Missives from the GWN

Las Vegas was pretty much founded in 1844 by John C. Fremont, when he led an overland expedition west and camped at Las Vegas Springs Mormon settlers from Salt Lake City traveled to Las Vegas to protect the Los Angeles-Salt Lake City mail route and in 1855 began building a 150-square-foot fort of sun-dried bricks made of clay soil and grass, a substance known as adobe. Eventually this fort would become the Flamingo Hotel and Resort. Unfortunately, this would not happen until a photographic wallpaper with a fake Vegas skyline could be printed. The Mormons planted fruit trees, cultivated vegetables and mined lead for bullets at Potosi Mountain. Mormon pioneers abandoned the settlement in 1858, partly because of Indian raids. But they didn't go far. In fact, the Mormon's returned when the settlement of Las Vegas springs became more formal with the Nevada gold rush. From those early beginnings and throughout the history of Las Vegas, who has been in charge of counting and accountin...