About That Las Vegas Town-- Part 1: 'The Meadows'

From the March 2024, Smithsonian Magazine ""American Icon."

In 1829, a group of explorers led by Spanish merchant Antonio Armijo moved west toward Alta California through the arid Mojave Desert-- the ancestral lands of the Southern Paiute people.  

A young scout named Rafael Rivera discovered a particularly verdant area full of grassland irrigated by a natural spring: this lushness inspired the place's name: "The Meadows," or "Las Vegas." 

Though a couple dozen Mormon missionaries arrived here in 1855-- largely failing to convert the Paiute population-- the oasis remained something of a secret until four years later, when prospectors came to the valley.  They found gold and silver, and the ensuing rush sparked a population boom, with miners arriving in droves to dig by day before chancing new fortunes away in the saloons and bordellos at night.

--DaCoot