Bonanza drew viewers in with its compelling storyline, which changes weekly and includes themes and social issues other programs shy away from during its time. Ward Hawkins wrote its fifty-sixth episode, The Dark Gate, which aired on March 4, 1961.

Ross Marquette’s friendship with Adam Cartwright abruptly turns sour upon accusing Adam of flirting with his wife (CeCe Whitney). As the days go by, Marquette’s previously easygoing behavior becomes increasingly erratic, leading to an unexpected turn of events. 

James Coburn, Harry Dean Stanton, and Med Florey appear in the episode as Ross Marquette (Adam Cartwright’s old friend), Billy Todd, and Monk Harley, respectively. 

Read The Dark Gate‘s plot and behind-the-scenes trivia, or watch the episode below.

Watch the Full Episode of The Dark Gate

Watch the Full Episode of The Dark Gate:

Main Cast

The cast members for The Dark Gate, the second season’s twenty-fourth episode, are as follows:

• Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright
• Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright
• Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright
• Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright
• James Coburn as Ross Marquette
• Cece Whitney as Delphine Marquette (as Ce Ce Whitney)
• Harry Dean Stanton as Billy (as Dean Stanton)
• John Mitchum as Jake
• Roy Engel as Dr. Paul Martin
• Med Flory as Monk Hartley (as Ned Florey)
• Ray Teal as Sheriff Roy Coffee
• James Anderson as Sam
• Joe Di Reda as Joe - Minister (as Joe di Reda)
• Donald Foster as Mr. Begley
• Rush Williams as Matthew
• Bill Clark as Payroll Guard (uncredited)
• Bob Miles as Stagecoach Driver #1 (uncredited)
• Clint Sharp as Stagecoach Driver #2 (uncredited)

Full Story Line for The Dark Gate

Ross Marquette, Adam Cartwright’s best friend, beats his wife, Delphine, forcing her to admit a false accusation—having an affair with Adam.

Meanwhile, Ben asks Adam to speak with Ross regarding the branding of his herd. However, when Adam visits Marquette’s place, Ross welcomes him with his gun. Adam, who thinks Ross is fooling around, reveals that he arrived to tell him about a few of his cattle in the Ponderosa herd. Ross refuses to believe Adam, accusing him of having an affair with Delphine. He fires his gun, scratching Adam on the arm. Delphine rushes inside upon hearing the gunshot, but Ross shoves her off. Adam notices the bruises on Delphine’s face, which Ross confirms were from him. Adam reminds him about their friendship, including Ross’ unwavering love for Delphine. However, Ross insists that Delphine admitted it was true. Delphine reasons that it is the only way to stop Ross from hitting her repeatedly. Adam attacks Ross, strong enough to make him unconscious. He ties Ross, then tells Delphine to gather a few clothes for her to use as she stays at the Ponderosa in the meantime.

Adam couldn’t believe that a level-headed man like Ross suddenly began acting erratically. He prepares a horse to bring Delphine to the Ponderosa, assuring her safety while he handles Ross.

Once Delphine’s on her way, Adam returns to the house and talks to Ross, who has finally calmed down. Like Adam, he doesn’t understand his behavior change. Ross agrees to let Delphine stay at the Ponderosa for a while, thinking it’s the best for now. Adam unties him, then returns Ross’ gun upon his request.

Later, a criminal named Monk Hartley arrives at Silver Dollar, Ross’ ranch. Ross offers his ranch as a hideout in exchange for a part in Monk’s gang of robbers. Monk accepts his deal, then fires three shots to alert his crew of their new home in the meantime.

Adam visits Virginia City to investigate what has caused Ross to change sourly. He starts with the bank to check if Ross has faced financial troubles. Mr. Begley reveals that even if the blackleg affected most of his young stock, he still managed to maintain a nice balance at the bank after changing his brand. Adam asks Joe, the minister next, who discloses how Ross stopped attending religious services in late fall. Joe also revealed that when he visited Ross out of concern, he threw him out of the house bodily, seemingly enjoying the desecration. Moreover, Dr. Paul Martin believes there’s no cure for Ross’s insanity as he’s gone too far through a dark gate.

