350 B.C. Early inhabitants have settled in what’s now Clark County, establish still-existing tax rate.
historical trivia pop quiz!
historical trivia pop quiz!
1. The first long-distance call is placed from Las Vegas in …
3. The big disaster news of 1906 is … a. the derailing of a Decatur Express Line train 45 miles outside of Las Vegas b. a brothel fire in Block 16 c. t he wreck of The Searchlight, the last steamboat on the Colorado
a. 1918 b. 1929 c. 1951
1826
When he enters what’s now Clark County near what’s now Mesquite — he doesn’t reach the LV area — Jedediah Smith becomes first American in Southern Nevada. Also this year: Current generation of RJ subscribers born.
1905
1855 On June 4, William Bringhurst and entourage arrive to found a Mormon settlement; they abandon it in 1857. Transience: It's in our DNA!
1820
1840
1860
1829
1864
In December, scout Rafael Rivera becomes the first person of European descent to see the valley. (He was totally lost.)
Because Lincoln wants more votes against slavery and related issues (and for his re-election), Nevada becomes a state on Oct. 31. Also, early Halloween in Nevada entails giving lumps of free dirt to area children.
1844
Explorer John C. Fremont camps beside the valley’s spring on May 3. He notes the area’s name as Vegas, Spanish for “meadows.” Amazingly, his published account goes viral without precious Instagram pics.
historical trivia pop quiz!
2. The Huntridge Theatre opens in 1944 as … a. a venue for USO performances b. an all-ages zoot-suit “danceteria” c. a non-segregated movie theater
86 | Desert
Companion | NOVEMBER 2013
On May 5, Pilot Randall Henderson lands the first airplane flight to Clark County, just off the L.A. highway. Disembarks without the degrading remove-your-shoesand-belt TSA ritual.
1909
1865
On July 1, Lincoln County is split to create Clark County. The three-member Clark County Commission meets two days later. Already with the bloated bureaucracy!
Octavius Decatur Gass and others settle on the abandoned Las Vegas Ranch. William Knapp opens first store in area, selling "Tobacco, Gen'ral Provisions and Fine Vapes."
350 B.C.
1920
Setting the stage for Oscar Goodman's 2005 centennial, Montana Sen. William A. Clark auctions off 600 plots of land along path of his railroad in Las Vegas Townsite on May 15.
1880
1910 Nevada outlaws gaming, but later goes, "Psyyych!"
1900
1920
1911
1882
The city of Las Vegas is incorporated on March 17. Hey, that's, like, us!
Archibald Stewart acquires the Las Vegas Ranch from Octavius Decatur Gass. He dies the next year in a shooting — our area’s first murder and first unsolved murder! His widow, Helen, eventually sells the land and water rights to railroad concerns, key to the founding of Las Vegas — exactly as foretold in the prophecies.
1916
Using what will eventually become Highway 15, the first car arrives in Las Vegas from Los Angeles sometime in June. OMG w/out a/c? #cray