You Mean That’s Not A Real Mountain There In Virginia City?

You Mean That’s Not A Real Mountain There In Virginia City?

Nope. Hollywood and the ‘Bonanza’ producers have fooled us again.

The “mountain” at the rear of the Western Street was actually constructed of a chicken-wire framework covered over by plaster and was immobile. I have highlighted in purple where I think it was.

In March of 1959, ‘Bonanza’ producer David Dortort selected Paramount Studios in Hollywood to film the series. They had the largest soundstages and a good western street which was built for ‘Whispering Smith’ in 1947 starring Alan Ladd.

The reason the fake mountain was erected was to hide a construction mill and sawdust collection tower built by Desilu in 1957. Another painted backdrop was located near the Western Street, for other shots, of a blue sky, with clouds. In the large photo from the early 70s, you can see the “sky” behind the water set…the same one used in the parting of the waters in ‘The Ten Commandments’.

The Western Street was much smaller than seen on ‘Bonanza’; wide-angle camera lenses made it appear much larger than in real-life. The local pigeons would frequently land and perch atop the fake mountain, shattering the illusion of distance and filming would be stopped until one of the crew members scared them away.

Other TV series made at the Western Street for exterior filming while ‘Bonanza’ was being made there were ‘Have Gun-Will Travel’, ‘Branded’, and ‘The Guns of Will Sonnet’.

In 1979, a demolition team demolished the Western Street for an executive parking lot. The only building that was saved was the barn which was first seen in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Squaw Man” the first feature film ever made in 1914. On the ‘Bonanza’ series it is infrequently seen as the freight station. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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