Meanwhile, Ross and Monk are eyeing gold bullion that Monk believes is too secure to rob. Ross thinks it’ll be easy for Monk to kill the guards, but Monk refuses to do so, suggesting they cover their faces as they proceed with the robbery. Monk tells Ross to stay in his position while he and his crew approach the stagecoach. Monk asks the stagecoach driver to throw the box to the ground as it is all they need. However, Ross fires from afar, hitting the driver. One of the guards shoots in retaliation, but later, Ross shoots Monk, making it seem like an accident. Ross volunteers to take Monk to the forks while the rest of the crew unpack the bullion.

Unbeknownst to Monk’s crew, Ross has a different plan. He gets rid of Monk to have the gang for himself.

Meanwhile, Delphine busies herself by getting some stuff done at the Ponderosa. She asks Adam about Ross, considering it’s been a week since she last saw him. Adam assures Delphine there’s nothing to worry about since he’s most likely branding his young livestock with his new crew. To ease her worry, Adam offers to take Delphine outside for a ride to get a breath of fresh air.

Later, the Cartwrights, including their ranch hands and Sheriff Roy, gather to deliver terrible news about their cattle. The Silver Dollar brand had easily overwritten the Ponderosa brand using its new design. Ross made it seem like he bought a new herd when he only stole it from the Ponderosa. Adam refuses to believe his friend would do such a thing. Roy adds that Ross and his crew most likely were behind the murder and robbery involving the gold bullion shipment. He invites Ben to join him on a visit to the Silver Dollar ranch to verify their suspicions. Adam could only ask Ben to give Ross a chance to talk.

When Adam returns to their house, he finds a severely injured Delphine lying near the fireplace. Delphine reveals that Ross broke in, then died in Adam’s arms a bit after. Although feeling terrible, Adam takes a rifle and prepares to face Ross.

Monk’s crew worries that Ross, who appears to like killing people, will turn on them as quickly as he did on Monk. They find the Cartwrights and the sheriff arriving, causing Billy to shoot out of panic. Both parties exchange gunshots, leading to Sam’s death. On the other hand, Billy surrenders, then reveals that Ross went to the Ponderosa to get Delphine.

Adam follows Ross’ trail to the mountains. At one point, Ross got Adam cornered, forcing him to drop his gun. In Adam’s viewpoint, the Ross he sees now is no longer the Ross he knew. Despite wanting to help his friend, Ross fires at Adam, who retaliates after reaching his gun.

Ross doesn’t know what happened and why he’s in pain, lying on the ground. Ross asks Adam to get Adam back to his ranch to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. However, Adam tells him that the anniversary was ten months ago. At that moment, his best friend finally returned but died slowly in his arms.

