We are pleased to announce that after reaching out to this author in March, 2026 regarding Brand’s “Preserving Their Legacy” project, Vicki Christian granted permission for the Bonanza Brand Fanfiction Library to be the home for her stories.
Unfortunately, Vicki no longer has access to electronic copies of her stories after losing her computer. We have uploaded all the stories that we had access to.
For readers who may have copies of stories her stories, please check our “In Search Of” post in the Bonanza Brand Forums. We would greatly appreciate anyone’s help in getting as many of Vicki’s stories into the Library as possible. — Thank you.
This listing of Vicki’s stories is up-to-date as of March 6, 2026.
A Chill in the Air – by vickic
Summary: Through their troubles the Cartwrights are gently reminded of the true meaning of Christmas.
Rating: K+ WC 8800
Summary: Joe defends a friend accused of murder when all the evidence is against him.
Rating: K WC 9600
Summary: Brothers protecting brothers, but would a better example have prevented it all?
Rating: PG (5,550 words)
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Joe is in jail. Dare he tell Adam and Pa his alibi? Only when he realises the seriousness of the crime does he decide to act like a man and reveal his whereabouts. But will Pa ever accept him as a grown man?
Rating: PG (13,310 words)
Summary: Brothers are always there for each other, no matter what the circumstances.
Rating: G (3,010 words)
Attic #1 – Treasures in the Attic – by VickiC.
Summary: Adam and Joe bring down some trunks from the attic and Pa relates a hundred year old family story to amuse a bored Little Joe on a winter’s day.
Rating: G (6,840 words)
Attic #2 – The Gunpowder Plot – by VickiC.
Summary: Joe persuades his father and a very reluctant Adam, to tell the story of the black powder.
Rating: G (5,500 words)
Black Stallion (The) – by VickiC.
Summary: A wild horse helps Adam and Joe come to a new understanding
Rating: G (10,275 words)
Summary: Is Kenney just after the Ponderosa or does he have hidden allies? What of Kit Hammond, is the British heir to the Circle H really Ben’s ally or his enemy?
Rating: PG (46,905 words)
Summary: Adam and his friend Ross decide to take a fishing trip. To Adam’s dismay, two little brothers manage to go along, too. Of course, with a mischievous six-year-old along, the trip is not quite what Adam had planned.
Rating: G (12,110 words)
Christmas Engine (The) – by VickiC.
Summary: Good little boys always get what they ask for at Christmas, even if Santa has to have a little help sometimes.
Rating: G (4,695 words)
Summary: Adam tried to get Joe out of trouble with Pa and Miss Jones, but only succeeds in making trouble for himself.
Rating: PG (13,470 words)
Summary: A tongue in cheek story of what our favorite family might make of a modern-day purchase. Inspired by a fun day spent assembling flatpack furniture. We imagined what the boys would have made of the less than explicit instructions.
Rating: G (3,150 words)
Gift of Love (The) – by VickiC.
Summary: Adam’s new love comes as a surprise to his family and hers. Can they win through against the odds?
Rating: PG (13,600 words)
Good Samaritan (The) – by VickiC.
Summary: Ben tries to teach a young Hoss the parable of ‘The Good Samaritan’, but Hoss turns the tables on him, and Ben learns the real meaning of the story.
Rating: G (12,000 words)
Summary: Joe and Adam plan on an afternoon at the summer picnic. Unfortunately, their plans aren’t compatible. Hoss has plans too, but he ought to know better than to listen to Joe, if he wants a quiet boys’ afternoon!
Rating: G (7,170 words)
Summary: Hoss is having trouble at school and uses a boast of Adam’s to help him out. The boast threatens to have tragic consequences when Adam feels obliged to carry it through.
Rating: G (11,300 words)
Summary: A young lady invites the Cartwrights to her birthday party and then waits for the right man to ask her to dance. But who is the right man?
Rating G (2,450words)
Summary: Alone and in trouble, can a memory help him?
Rating: PG (550 words)
Summary: Adam reads a letter from Hoss that makes him realise how much he misses his brothers. Hoss and Joe are missing their bossy older brother, he had his uses! Ben is simply worried about his youngest sons who are MISSING!
