A Brief History Of Las Vegas Las Vegas can be found in the western United States and islocated in the state of Nevada. Las Vegas, Spanish for 'TheMeadows', was originally discovered in 1829 by a party ofexplorers led by Antonio Armijo, a Mexican trader searching fora route to Los Angeles. Before the discovery of the valley theroute, Las Vegas was referred to as the 'journey of death'.However, exploration for water revealed an abundance of springsin the valley that reduced the journey by several days.
Las Vegas remained virtually unknown until 1844, when explorerJohn C. Fremont, made an entry in his travel log detailing howhis expedition camped at the springs. Nevertheless, it wasanother ten years before Las Vegas became a permanent settlementfor Mormon missionaries from Salt Lake City. They built a fortto create a mail stop between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City,becoming the first non-Indian settlement to do so. It was alsothe Mormons' intention to teach farming to the Paiute Indians.However, in 1857 this was abandoned when the Paiutes raided thefort and rejected their teachings.
In 1902, U.S. Senator William Clark from Montana bought therights to the Mormon settlement, along with water rights and2,000 acres of land. It was his intention to develop a town andhe managed to construct a railroad for steam locomotives.
The town was officially founded in 1905 and incorporated
in 1911with a population of only 800. Initially strict anti-gamblinglaws governed the state of Nevada but this all changed in 1931when gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada. Thatsame year divorce laws were liberalized in Nevada, making LasVegas the place to obtain a divorce after only six weeks ofresidency.
It was after World War II that Las Vegas began to develop itsreputation of 'Sin City'. Hotels and casinos were developed andentertainment and tourism became the valley's largest employer.Accordingly, by the 1960s wealthy businessmen were beingattracted to the city. Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian was a majorplayer in developing the modern city; he bought the Flamingo andin 1968 opened the biggest hotel in the world, the InternationalHotel.
Now, a hundred years after its conception, Las Vegas is one ofthe largest cities of the 20th Century with a populationexceeding two million. Wonderful resorts are still beingcreated, all bigger and more luxurious than ever. Finally, LasVegas remains the strongest contender for the world's majorinternational tourist attraction.
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