Full Script and Dialogue of The Dark Gate

please no please i don't
because i can't stand anymore
[Applause]
i'll stop please why are you doing this
why no no please stop
i'll stop when you admit this thing
without there's nothing between adam and
me
ross adam cartwright's your best friend
there's nothing between us
almost please stop please
please russ you don't know what you're
doing
oh i would admit it admit it
all right it's true
it's true it's true put it in words
adam cartwright and i have been seeing
each other
adam cartwright and i have been seeing
each other
yes yes yes yes yes
[Applause]
[Music]
yes
[Music]
[Applause]
so
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
ah
is that all the critters you got out of
that draw that's all
you go clean back the butte i would
clear to the rim rock
i looked on every gully big enough to
hide a coyote and beat every bush big
enough to hide a jackrabbit
dog garnet i know paul's figuring on
getting at least 50 or 60 head out of
that piece of range well i know they
were supposed to be there but it just
weren't
be tall adam this is the skimpiest
spring roundup i ever remember we're
gonna be dang lucky if we come up with
two thousand head
yeah it's a mean winner yeah i reckon we
lost more to the
black leg we figured on too well i'll
take this bunch only on line i'll
see you back to crawl about something
brother all right take good care of him
i work hard for that beef
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
got another one yet
[Music]
all right here we go
that makes my tally 58. what's matthew
didn't you ever learn how to count
well some big numbers that throw me
anytime i get over 10 i got to take my
shoes off
you know i uh i knew a lad once every
time he tally he'd be short 10 and every
100.
i'd be regulars clockwork i couldn't
talk him out of it
you ever cure him of the habit yeah
finally did
took a while though it wasn't easy
had to shoot a finger off his left hand
well how'd that help
well like jake here you know he counted
on his fingers figuring ten forever each
time around
trouble was he had six fingers in his
left hand
[Music]
hey let's make it go i only found about
ten head
ten they should have been close to fifty
head up there
i know bob and that's all i wear and i
went clean to the rim rock
jake take my horse will you let me out
[Applause]
well did you see any bones uh to speak
of like uh like you were packed up in a
storm or
died off with a black quarter one
carcass that's all
some coffee
that's warm enough one carcass was all
huh
well i i expect that they came down to
the forks and crossed over
we'll likely find them when we drive the
north side and when we do we're going to
need a lot more help
i imagine we will uh horse said you want
to see me about something
that's what it was about i want to go in
and see if you can talk russ marquette
into coming over and checking out his
own brand uh tell him um
tell him um we've already got about uh
50 head of his stock in our herd
well he's probably busy with his own
branding well we'll help him when we're
done here
you shouldn't have too much trouble
talking him into it see how close you
two are
all i can do is try
we don't have 50 head of his cattle up
here
well adam we've got two or three head
and
uh who's to say we won't run into a
whole herd of his before he ever gets
here
anyway we need help
you're a conniving old pirate
[Music]
ross
ross
well
hey ross where are you skinny
scared the daylights out of me
all right you look as tough as a year in
jail and the bore on that gun looks as
big as a rain barrel
now what gonna start out by uh robbing
all the men kissing all the ladies
well you got a reason for pointing that
gun at me
speak up and put it down you're not
being very funny why'd you come here
adam
i come looking for you your big skin
flint pop said you come up and help us
we'd help you signs we've got a few head
of your cattle and i heard now what's
wrong with that because it's alliance
what's wrong with it
you didn't come here to see me you came
here to see delphine you figured i'd be
out in the rain someplace
what are you talking about about you and
my wife
ross will you make sense you've been
meeting her here
i know all about it you're not serious
now what are you trying to say
that you're in love with her you're
trying to take her away from me
[Music]
boy now you put down that gun or i'm
gonna take it away from you and bend the
barrel over your thick skull
[Music]
i'm not fooling at him
no ross no
what the devil's wrong with you there
ain't nothing wrong with me i just
caught up with you two that's all
my best friend my wife
now that's that's something to think
about now isn't it tell what's wrong
with your face
nothing adam go away i'm all right
did you do this you bet i did
ross we've been friends for 15 years
i handed you your ring at your wedding
this girl is your wife you've told me
thousands of times how much you love her
she admitted it was true
dell adam it's a lie
it's a lie i told him it was a lie i
told him over and over again
he wouldn't believe me because he kept
hitting me hitting me i couldn't stand
it so i
i told him it was the truth i'm sorry
adam
i'm so sorry
[Music]
quick get me some of the time with dell
i'm sorry was the only way
adam what can we do oh we can get you
out of here until i can put some sense
into his head get a few clothes together