Rating: G (8,510 words)
Summary: Trouble for the Cartwrights in San Francisco. Ben finds out that deeds he did in his past come back to haun him; fortunately, it’s the good deeds that prove to be most useful.
Rating: PG (8,580 words)
Summary: Little Joe learns that opening a locked box can release troubles and cause all manner of problems.
Rating: PG (4,840 words)
Summary: While waiting for Ben to come home, Marie reflects on her past and what her fate might have been had she not met him.
Rating: PG13 (12,975 words)
Ripples on the Lake – by VickiC.
Summary: Ben fights progress and his sons, but can he fight with a professional engineer sent to build a railway on Lake Tahoe?
Rating: G (7,800 words)
Summary: On the eve of Joe’s wedding the three boys meet at the lake and the discovery of their old sailboat causes them to remember the first time Joe went sailing! In the course of the tale we find out why Adam’s name does not appear on the witness tree.
Rating: PG (7,600 words)
Summary: All the Cartwright boys know you should concentrate on the Sermon in church, but sometimes you can’t help your thoughts wondering.
Rating G (2,800 words)
Summary: A young Joe begs for a new story to while away another winter’s afternoon. Ben responds by telling how a simple request for Adam to find Hoss a new pastime rebounds on him.
Rating: G (9,500 words)
Summary: The period of Adam Cartwright’s life from Marie’s arrival at the Ponderosa until after Joe’s birth.
Rating: G (158,640 words)
Summary: The bond between brothers and a boy and a horse. Set on Adam’s return from college. The first story I wrote of the adventures of the Cartwrights.
Rating: G (43,575 words)
Summary: There’s turkey and then there’s turkey. Is it all a distraction and an excuse? Or is it real?
Rating: G (7,300 words)
Unwillingly to School – by VickiC.
Summary: The Cartwright boys are only too willing to help out the new schoolteacher. This causes a little conflict between them, but Adam and Joe learn that you should never jump to conclusions.
Rating: G (7,620 words)
Voices from the Past – by VickiC.
Summary: Ben falls in love with a mirror image of his first wife.
Rating: PG (56,100 words)
Summary: Six-year-old Joe asks his big brother what he can do and Adam comes to regret telling him.
Rating: G (5,700 words)
Tribute to BONANZA Creator David Dortort
DAVID DORTORT
1916-2010
David Dortort, creator and producer of our beloved BONANZA, died peacefully on September 5th. I know all of you will join with me in thinking of his family at this sad time.
TThe television shows he produced were for families and were about families. He gave us entertainment that the whole family could enjoy together without having to fear the bad language and explicit sex and violence that modern shows seem to need. Best of all he told a good story. His characters had depth and showed emotions.
BONANZA was my mother’s favorite show and I watched with her. Sadly she died only three months after it began its run here in the UK. From then on when I watched I not only enjoyed a good western, I remembered her. If someone had told the twelve-year-old who sat down to watch BONANZA every week that one day she would meet the creator of her favorite show she would have been amazed.
I first met David Dortort in 1999, at the Golden Boot Awards, where he was being honored. I was nervous. I needn’t have been, he came towards us with his arms open and gave us all a hug and chatted to us, as though we had been friends for years. Later when he received his award he made the usual speech. Toward the end he referred to the Bonanza Convention arranged for the following month and he mentioned that the lady organizing it had come all the way from the UK to be there and thanked me for organizing the convention. I was in tears. This great man who was being honored took the time to mention me. That was the David Dortort I knew, always ready to praise someone else, to see the good in the world, to want to bring people together. I think his shows did just that. I know that there are millions of fans out there who have found each other because of BONANZA websites and mailing lists. Friendships have been formed between people of different races, religions and ethnic origins because of a television program. Each friendship is one small step toward a better world. He is responsible for that.
In 2004 he wrote an article for BONANZA Gold magazine. It was to have been one of a series but regrettably his health deteriorated and he was unable to complete the others. In this first one he told of his early life and his first trip across the United States from New York to the west coast. It is written in his best storyteller style with a poignant ending.
In his words:
“Isn’t a lifetime, in reality, just a long voyage in search of something, a place, a good place, a place where people are good, kind, loving, compassionate? Like a place called the Ponderosa?
Would I ever find such a place? Would there be a Ponderosa in my future?”
I hope he has found his Ponderosa with his beloved wife Rose by his side.