kopia lustrzana https://github.com/thinkst/zippy
274 wiersze
16 KiB
Plaintext
274 wiersze
16 KiB
Plaintext
A Brief History
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Early Habitation
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The inhabited history of the Las Vegas Valley stretches to
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23,000 b.c. , when much of the area was covered by a prehistoric lake.
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During this period, the indigenous people lived in caves, hunting the
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mammals that gathered at the shoreline. The landscape of the valley
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changed dramatically over the next 200 centuries. The glaciers feeding
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the lake melted away and the lake evaporated. Fossils tell an obscure
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story of man’s slow and sporadic development.
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Around 3000 b.c. , native Archaic Indians began to develop a
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lasting hunting and gathering culture. By this time, the valley was in
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much the same geographic state as it exists in today, with one
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exception — the presence of artesian springs that bubbled to the
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surface in several areas. These springs fed a network of streams
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draining through the Las Vegas Wash to the Colorado River. The areas
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surrounding the springs were desert oases: sprawling collections of
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grasses, trees, and wildlife. Many springs lay in areas that would
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eventually become the center of the modern Las Vegas metropolis.
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For about 4000 years, the Archaics thrived in a culture that
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included many signs of early civilization. Signs of even more
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advancement appeared halfway through the first millennium a.d. , when
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the Anasazi Indians inhabited the valley. Far more progressive than the
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Archaics, the Anasazi utilized such formal agricultural techniques as
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irrigation to assist their harvest. This permitted the Anasazi to
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achieve a benchmark of advanced society — the ability to live in
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permanent shelters year-round without need to follow wildlife.
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Mysteriously, the Anasazi vanished from the valley around a.d. 1150,
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leaving it to be repopulated by the Southern Paiutes, another
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hunter-gatherer tribe.
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Unable to replicate the agricultural techniques of the
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Anasazi, the Paiutes were destined to a semi-nomadic lifestyle until
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European settlers arrived, changing the nature of existence in the
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valley forever.
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From Mailmen to Mormons
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In the early nineteenth century, America’s western
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territories were still largely unexplored. It was not until 1829 that
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Rafael Rivera, a Mexican scout, found a spring-fed valley and dubbed it
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Las Vegas — a Spanish name that leaves many modern visitors wondering
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exactly where “the meadows” really lay.
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For fifteen years, Las Vegas was used as a Spanish Trail
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way-station. In 1844, American explorer John C. Fremont parked his
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horses at Big Springs, and his report to the government resulted in a
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mail route leading past the spot on its way to California. This put Las
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Vegas on the map and was one of the crucial turning points of its
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history.
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In 1855, Mormon leader Brigham Young responded to promising
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reports of Las Vegas by sending 30 missionary settlers to the valley;
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they eventually built a fort not far from today’s Downtown. Surrounded
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by acres of farmland hewn from the hard desert, the adobe fort became a
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focal point for the development of Las Vegas for the next fifty years.
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The missionaries struggled valiantly against the dictates of the
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desert, trying simultaneously to survive the harshness of their
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circumstances and spread the Mormon faith. Additional pressures from
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arriving miners pushed the missionaries’ plight beyond recovery. Their
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supplies scarce, their harvest meager, and their spirit broken, they
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abandoned the fort in 1858.
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Despite the fact that the local land was rich in silver, by
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1865 most of the mining traffic through Las Vegas was of prospectors
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headed to California or Northern Nevada in search of gold. One
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opportunist who stayed was Octavius Decatur Gass. Bestowed with plenty
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of the invaluable pioneer spirit that characterizes Las Vegas to this
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day, Gass redirected his life by picking up where the Mormons left
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off — at least when it came to ranching and farming. Gass took over the
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abandoned Mormon fort and 640 acres (260 hectares) surrounding it,
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dubbing it the Las Vegas Ranch. He expanded the ranch and irrigated the
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land so that it would support crops and cattle. His determination had
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other results as well: Gass was named a justice of the peace and a
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territorial legislator.