i'll saddle up a horse for you you're
going to the ponderosa
well what about ross don't worry about
him i'll take care of him i do what i
told you get moving
how long it been going on dale
[Music]
months
why didn't you tell us about it well it
hasn't been bad until just recently
i i kept thinking you'd get over it
well he just keeps getting worse
[Music]
i'm frightened adam
i know ross like i know the inside of my
head
i just can't believe you'd act like this
neither can i well
sometimes he he seems almost mad
well there's something wrong that's for
sure
try not to worry about it too much i'll
i'll take care of him
adam i wouldn't blame you if you didn't
want to
after what he said i regardless of what
he said he's my friend
and you don't drop a friend that he's
come on
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
all right on your feet what are you
doing to me
untie me i'll untie you and i just want
to see if you're thinking straight first
enough
oh i'm thinking straight
all right and you'll understand why
dale's gonna stay at the ponderosa with
us for a few days
she stopped by to tell me goodbye
what got into you ross i mean how could
you do a thing
like that i don't know
maybe you're right adam maybe it's a
good idea that she gets away for a while
i'm sure it'll be for the best i'll drop
by in a couple of days and talk
oh adam you've got my gun that's right i
have
well i'd like it back
[Music]
sure
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
you want to see monk hartley why
i'll tell monk hartley you watch me
right up here you know me
and don't read wanted posters doesn't
know who you are
they want it for robbery murder
rewards five thousand dollars now ain't
it
would you like to try and collect that 5
000
i want to deal with you
i'm listening
get a lot of law looking for you and
your crew got no place to hide
i got a place to hide no crew where's
this place to hide right here on this
ranch
see i fired all my hands and he do hands
to do the work
i'm a respected man no one would ever
believe that i was
hiring wanted men or keeping a killer
keep talking gold and silver bullion
move on a stage road less than a
day's ride from here i can name six
banks within three days right
you ain't told me nothing new yet
can you shortcut across the ponderosa in
broad daylight to get to that stage road
it sure save a lot of time but uh i
don't know anybody can get away with it
i can't that's something new for you now
ain't it
sure is
[Music]
i don't know band cart rides no
[Music]
all right boys you can relax now looks
like we found us at home
you mean this place here i mean this
place here
now stable all the horses we're going to
be here a while
[Applause]
[Music]
so
[Music]
adam i've known ross don't have known
you
done a lot of business with him like him
fine you couldn't find a better man till
two
three months ago then he just went
sour well mr baby i thought maybe if he
were having money troubles again
i could help him late last fall there
was reason to worry
that ranch of his nearly went under i
know lost most of his young stock to the
black leg
you remember that yeah ponderosa lost
its share too
try to help him then but well you know
ross how proud he is
we didn't need help apparently after he
changed his brand to the silver dollar
his luck changed bought up new stock
with money he said he got from the east
came on fine he's solving now
got a nice balance here at the bank well
that makes it tough
if it were money problems again it'd be
easy to cure
ross was never what i would call a a
religious man
but when he stopped attending services i
was concerned
how long ago was this joe late fall
i went to the silver dollar ranch to
talk to him about it
he didn't welcome me i don't understand
he he always liked you he didn't that
time
adam i hate to say this but
i was thrown out of the house bodily
what well he seemed to enjoy the offense
against the church
the uh desecration if we can call it
that
i don't know what to say ross isn't like
that he's
joe do you have any idea what might be
wrong i mean
is there anything that we could do adam
i think of the force we call a devil as
as a sickness that comes to the human
soul i think of evil as a
as a symptom of that sickness like
fever or pain and i think of hell
as the death that results from that kind
of sickness
a sort of spiritual oblivion
you think he's sick i believe the
sickness has come to the soul of ross
marquette
and i believe his soul is sickened
almost to the death with it
prayer may alleviate suffering and god
in his infinite mercy may speed the end
but adam i don't think there's
any other cure for a soul as sick as his
he talks the same as you and me he looks
the same
do you think he's insane from what i've
told you
when a man behaves the way ross is
behaving
you can certainly say he's unbalanced to
some degree but to what degree
it's as if he's gone through a dark gate
and as yet we have no key to that gate
all we know is that if he goes too far
there's no return
paul it seems to me the time to help him
is before he goes too far
isn't this something a doctor can do no
but doctors are beginning to ask
themselves that question more and more
a lot of us believe that insanity is a
mental illness
can be cured with the proper treatment
some day someone will find the cause and
the key to that dark gate
but the day is not yet now all we can do
