{"id":2944,"date":"2013-02-20T17:05:06","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T22:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=2944"},"modified":"2026-07-22T13:17:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:17:04","slug":"horace-greeley-comes-to-the-ponderosa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=2944","title":{"rendered":"Horace Greeley Comes To The Ponderosa (By frasrgrl)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>An old friend of Bens, from his younger, wilder days comes to visit.<\/p>\n

Written for the Guess who’s coming to dinner challenge for Lorne Greene’s birthday.<\/p>\n

Word Count: 1,037\u00a0\u00a0Rated:<\/span> K<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Horace Greeley Comes to The Ponderosa<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Story Notes:<\/p>\n

This was written at the last minute, please forgive how rough it is. Once it’s been beta’d I will repost it.<\/p>\n

Author’s Chapter Notes:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright and his youngest, and the only remaining son on the Ponderosa, waited outside the stage depot. Sitting on the only bench against the wall of the office, Joe leisurely watched his father as he paced back and forth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, Pa, if you don\u2019t relax and stop that pacing, you\u2019re gonna wear that wood straight through to the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben turned and glared at his son until he saw the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Unable to stop himself, he chuckled at his own nervousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t help it, that stage is running late.\u201d Joe was about to interrupt, but Ben held up his hand. \u201cI know, I know, the stage is always<\/em> late. But why, just once, can\u2019t it be on time?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCuz then it would be early and you wouldn\u2019t want that to happen. It\u2019d ruin Pete\u2019s reputation, and we can\u2019t have that,\u201d Joe cackled; his high pitched laughter bringing a smile to his father\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

Before Ben could respond, Joe pointed down the street to where an enormous cloud of dust announced the ultimate arrival of the noon stage. Pulling out his pocket watch, Ben noted the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost two o\u2019clock,\u201d he grumbled.<\/p>\n

Hearing his father\u2019s comment, Joe pulled himself to his feet with the grace of a panther. \u201cYep, right on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stage lumbered to a stop, the door swung open and a young couple stepped out, followed by on older man with balding and greying hair. He was wearing a long coat and carrying an umbrella, both of which had become an essential part of his attire, no matter the weather or occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHorace!\u201d Ben called out.<\/p>\n

The man turned towards the loud, baritone voice and smiled. \u201cWhy Ben Cartwright,\u201d Horace greeted, and took the offered hand in a firm grip. \u201cYou haven\u2019t changed a bit.\u201d He stopped and looked his friend over, before a sly smile slipped on to his lips. \u201cExcept for that snow on top of your head. The last time I saw you your hair was as dark as can be and some little gal was on your lap running her fingers through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hearing a slight snicker coming from his right, Ben turned and placed his hand on Joe\u2019s shoulder. \u201cThis young man here is my youngest son, Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe held his hand out to the man in front of him and it was immediately accepted. \u201cWelcome to Virginia City, Sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

A delicate clearing of a throat caught the attention of the three men, causing them to turn and look back to the stage door.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh dear, I\u2019ve been remiss in my manners.\u201d Horace held his hand out to the woman standing there and helped her from the stage. \u201cGentlemen, let me introduce my wife, Mary. Mary, this is Ben Cartwright and his son Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both men tipped their hats and greetings were exchanged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the surrey over there. How about we head back to the ranch, I\u2019m sure Hop Sing will have dinner ready by the time we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll get the luggage, Pa,\u201d Joe volunteered.<\/p>\n

Walking away, Horace looked back over his shoulder at the young man gathering the bags. \u201cThat\u2019s quite a boy you have there, Ben.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pausing, Ben looked back at Joe and chuckled. \u201cDon\u2019t let him hear you call him a boy. And yes he is. He\u2019s my pride and joy. I don\u2019t know what I would do without him,\u201d Ben replied, puffing up with pride.<\/p>\n

Ben helped Mary into the surrey, and then stood back allowing Horace to take the place next to his wife. He climbed up onto the front bench and twisted around in order to continue his conversation while waiting on his son.<\/p>\n

Once Joe had the luggage loaded, he took his spot next to his father and picked up the reins.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll set?\u201d When Ben nodded, Joe gently slapped the horses with the leather straps and headed for the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n

In between reminiscing about years gone by, Ben pointed out various spots along the trail to the ranch house. Joe sat next to his father grinning like the cat who ate the canary. He mentally filed away each tidbit of his father\u2019s past in order to pull it out of his arsenal when the need arose.<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe do you realize that Horace is the founder of the New York Tribune, and has been an editor since before you were born, and is now a member of congress?\u201d Ben asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s quite an accomplishment, Mr. Greeley.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHorace is planning on running for President,\u201d announced Mary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat? You\u2019re going up against Grant?\u201d Ben asked, flabbergasted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sure am. Someone needs to take this country in the right direction, and I don\u2019t see Grant doing that any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy you old dog,\u201d exclaimed Ben.<\/p>\n

Horace leaned back on the settee and considered Ben for a moment. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe that you actually settled down and became respectable. I remember when we met years ago. Your ship had just docked in Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Ben agreed slapping his knee. \u201cThe captain had given us leave and I couldn\u2019t wait to get to town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I remember right, you never got off the waterfront. I met you and your\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0er, friend of the evening in the Sea Witch Tavern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben glance over at Joe who was leaning back in the blue chair, his legs stretched out in front over and his fingers forming a steeple as he absorbed every word he heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh, Horace, do you think we could go back to you telling us about running against Grant?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, Ben? That\u2019s so mundane and it\u2019s much more interesting talking with you about the wilder times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInformative for others, too,\u201d Ben grumbled only to see Joe flash him a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sure hit it off right away, but why wouldn\u2019t we? We were enjoying all the same vices; good whiskey, fine tobacco, and even better women,\u201d Horace continued without missing a beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still haven\u2019t decided if I\u2019m ever going to forgive you for disappearing for all those hours with that red head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI bet you haven\u2019t,\u201d Ben mumbled as a high pitched giggle rang through the room.<\/p>\n

Chapter End Notes:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* This is an actual quote from Ben in the episode Yonder Man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 \u00a0An old friend of Bens, from his younger, wilder days comes to visit.<\/p>\n

Written for the Guess who’s coming to dinner challenge for Lorne Greene’s birthday.<\/p>\n

Word Count: 1,037\u00a0\u00a0Rated: K<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":11262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[4,40],"tags":[409],"class_list":["post-2944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humor","category-challenges","tag-gwctdc","wpcat-4-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Horce-Greeley.jpg?fit=188%2C268&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}