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Despite his ambition, Gass’ success was short-lived. In the
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late 1870s, he defaulted on a loan from rancher Archibald Stewart, so
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Stewart took the Las Vegas Ranch for his own. True to wild-West
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stereotypes, Stewart was slain by a neighboring farmer, leaving his
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strong-willed wife, Helen, to assume the duties of the ranch. Through
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1905, Helen Stewart expanded the ranch to 2000 acres (810 hectares),
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making quite a bit of money in the process.
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What happened next would mark the end of the successful Las
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Vegas Ranch and the beginning of the era of the subdivision seen across
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almost all of Western America to this day. The railroad was coming, and
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when it arrived, Las Vegas would never be the same again.
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Of Tracks and Tracts
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At the turn of the 19th century Los Angeles and Salt Lake
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City were among the burgeoning metropolises of the new American West.
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Though the two cities remained unlinked by rail, this was about to
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change quickly. When it did, the Las Vegas Valley (which at the time
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had a non-native population of less than 30) would change as well.
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In 1903, officials of the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt
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Lake Railroad arrived in Las Vegas, eager to secure a right-of-way for
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their Los Angeles–Salt Lake connection. Las Vegas would serve as a
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major stopover for crew rest and train repair. For all this, the
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railroad needed land. As mapped, the track traveled directly through
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Helen Stewart’s Las Vegas Ranch. Stewart sold 99.5 percent of her ranch
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to the railroad. The remainder she returned to the native Paiutes.
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In early 1905, the route between Los Angeles and Salt Lake
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City was completed, and train tracks bore right down the center of the
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Las Vegas Valley. On 15 May 1905, the railroad held a land sale — a
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momentous step in Las Vegas history. Standing at the depot at Main and
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Fremont streets, railroad officials auctioned 1200 lots they had
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subdivided from forty square blocks of desert scrub. Land speculators
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and locals alike were anxious to own a part of the newest railroad
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boomtown, and within an afternoon, more than 80 percent of the lots
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were sold.
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Las Vegas was no longer a small pioneer settlement. With
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rail service in place and forty blocks of private property, it was
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ready to become a real town. Businesses sprang up overnight, and wooden
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houses were erected to replace the tent city in which many of the early
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settlers had lived. One year after the auction, the population of Las
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Vegas had ballooned to 1500 residents, a portent of things to come for
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the next ninety years.
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Dam Good Luck
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From the beginning, Las Vegas was built to serve travelers.
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The railroad needed a way station, and Las Vegas was the place. Growth
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continued for ten years, and by 1915 the town had telephones,
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round-the-clock electricity, and a growing population — many of whom
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worked in the railroad repair shop. But such heady progress would soon
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come to a halt.
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The growing competition in rail transport resulted in Union
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Pacific buying the Los Angeles–Salt Lake line. Union Pacific then
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consolidated its operations, eliminating the Las Vegas repair facility.
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Additionally, Las Vegas had been made a part of Nevada’s new Clark
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County in 1909, a year when the legislature also outlawed gambling.
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These unfortunate circumstances threatened to relegate Las Vegas to the
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status of a small desert community that could no longer support its
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3000 residents. But the southwest’s growing need for water, combined
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with Las Vegas’s fortuitous proximity to the Colorado River, would give
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Las Vegas a second chance to achieve prosperity.
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Construction on Hoover Dam (originally Boulder Dam,
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subsequently renamed for the president who authorized the project)
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began in 1931 in a canyon 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Las Vegas.
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Providing an influx of $165 million to the southwestern economy, Hoover
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Dam played a major role in preventing Las Vegas from drying up, both
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financially and literally. Not only did it create jobs, but it also
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created Lake Mead, the massive reservoir that today provides water to
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all of southern Nevada.
