7.0/10107 votes#1 - The Debt
Season 7 Episode 1 - Aired 9/12/1965
Wiley and Annie Kane arrive at the Ponderosa to work off their father's debt to Ben. It seems as though the elder Kane once swindled the Cartwright patriarch.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1096 votes#2 - The Dilemma
Season 7 Episode 2 - Aired 9/19/1965
Ben helps a convict win a parole only to have the man later become the chief suspect in a bank robbery.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1095 votes#3 - The Brass Box
Season 7 Episode 3 - Aired 9/26/1965
Juan Ortega claims he has a land grant which gives him ownership of the entire Nevada Territory.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10106 votes#4 - The Other Son
Season 7 Episode 4 - Aired 10/3/1965
A mule skinner and his two sons are hired by Ben to transport nitroglycerin to California.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1099 votes#5 - The Lonely Runner
Season 7 Episode 5 - Aired 10/10/1965
A judge awards itinerant horse breeder Jim Acton's beloved mare to rancher Sam Whipple. Jim tries to buy her back, but Whipple refuses his offer, after which a fight ensues and Jim kills Whipple in self-defense. The Cartwrights want to bring Jim in to make sure he receives a fair trial, but an ambitious and overzealous deputy doesn't care how he brings him in.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.2/10103 votes#6 - Devil on Her Shoulder
Season 7 Episode 6 - Aired 10/17/1965
Ben is attracted to Sarah Reynolds, a member of a religious order led by her fanatical uncle. When she is accused of being a witch, the Cartwrights step in.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10128 votes#7 - Found Child
Season 7 Episode 7 - Aired 10/24/1965
Hoss comes upon an overturned stagecoach and discovers a little girl suffering from shock. After the Cartwrights suceed in bringing her around, Hoss is disappointed she has relatives and cannot stay. The girl's uncle turns out to be the enemy and Hoss saves her.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.0/10117 votes#8 - The Meredith Smith
Season 7 Episode 8 - Aired 10/31/1965
Ben must determine who is the rightful heir to a fortune that includes water rights vital to the Ponderosa.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10105 votes#9 - Mighty is the Word
Season 7 Episode 9 - Aired 11/7/1965
Virginia City's newest preacher is an ex-gunfighter who wants only to build a new church, but the brother of one of his victims has other ideas. The blueprints for the church are said to be a gift from Adam.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
5.4/10103 votes#10 - The Strange One
Season 7 Episode 10 - Aired 11/14/1965
Hoss and Joe find a woman abandoned by a wagon train because her gift of prophecy is considered a curse. "Wouldn't it be wonderful," says Ben, "if eveybody made a real effort to understand whatever's strange and unfamiliar rather to fear it and try to destroy it?"
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1095 votes#11 - The Reluctant Rebel
Season 7 Episode 11 - Aired 11/21/1965
The Generation Gap, Western-style, as Hoss tries to bring a young man and his father closer together.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/10104 votes#12 - Five Sundowns to Sunup
Season 7 Episode 12 - Aired 12/5/1965
The mother of a young outlaw condemned to hang, threatens to have her gang's hostages killed if her son is not set free. One of the hostages is Joe.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1088 votes#13 - A Natural Wizard
Season 7 Episode 13 - Aired 12/12/1965
Hoss finds a kindred spirit in Skeeter Dexter, a lonesome young man who feels closer to animals than most people.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10114 votes#14 - All Ye His Saints
Season 7 Episode 14 - Aired 12/19/1965
In this series' highlight, little Michael Thorpe heads to the high country to ask God to spare his critically wounded father, believing he has found Him in the form of longtime fugitive Tom Cain.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.7/1091 votes#15 - The Dublin Lad
Season 7 Episode 15 - Aired 1/2/1966
After sitting on a jury that has convicted Terrence O' Tool of murder, Joe has second thoughts about the verdict and decides to do some investigating of his own.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.7/1089 votes#16 - To Kill a Buffalo
Season 7 Episode 16 - Aired 1/9/1966
Hoss finds a wounded young Indian on the prairie, who is torn between accepting the ways of the white man or returning to his old life.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/10118 votes#17 - Ride the Wind (1)
Season 7 Episode 17 - Aired 1/16/1966
The Pony Express sets up office in Virginia and Joe is one of the first to join up. Ben also decides to invest in the fledgling enterprise. However, troubles soon plague the Pony Express with the Paiutes and a newspaper reporter, both trying to get their own agendas across.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/10108 votes#18 - Ride the Wind (2)
Season 7 Episode 18 - Aired 1/23/1966
Conclusion to the previous-week's episode, where the Cartwrights provide needed assistance to the Pony Express.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/1097 votes#19 - Destiny's Child
Season 7 Episode 19 - Aired 1/30/1966
After his only friend is killed, the Cartwrights take in a slow-witted man, who Roy Coffee informs them, is wanted for murder by Arizona authorities.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/10110 votes#20 - Peace Officer
Season 7 Episode 20 - Aired 2/6/1966
While Sheriff Coffee is in Saint Louis, the Morrisey bunch decides to work off excess energy by wrecking the saloon in a violent spree. When Deputy Bill Harris tries to arrest them, they hit him on the head with a whiskey bottle, accidentally killing him. All of them get away except Cliff, who is put in jail. He refuses to say the names or locations of his friends. Mayor Garrett holds an emergency meeting of the Virginia City town council. They hire legendary lawman Wes Dunn, as the temporary sheriff. He is a humorless man who is determined to restore order in town. He beats Cliff almost to death to find out where his friends are, but Cliff will not say anything. Meanwhile, Hoss finds Chuck, a wounded gang member. When he tries to take Chuck's gun away, he shoots Hoss. Joe goes with Dunn to find the other men. He thinks Dunn is a hero until he sees him murder one of the suspects in cold blood.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/10110 votes#21 - The Code
Season 7 Episode 21 - Aired 2/13/1966
Joe is goaded into facing gunman Dan Taggert, unaware there is more to be prearranged than he realizes.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.0/10101 votes#22 - Three Brides for Hoss
Season 7 Episode 22 - Aired 2/20/1966
Not one, but three mail-order brides show up unexpectedly at the Ponderosa, all of them believing they are to marry Hoss.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.6/1095 votes#23 - The Emperor Norton
Season 7 Episode 23 - Aired 2/27/1966
Joshua Norton, an eccentric and formerly wealthy San Francisco merchant who considers himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, comes to the Ponderosa. Authorities want to have him committed, and Ben contacts Mark Twain to testify to Norton's sanity.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.0/1090 votes#24 - Her Brother's Keeper
Season 7 Episode 24 - Aired 3/6/1966
Ben and Claire Armory fall in love, but their future is jeopardized by her disabled brother.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/10104 votes#25 - The Trouble with Jamie
Season 7 Episode 25 - Aired 3/20/1966
The Cartwrights attempt to straighten out the snobbish young son of Ben's cousin.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 7
Every episode of Bonanza Season 7 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 7!
The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.
Genres:WesternAction & AdventureDramaFamily
Network:NBC
Season 7 Ratings Summary
"The Debt" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza" season 7. It scored 7/10 based on 107 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 9/12/1965. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "The Dilemma".