for an insane person is to take his
clothes away from him
lock him behind barred windows let him
stare or rave his life away
i'll wait until he kills somebody and
send him to the gallows
[Music]
cut him down with gunfire
here she comes monk thirty thousand
dollars in gold bullion
yeah that bullion's well guarded for
many too many for you to kill
one man's too many to kill you killed
more than that
never wanting to there's the difference
and maybe that is a difference monk you
think i'll be satisfied with 30
000 in gold bullion what will you be
satisfied with
for a starter a ponderosa
pretty big ambition that still don't
mean we gotta kill those men
and if we don't they'll recognize us
that means we'll hang sooner or later
i'm not in the habit of taking chances
we cover our faces
i've already bought my ticket to the
gallows you stay here
out of sight
[Music]
okay we go
[Music]
cows
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
the bullion's all we want you men keep
your hands in the air and you'll live to
tell about it
you throw that box down on the ground
[Applause]
oh
[Music]
you hurt bad monk yeah i'm hurt i don't
know how you got hit that way why you
wouldn't even turn it down
it takes enough ain't no time to be
standing around talking
now you and billy unpack that bullion
and take the sandy creek trail to the
forks
and come into my place after dark from
the east
i'll take monkey in the shortest way
what about it man
come on help me give me an easy win come
on
[Applause]
[Music]
as far as you go monk i ain't finished
yet
you may not know it but you're finished
you're the one that shot me i shot the
driver to start the hurrah
then i shot you i don't need you anymore
monk
all i need's a crew you wouldn't write
off and leave me would you
might take me a couple days to die
[Music]
give me a show
sure monk i'll give you a show
hi dale adam i thought you were still on
the round-up no we needed more supplies
so i elected myself to come and get him
well i see you've been keeping busy
since you got here hmm it's better that
way
gives me less time to think it's almost
finished what you've been doing working
day and night well
almost i think you'll find the house a
lot cleaner too
well that wasn't dirty maybe it wasn't
dirty to a bunch of big hawks like you
cartwrights
adam i have to know have you heard
anything about ross
no not a word
well it's it's it's been a week i'm
worried
i want to stop adele you've been
worrying and fussing about him since the
first night you met him
i wonder what he's doing yeah he's
probably branding calves
i rode by on my way here
was there anybody there no but all that
gear in the bunk house says he's got men
working for him again
i expect they're out on the range anyway
they should be there's a lot of work to
be done
adam don't you think i should go back
there isn't that my place really
i think you ought to wait a couple of
days he's working again that's a good
sign
he hasn't come here looking for trouble
that's a good sign
now things are getting along fine i i
don't think we ought to hurry it
you'd think he'd at least send some word
i expect he's feeling just a little bit
of shame just now
ah tell it stuff this stewing you know
what you need is a breath of fresh air
now why don't you get in some riding
clothes and i'll settle up a horse
i ride up to the button back i'll make a
new woman out of you adam you don't know
how i'd love to get out of the house for
a little while
all right then you're gonna do exactly
that come on now get going
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
didn't think that old plug of yours
would ever get here
this old plug got a rock in his foot
you are a big liar you wanted me to come
up here alone
uh what's wrong with that view like this
should be looked at the first time alone
one thing sure anybody down at the mouth
should see it
could stay down at the mouth long it's
very beautiful adam
yep see halfway to boston on a clear day
i believe you could do just that
let's get pretty near sundown i think if
you've had enough of this we better be
getting along
you suppose you could keep up with me on
the way back
well now why don't you just take a nice
long lead and i'll show you
[Music]
that rangy bull almost cost us a saddle
to
it shouldn't be too hard to fix up i
better get sam to
make up three or four new ones anyhow
yeah let's put your phone apart now
oh did you find any more of those chains
don't worry brand
that's right so son about half a dozen
chef i'll be along pretty soon yeah i
saw some trail dust back over the west i
think that's probably him and joe now
yeah i expect so mike says he so adam
coming up coyote canyon he ought to be
along pretty soon too
yeah you you want to tell adam about the
brands
i don't know how i can keep it from him
yeah just soon hit him in the face with
a gun but
what kind of a roundup is this more
people than cars well you're not too far
wrong son
roy adam dooley what are you doing here
got some bad news for you we come out of
this round up about 500 heads short of
what we should have had
we finally figured out where they went
us and we are brand
that's a ponderosa brand us
the silver dollar brand i'll show you
where our cattle went
when russ marquette said he bought a new
herd with eastern money
when he lost his young stock to the
black leg
uh he didn't buy a new herd he just
changed his brand to the silver dollar