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More Government Help
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The construction of Hoover Dam did not single-handedly save
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Las Vegas, however. The state legislature helped as well, by legalizing
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gambling in 1931 and thus solidifying the future of the town, though
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legislators and residents could never have known this at the time.
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The hordes of people who attended Hoover Dam’s 1935
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dedication set the city’s now-formidable public relations machine into
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action. They went to work on what has become one of the lengthiest
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citywide tourism campaigns ever attempted. It didn’t take long for the
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city to establish itself as a wild-West town with an “anything goes”
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attitude. Vices outlawed or heavily controlled elsewhere were legal
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here, available any hour of any day (or night). Thus originated Las
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Vegas’s reputation as an adult theme park.
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Additional catalysts for the valley’s growth came from
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World War II. Both the Las Vegas Aerial Gunnery School (which became
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Nellis Air Force Base and the Nevada Test Site) in the north, and Basic
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Magnesium in the nearby town of Henderson, arrived in the early 1940s
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as a result of America’s war effort. By 1945, the population had grown
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to almost 20,000, with workers and airmen moving in at a rapid pace.
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But this was not yet the Las Vegas of folklore.
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Mobsters and Rat Packers
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While many gambling halls opened Downtown in the 1930s and
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early 1940s, only two were built on the stretch of old Los Angeles
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Highway that ultimately became the Strip. The El Rancho Vegas (1941)
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was the first, followed by the Last Frontier (1943). During this
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period, East Coast Syndicate member Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel earned a
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foothold as a local casino operator.
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By 1945 Siegel had become one of Las Vegas’s original
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visionaries, planning an opulent resort on the southern end of the LA
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Highway. When the Flamingo opened in December 1946, it did so with
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Hollywood flair and the new Vegas flash. But the Mafia bosses who
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financed the operation were displeased with its performance; Siegel was
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murdered in the summer of 1947.
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Despite its initial failings, Siegel’s Flamingo survived
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him, as did mob infiltration of casinos. In fact, the Flamingo would
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launch over two decades of strong mob presence in Las Vegas. Freely
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flowing “comps” (complimentary food, drink, and entertainment) were the
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order of the day, with mob bosses content to provide an environment of
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pleasurable excess as long as the cash kept rolling in.
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While the mob was running the casinos, promoters were
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busily selling Las Vegas as a glamorous Hollywood in the desert. From
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the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s, Las Vegas nurtured a growing sense that
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it was the “Entertainment Capital of the World. ” Emerging stars, no
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longer content with playing small nightclubs, came to Las Vegas with
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dreams of making it big. Many of them did. Frank Sinatra, Wayne Newton,
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and Louis Prima each arrived with mediocre status and suddenly found
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themselves with names as big as the marquees on which they were
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written. The Rat Pack — originally Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy
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Davis Jr. , Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop, all in town to film Ocean’s
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11 — landed at the Sands in January 1960 for a legendary stay. Other
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Hollywood stars came as well, simply because Las Vegas was the place to
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be.
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As a result, more casinos emerged along the Strip. The
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Thunderbird, Desert Inn, Sahara, Sands, and Riviera hotels were erected
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during this period, luring a curious clientele drawn by tales of
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all-night partying, exclusive entertainment, and cheap accommodations.
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There was no longer any question: when you wanted some unbridled adult
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fun, Las Vegas was the place to be.
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New Legitimacy
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Organized crime was soon to have a formidable adversary in
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its bid to control Las Vegas — corporate cash. Though Las Vegas had
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developed a powerful local economy, few major outside investments were
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made in the city, due primarily to mob infiltration and its inherent
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ties to illegal activities.
