Las
Vegas History – In 1829 Mexican trader
Antonio Armijo was leading a party along the Spanish
Trail to Los Angeles. After finding himself off the
regular route, he sent scouts out to find water. One,
Rafael Rivera, went even further into the unexplored
desert and found Las Vegas springs. This was the beginning
of the modern city of Las Vegas, Nevada. The name
means “the meadows” in Spanish.
The discovery of water at Las Vegas shortened the
Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, as
the abundant artesian spring water allowed the trail
to go through the Nevada desert, rather than go for
hundreds of miles around. The discovery eased rigors
for Spanish traders and hastened the California gold
rush.
Las Vegas’ place on the mail route from Salt
Lake City to Los Angeles prompted the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
to send settlers to build a fort in order to protect
the trail. In 1855 work was begun on what is now know
as the Old Mormon Fort. The settlers planted fruit
trees and mined lead for bullets. However, raids by
Native Americans forced them to abandon the fort in
1858.
In 1864, during the Civil War, Nevada
was admitted as a state. Because it was admitted during
the war, its nickname is “The Battle Born State.”
40 years later, in 1904, the first railroad grade
was begun in Las Vegas. Railroad tycoons saw the potential
of the town as an excellent stop. Previously a town
mostly of tents, Las Vegas bloomed into a city with
saloons, boarding houses and stores.
In 1910, Las Vegas became the last state in the Union
to Outlaw Gambling. Even the long-held
Western tradition of flipping a coin to determine
the price of a drink was made illegal. Within three
weeks of the law’s enactment, underground casinos
and gambling houses were in full swing. Illegal but
accepted gambling continued to flourish until 1931,
when a law was enacted to legalize gambling so that
the state could profit from this prolific industry.
To this day, Las Vegas is the only state where gambling
has actually helped education.
Las
Vegas residents avoided the worst of the hardships
associated with the Great Depression. The railroad,
the construction of Hoover Dam and
the gambling industry provided a relatively steady
income source for southern Nevada. During WWII, Nellis
Air Force Base was built in Las Vegas, and further
added to the region’s economy.
The Famous Strip came into being
during the 1940s. The El Rancho Hotel enjoyed great
success, as it was built along the highway to Los
Angeles. Other hotel establishments quickly followed
suit, making this stretch of highway a haven for travellers
and gamblers. All of the old hotels are gone now.
The only original hotel name that survived is the
Flamingo, built by notorious mobster Benjamin “Bugsy”
Siegel, and the Flamingo isn’t anything like
Siegel’s Flamingo.
The history of entertainment in Las Vegas goes back
to the founding of the EL Rancho.
Over the years famous acts booked to entertain Las
Vegas crowds include the Rat Pack, Elvis, Buddy Hackett
and others. Today Las Vegas entertainers include the
annual Divas concert as well as headliners like Britney
Spears, Elton John, Wayne Newton and Celine Dion.
The bright lights and mega-resorts would look alien
to the earlier residents of Las Vegas, but the gambling
still remains, as does Las Vegas’s no holds
barred atmosphere.
