On December 19, 1870 a small boat arrived off the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Caught in the breakers, the vessel capsized, and its crew of five men were thrown into the ocean. Three drowned, one died of his injuries, and just one man, described as a starved, emaciated skeleton, crippled by a splinter in his leg, was found alive by an island local. That man, Coxswain William Halford, USN, told an incredible story of survival, and of an urgent mission.
Sixty six years ago a new television show premiered. Bonanza, the saga of the Cartwrights of the Ponderosa ranch was made for the express purpose of selling color televisions, and it brought color to many lives.