over, but finding some of their cattle within is only the beginning of their troubles.
Word Count: 5200 Rated: T
Summary: With Army money in their saddlebags, looking for a faster way home leads Ben and the boys to Dead Man’s Canyon.
Rating: T 13, 560 words
Deadliest Disease (The) – by SusanG
Summary: Away from the Pondersoa, Joe becomes sick while staying overnight in Green Meadows; and Cartwrights face the fear of a town without a doctor.
Word Count: 12,900 Rated: T
Summary: Fighting against Mother Nature, all it had to do was stop raining and they could go home.
Rating: T 2,535 words
Summary: Overhearing news of a planned massacre at a Treaty Signing, Joe sets out on an impossible ride in order to save countless lives of Indians, soldiers, settlers, and more importantly, Ben Cartwright.
Rating: T 5,200 words
Emily – The Missing Scenes – by SusanG
Summary: A WHN for the episode, Emily.
Rating: T 3,140 words
Summary: Living life through his son, a father seeks revenge after refusing to accept that his son, who forced the confrontation, was outdrawn and killed.
Word Count: 7750 Rated: T
Summary: After receiving an invitation to a neighbor’s wedding, Little Joe conspires to find Ben the perfect wife; while the rest of the family holds off an attempted land grab.
Word Count: 21,300 Rated: T
Summary: It should be just an ordinary day, but with a full moon, it’s anything but normal.
Word Count: 3700 Rated: T
Summary: Legends, myths, and tall tales collide in the days leading up to Halloween, but is there more to it than meets the eyes?
Word Count: 6700 Rated: T
Ghost of Christmas Past (The) – by SusanG
Summary: An innocent conversation from five years before leads to devastating consequences in the present.
Word Count: 13,000 Rated: T
Summary: It’s Joe’s turn to make the trip to Hawthorne, as Ben continues to repay a twenty-year old debt. Unknowingly, Joe encounters more than he bargained.
Rating: T 26,240 words
Summary: A group of army deserters lay siege to the Ponderosa, waiting for the boys to return home with a very large payroll.
Word Count: 11,500 Rated: T
Golden Fleece (The) – by SusanG
Summary: Joe lies trapped while Ben sets out to organize a rescue party.
Word Count: 9100 Rated: T
Good Samaritan (The) – by SusanG
Summary: Helping and not expecting anything in return. It’s a matter of paying it forward.
Word Count: 20,000 Rated: T
Hand of Fate (The) – by SusanG
Summary: The stage on which Joe is riding home is held up and robbed, sending Ben and Hoss on a mission to rescue Joe.
Rating: T 19,900 words
Healing Touch (The) – by SusanG
Summary: Joe is wounded when the stage he and Ben were riding in is robbed.
Word Count: 5100 Rated T
Summary: Living up to the responsibility of being a Cartwright, places Joe’s life in jeopardy, more than once.
Rating: T 22,430 words
Summary: Joe is accused of murder.
Word Count: 18,000 Rated: T
House on Watson’s Hill (The) – by SusanG
Summary: Strange things abound when the family takes shelter in an abandoned Victorian era house, but is it really abandoned?
Word Count: 8100 Rated: T
I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen – by SusanG
Summary: Traveling alone late at night, Joe encounters a young girl lost.
Rating: T 4,830 words
Summary: Taking an alternate route home with a wagon full of grain places Joe’s life in danger. While waiting to be rescued he encounters a lovely lady.
Rating: T 5,100 words
Legacy from New Orleans – by SusanG
Summary: There’s more than meets the eye when a man named Charles Dumont and his ward appear at the Ponderosa.
Rating: T 29,550 words
Letter of the Law (The) – by SusanG
Summary: Ben and Joe aid an acquaintance in evaluating a mine whose owners care little for their impact on the land.
Word Count: 17,300 Rated: T
Long Ride to Home (The) – by SusanG
Summary: A simple hunting excursion turns deadly.
Word Count: 10,000 Rated: T
Summary: It’s never easy being the youngest of the family.
Rating: T 30,750 words
Lost Son #2 – The Guardian – by SusanG
Summary: There’s someone keeping an eye on Joe.
Rating: T 41,740 words
Summary: An romance ends badly.