and stole a herd from the ponderosa
i don't believe it i can't believe it
adam i'm going to add to your troubles
fact i'm just about going to kill you
now i've been riding from sun up to
sundown for days now
trying to cut the trail of the men who
killed the guards and the driver
and took that ship into bullion i have
been able to find the track
narrow one but now i believe i know why
i didn't check out the silver dollar
ranch ross isn't the killer you know
better than that
wife beater cattle thief that murder be
far from those
i'm not accusing ross you understand i
just want a long talk with him
and a close look at that rancher heads
go with me ben
you know i will mike you and forbes
finish up here
leave the riding stuck we'll come back
after them and take the truck wagon in
joe house you're right with me right huh
adam you go back to the ranch we're not
without
you give him a chance to talk every
chance
you know that son if it was me
i believe i'd be worried about
marquette's wife you know man helped
kill four men
he'll able to do almost anything
[Music]
now
lp defeat
[Music]
hey
and um
[Music]
it was ross
he broke in
[Music]
he he did this to me
where is he where'd he go
[Music]
i don't know
[Music]
why did he do this he was
trying to kill
[Music]
you're going to be all right dell i know
[Music]
so
[Music]
so
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
can't take much more that man
he likes killing all too much for me i
never seen a beat of it
and don't you think he wouldn't turn on
you and me just as quick as he did monk
too
you ain't seen me turn my back on him
have you no
you're too smart for that hey let's be
him now
him and he's woman maybe
maybe not we might as well go up the
house and get him now
i want to make sure first
[Music]
that's a posse that's a law don't look
like there's anybody around
that might be inside they're coming
after us saying they're gonna hang us
they're gonna hang us shut up let me
think
well we gotta kill them we gotta kill
them first don't you see they're gonna
hang us
as sure anything they got the strongest
stuff
[Music]
now you floated
[Music]
duty all right
[Music]
dirt kids
it's that part
take care now
you got them all to take care of i was
going to tell her
[Music]
you're the bunkhouse this is the law you
come out with your hands in the air
[Music]
i hope he didn't have no more you in
there
now there's no way of getting loose you
best come out while you're able
no suit i'm cut out
don't shoot now come on and throw that
gun out first
anybody else in there no no no i'm by
myself i'm the last one i swear
yo be careful
i didn't want to kill him he made me do
it i didn't want to kill him i swear
i didn't want to kill him what are you
going to do
he wasn't lying paw he's the last one in
there
well there must be a safer way to find
out
come on on your feet come on
now where's ross i don't know
where is he he's around here somewhere
somewhere he's closed i don't know just
where
where'd he go he wasn't the ponderosa to
get his woman that's all i know
delphine she's there alone paul
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
my
[Music]
turn around slow
i've been looking for you ross who are
you
it's me ross adam one of them has been
chasing me
everybody's chasing me of course
nobody's chasing don't you move
one more move and i'll kill you
i don't want nobody pushing me around
ross i just saw delphine they're gonna
stop me
nobody's gonna stop me plus i wanna help
[Music]
[Applause]
adam oh my glad to see you
[Music]
i don't know what happened i'm hurt
easy boy
something happened to me
it's your hurt
you gotta get get me back to the ranch
my fifth wedding anniversary coming up
definitely have my scalp if i'm not
there
your anniversary was ten months ago
[Music]
uh you're joshing me it's not for two
weeks
yet
[Music]
oh i sure heard it
what happened to me
why am i here
you went away for a while
you just got back
oh i'm sliding away adam
i'm cold
hang on to my
where am i going
[Music]
to delphi
[Music]
she's waiting for you
i got your handbook
so
so
so
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
so
adam you you had to do it
it just wasn't no other way
those last few minutes
it was just like we always knew him
well he was a friend then whitney he
didn't die a stranger
[Music]
so
[Music]
you

Behind the Scenes of The Dark Gate

After Ben branded a calf, a ranch hand approaches it, wiping his hand over the branding. This step prevents the calf from running into a bush while carrying fresh fire on its back, which may start a bushfire. It’s possible to ignite a bushfire considering a calf’s long hair could burn from 30 to 60 seconds. Since the calves have cowhides that are hard enough to protect them from burns, they may unknowingly spread fire after the branding.

Early in the episode, Ben requests Adam to talk to his best friend and have him come to the Ponderosa. During the close-up scene, it’s evident that Ben’s dialogue has been overdubbed and performed by a different actor entirely.

Looking for More Bonanza Episodes?

Now’s the right time to watch Bonanza alone or with the people you love! The 14-season Western television series ran under NBC’s production from September 1959 to January 1973. The Dark Gate is the 56th episode out of 430 and the twenty-fourth for its second season.

You can find more about any of the 430 Bonanza episodes here>>