Sin City. Gambleville. The Entertainment Capital of the World. Open 24 hours. City of Lost Wages. The City Without Clocks. The Garden of Neon. Las Vegas is known as all of these. A city of approximately 478,434 people—1.4 million in the metro area—it did not even exist at the turn of the 20th century. Its explosive growth, particularly over the last 20 years or so, is largely a testament to the eternal conflict between fate and free will that lies at the heart of a dice roll, a dealt card or a pull on a slot. Gambling, in other words, is big business. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, more than 38.9 million fun seekers arrived in 2006 and spent $39.4 billion.
It is true that you can have a great time in Las Vegas without gambling. Dining and shopping opportunities are plentiful and varied. The city arguably boasts more entertainment superstars and out-of-this-world production spectaculars per square mile than any other in the world. And spectacular natural attractions—from Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to Valley of Fire State Park to Arizona's Grand Canyon—are all within a day's drive.
The bottom line, however, is that “casinos are king,” as one city advertising slogan puts it. So although children and nongamblers will find plenty of ways to have fun, it is the over-21 visitor, preferably with money to burn at the blackjack table or the slot machine, which the city seeks to attract.
Although the Strip and downtown's “Glitter Gulch” are the two major tourist areas, there are whole other sides to this city that the average visitor never sees while shuttling between the airport and his or her hotel. A large percentage of locals work in the service industry, and their shifts often do not reflect a conventional routine—there aren't many other places where you will see a cocktail waitress in full regalia circulating through a crowd and serving drinks at 7 in the morning.
Las Vegas is one of the most isolated major cities in the United States. It is 270 miles from Los Angeles, 293 miles from Phoenix, 570 miles from San Francisco and 447 miles from Reno, the only other city of any size in Nevada. Visitors arriving by air in the daytime see two small clusters of buildings (the hotels downtown and along the Strip) and odd incongruities like the Luxor pyramid and sphinx.
In fact, it is hard to imagine a man-made paradise sprouting from a more unlikely natural setting. Las Vegas—just over 2,000 feet in elevation—lies in the Las Vegas Valley, a long, flat expanse of terrain formed over time by the advance-and-retreat movements of glaciers. The valley is enclosed by mountain ranges, notably the Spring Mountains to the west, a popular hiking and skiing area dominated by 11,918-foot Mount Charleston. Prehistoric southern Nevada was a virtual marsh; the valley assumed its present arid characteristics roughly 12,000 years ago when it was overtaken by the Mojave Desert. But beneath the parched valley floor a system of aquifers, fed by rainwater and snowmelt coming off the surrounding mountains, periodically surfaced to create a life-giving oasis.
American Indians, from primitive hunters and foragers to the later Anasazi and Paiute tribes, had inhabited the Las Vegas Valley as far back as 11,000 B.C. It was not until 1829 that the valley oasis was stumbled upon by Rafael Rivera, a scout for Mexican trader Antonio Armijo, who was leading a 60-man expedition to Los Angeles via the Old Spanish Trail. Searching for water, Rivera discovered the artesian springs that he named Las Vegas (“the meadows”).
The discovery shortened the route to Los Angeles but sadly hastened the dissolution of the Paiute, not only through the depredations of invading white settlers but the raids of the warlike Ute tribe. In 1844, surveyor and explorer John C. Frémont, leading an overland expedition west to California, camped at the Las Vegas Springs; today a downtown street and casino both bear his name. By the early 1850s, Mormon wagon trains traveling from central Utah to Los Angeles had tamed the Old Spanish Trail, which by then was known as the Mormon Trail.
The Mormon Trail became the preferred route for settlers, immigrants and California gold seekers. Mormon missionaries established a settlement in the Las Vegas Valley in 1855. But although they dug irrigation ditches, managed to cultivate fruit trees and vegetables, and mined lead for bullets from nearby Potosi Mountain, the harsh environment caused the outpost to be abandoned by 1858. During the next few decades hardscrabble prospectors coexisted uneasily with the Paiute, and the only development of any note was the ranch built by Octavius Decatur Gass on the site of the fort erected by the Mormons.
The coming of the railroads brought about the birth of Las Vegas. Due to the area's strategic location and plentiful water supply, the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (later absorbed by Union Pacific) in 1902 designated it a service stop on the route from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. A dusty tent settlement sprang up as track was laid across the valley. The train's inaugural run was in January 1905; the railroad yards were located at Main and Fremont streets, where the Plaza Hotel now stands. Four months later the city of Las Vegas was founded through a land auction of individual lots. Clark County, named for railroad magnate William Clark, was created in 1909 from neighboring Lincoln County; Las Vegas was incorporated 2 years later.
The desert town languished in its early years, but the announcement of plans to construct the Hoover Dam less than 30 miles away spurred growth. By the end of the 1920s a federal highway connected Las Vegas with Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, the population had increased to about 5,000, and long-distance telephone service finally became a reality. It was largely insulated from the Great Depression years due to the jobs created by dam construction, Union Pacific Railroad growth and the reinstatement of legitimate gambling.
Casino-style gaming would eventually prove to be the city's savior, but not before several legal ups and downs. Nevada passed a strict anti-gambling law in 1910—even the local custom of flipping a coin for the price of a drink was outlawed. But wagering simply went underground until 1931, when the Nevada Legislature passed into law a bill proposed by rancher Phil Tobin, who designed it to generate tax revenue in support of public schools. (Ironically, Tobin never visited Las Vegas.) With the additional incentives of bootlegging, legal prostitution and a residency requirement for divorce of just 6 weeks, Las Vegas suddenly became a bright magnet in the otherwise gloomy national mood that followed the Roaring Twenties.
The 1940s saw the beginning of resort growth, although World War II initially delayed its onset. The Strip—then US 91, also known as the Los Angeles Highway, and now Las Vegas Boulevard—was inaugurated with the opening of El Rancho Vegas in April 1941.
After World War II came the big resort hotels, and with them big entertainment. The purpose was simply to lure people in to sample the thrill of slot machines and blackjack. As more hotels moved onto the Strip, each vied with the others for the most opulent casino and the showroom with the most glamorous stars.
The siren song was simple: Visit Las Vegas and see the world's largest and best collection of singers, comedians, dancers and musicians, and visitors heeded the call in increasing numbers. Hotels and casinos, enriched by the increased revenue, offered more and more—shows grew bigger, the Strip flashier, the casinos slicker. Las Vegas became a city that thrived on illusion and fantasy.
The city's incredible success can be measured by the number of hotel rooms it boasts: 133,000 and counting. And in addition to new construction and the ongoing expansion and modernization of existing properties, older hotels are being razed and replaced by newer, glitzier megaresorts. And judging from visitor statistics, odds are good the boom will last well into the 21st century.