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That would change dramatically with the 1966 arrival of
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billionaire Howard Hughes. A legitimate businessman, Hughes was
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nonetheless eccentric and dramatic, a style suited to the Las Vegas
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ethos. True to the myth, the reclusive Hughes immediately cloistered
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himself in the Desert Inn’s penthouse. Several weeks later he was
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asked — then ordered — to vacate the room to make room for high
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rollers, whereupon he promptly bought the property and fired the
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management. Thus began Hughes’ legendary three-year, $300-million Las
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Vegas buying spree. When it was over, Hughes owned six casinos, an
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airport, and an airline, along with numerous plots of land stretching
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from the Strip to the mountains.
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Hughes’ actions would have beneficial repercussions, both
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immediate and lasting. Because of the new legitimacy Las Vegas acquired
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from Hughes’ investments, established companies such as Hilton Hotels
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bought into the gaming business, and their influence helped draw a line
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in the desert sand between legitimate operations and mob casinos, where
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illegal skimming of profits was rampant. That, combined with the
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formation of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, would signal the
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beginning of the end for heavy mob influence in the city.
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Las Vegas with a Vision
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As corporations moved in and the mob was slowly pushed out,
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a new Las Vegas emerged. The legitimization of gambling led to its
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increased legalization across the US. What was once a sure thing became
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much more competitive. Casino operators had to reassess the nature of
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their business.
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The first to really do so was Steve Wynn, a Las Vegas
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resident and owner of the Golden Nugget. In the mid-1980s, Wynn began
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plans to reinvigorate Las Vegas with a new resort. He bought several
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Strip properties — the Silver Slipper and Castaways among them — and
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demolished them to make way for a new kind of resort — Mirage — which
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became an instant success.
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Wynn’s demolition of the existing properties started a
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trend that, more than any other, describes Las Vegas at the end of the
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20th century: removal of old properties in exchange for the potential
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of new ones. This trend has led to many more demolitions, including the
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Dunes (replaced by Bellagio), Aladdin (the new Aladdin) and Sands
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(Venetian) hotels.
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Wynn’s casinos have also set new standards. They can no
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longer be just a box filled with gaming tables, restaurants, and a
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showroom. Excalibur, the MGM Grand, the Luxor, and New York-New York
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all followed Mirage’s lead during the 1990s, offering themed
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environments and attractions for families.
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As evidence of the “ever-faster” nature of the city, by the
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middle of the 1990s the new approach showed signs of backlash, with
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many visitors criticizing the mediocrity of the Las Vegas experience.
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The latest approach is perhaps the best of the post-mob era: the
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comprehensive resort. New resorts offer attractions and amenities
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modeled after those available in top resort cities worldwide, including
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luxurious spas, signature restaurants, and exclusive boutiques.
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Additionally, a handful of resorts — such as the South-Seas
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themed Mandalay Bay, the Mirage, and the new Four Seasons — are now
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catering exclusively to the luxury travel market. The crème de la crème
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of Las Vegas deluxe is Steve Wynn’s Bellagio. The world’s most
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expensive resort at $1.6 billion, the Bellagio’s amenities include
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5-star dining, Chanel-caliber boutiques, and a world-class collection
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of artistic masterworks. Perhaps more important, such high-end
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accommodations raise the standards of expectations back to the
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mythology of the Rat Pack era.
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As it changed from mob gam bling town to corporate gaming
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venue, the population of Las Vegas skyrocketed. Over 20,000 additional
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hotel rooms have been added in a few short years, including resorts in
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Summerlin and Lake Las Vegas. Recent business projections for Las Vegas
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predict challenges; tourism revenues must increase substantially to
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sustain what is already built, while actual figures show visitation as
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steady or declining. The growth that has characterized Las Vegas for
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nearly a century may be facing a roadblock.
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Still, the future of Las Vegas is sure to be determined as
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much by the pioneering spirit that built the city as by anything else.
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With its new look and new aim, the prospects are good despite the
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warnings. Inevitably, some people will get burned in the process, but
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others will rise triumphantly from the fray to even greater successes.
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And that, more than anything, is the one constant that characterizes
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the past, present, and future of Las Vegas.
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