High Chaparral Theme Park

Bengt Erlandsson was born in 1922 in Brännehylte, Småland, Sweden. His parents owned a forest farm and a saw mill. Erlandsson was involved in starting over 1,000 companies. His interest in the American frontier and Wild West was born from coming from a countryside where many had emigrated to America and from the stories they told. Erlandsson went to the United States himself in 1956 at age 34 and in four months touring covered 4,000 km. He came back to Sweden with a lot of impressions. When the Swedish national phone company had to get rid of 200,000 telephone poles, Erlandsson took the opportunity and constructed a western American style frontier fort and town with log cabins as it might have been used by the old United States Cavalry and U.S. Army in the Indian Wars on the western frontier in North America during the 19th century. When many people started to get curious about the place, he realized its commercial/tourist and historical purposes and possibilities. Similar to Walt Disney's construction of various Disneylands and Disney Worlds with "Frontierlands" portions built into the entertainment parks in several foreign countries decades later.[1]

Bengt Erlandsson died in March 2016.[2]

The park was opened in 1966, the year before the debut of The High Chaparral an extended hour-long western television series in the new color broadcasting that ran on American TV on the NBC television network, for four seasons, 1967–1971, starring Leif Erickson, Linda Cristal, Henry Darrow and Cameron Mitchell. It focused on the adventures and drama about the large but struggling cattle ranch "The High Chaparral" on the high desert scrublands of southern Arizona Territory near the Mexican border and conflicts with the Apache Indians and their famous chief Cochise and the local United States Cavalry / U.S. Army troops. It's the stories of newly arrived owner "Big John" Cannon (former Union Army captain in the recent American Civil War, 1861-1865), his brother Buck, who fought for the opposing southern Confederacy, John's son "Blue Boy" and new beautiful dark-haired sophisticated Latin/Mexican wife Victoria, thirty years his junior, daughter from a neighboring Mexican cattle baron across the border that he has forged an alliance against his opposition.

It was produced by David Dortort, who also created the earlier hit American TV series also on NBC. Bonanza (1959–1973) about the Cartwright family - a father and three sons by successive wives on a huge ranch named "The Ponderosa" near Lake Tahoe on the California–Nevada border at the edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains chain by the rich silver strike of the Comstock Lode mines of famed Virginia City, Nevada in the 1870s also.

The theme park stages several stunt shows a day. It also has a steam train that runs through the park. There is both the classic Wild West section, an Indian themed area, a Mexican themed area, and a museum overflowing with cultural artifacts, old cars, machinery, and various Cold War oddities such as the bronze monster-size statue of Lenin expelled from Nowa Huta.

• Ponderosa Ranch

• http://www.highchaparral.se - Official Website