Rating: T 1,030 words
Summary: It’s a bad day to run a bank errand for Pa.
Rating: T 12,650 words
Summary: Ben and Joe are robbed and left afoot in the desert with the nearest outpost about twenty miles away. Their journey is complicated when Joe is bitten by a scorpion.
Word Count: 10,000 Rated: T
Summary: Tragedy strikes on the Ponderosa, leaving Joe brutally attacked and his date killed
Rating: T 25,215 words
Summary: In 1871, Chicago will suffer a tragedy due to Mrs. O’Leary’s cow; tonight Benson’s Crossing offers aid to a tragedy cause by a few cows.
Rating: T 12,060 words
Summary: Life changes when the Cartwrights return home find the folks in Virginia City scared of those offering ‘protection’.
Rating: T 23,380 words
Nothing but the Truth – by SusanG
Summary: On the precipice of an Indian uprising; can Ben prevent the unimaginable?
Rating: T 23,200 words
One Night in Bear River – by SusanG
Summary: Having delivered the herd, the Cartwrights were only planning to spend one night in town before heading home.
Rating: T 6,960 words
Paiute Necklace (The) – by SusanG
Summary: The return of a legendary necklace as part of a peace treaty could save countless lives.
Word Count: 27,700 Rated: T
Summary: Will it be worth the cost to refuse to sell lumber to a new mine owner?
Rating: T 20,180 words
Summary: An epidemic strikes Virginia City, and the Ponderosa.
Rating: T 13,280 words
Precious Possessions – by SusanG
Summary: After spending twenty years in prison, has a man returned to Virginia City to exact revenge?
Rating: T 11,540 words
Summary: Accused of murder, the family appeals the conviction and sets out to prove Joe’s innocence.
Rating: T 52,510 words
Summary: Joe runs from the law after facing a lynch mob after he is accused of murdering a woman.
Rating: T 19,840 words
Summary: Rustler strike the ranches around Virginia City, leaving one family grieving and a second worried they too might lose a loved one.
Rating: T 25,550 words
Revenge of The Smiler – by SusanG
Summary: A WHN for the episode, The Smiler.
Rating: T 1,925 words
Summary: With the Paiutes on the warpath, Ben, Adam, Little Joe lead an Army patrol to cover.
Rating: T 11,200 words
Runaway Bride (The) – by SusanG
Summary: Joe joins a posse to ferret out the truth about the runaway bride.
Rating: T 1,760 words
Summary: After delivering herd of cattle to San Fransisco, the Cartwrights plan to enjoy a little of what the city has to offer, not realizing what all that includes.
Rating: T 28,560 words
Summary: A WHN for the episode, Second Chance.
Rating: T 14,400 words
Sins of the Father – by SusanG
Summary: Ben outbids a competitor to win a lucrative contract, setting the man’s son on a course of vengeance.
Rating:T 29,455 words
Summary: Joe pulls Hoss into another prank that could cost more than he bargained for.
Word Count: 27,300 Rated: T
Someone to Watch Over Me – by SusanG
Summary: Joe has a close call with his guardian angel.
Rating: T 4,615 words
Summary: Just wait until Pa finds out Joe gave up his seat on the stage to a pretty girl, and then is left stranded in the deserts by a band of Apache teens.
Rating: T 25,225 words
Summary: Joe and others are taken captive by a band of Indians, what does it take to survive?
Rating: T 27,600 words
Summary: It’s all about friendship.
Rating: T 10,050 words
Summary: A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do, when it comes to affairs of the heart.
Rating: T 1,360 words
The Price of Friendship – by SusanG
Summary: Joe isn’t as accepting as the rest of the family when a man from their past returns.
Word Count: 14,500 Rated: T
Summary: A trip to the lumber camp to relay a message takes an ominous turn for Joe.
Word Count: 9200 Rated: T
To Be or Not To Be – by SusanG
Summary: A traveling medicine show arrives in Virginia City.
Word Count: 38,000 Rated: T
Summary: A tribe rescues Joe after he attempts to protect one of their own.
Word Count: 12,600 Rated: T
Summary: Hoss and Joe end up with old Jim Bridger’s treasure map.
Word Count: 23,100 Rated: T
Summary: A stranger repays more than the value of the original good deed.
Word Count: 3900 Rated: T