Las Vegas, New Mexico |
The fertile valley of Las Vegas, also known as "The Meadows," was occupied as early as 8,000 B.C. by Paleo-Indians. Sedentary Pueblo Indians were present in the area during the 1100s and 1200s until forced out either by drought or the pressure of Apache Indian attack. In subsequent years, nomadic Plains Indians, and later, the Comanches, camped in the Las Vegas area on their way to raid Pecos and the other Pueblo and Spanish settlements to the west. A succession of Spanish explorers, starting with Coronado in 1541, passed through going in the opposite direction on their way to search the plains for fabled cities of gold. The Santa Fe Trail came through the center of what would become Las Vegas in 1821. When the community was founded in 1835, the trail continued to occupy what is now Bridge Street, the Plaza and South Pacific Avenue. These three routes have been designated as part of the National Santa Fe Historic Trail. The significance of the Santa Fe Trail has never left the area. As exporters sent their wares west, enterprising Las Vegans traded east. A large influence in the growth and development of Las Vegas was Fort Union. Built in 1851 to protect the Santa Fe Trail, the fort helped stimulate the economy of Las Vegas as the Army bought supplies and staples for the several hundred or so soldiers and civilians stationed there. The hustle and bustle of this western city brought those seeking their fortunes and others who would stop at nothing to make theirs without conscience and honest labor. Among those notorious men and women were the likes of Billy the Kid, Vicente Silva and his gang, Belle Sidons (alias Monte Verde), Jesse James, Doc Holliday, and his girlfriend Big Nosed Kate. Holliday operated a dental office and a saloon and gambling hall in Las Vegas before moving on to Tombstone. When General Stephen W. Kearney took possession of New Mexico for the United States in 1846, he found a thriving community here of 1,500 Spanish settlers. Their presence can be traced back to 15 Spanish families who petitioned the Mexican Government for a grant to establish Las Vegas in 1835. Kearney raised the United States flag and first claimed the New Mexico territory on the plaza in Las Vegas. On July 4, 1879, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad arrived in Las Vegas, heralding a new era of prosperity as waves of immigrants from every walk of life soon followed. Las Vegas has the most interesting and colorful architecture in the state thanks to the variety of immigrants and the new availability of building materials shipped by the railroad. New Mexico's first phone system and its first opera house were established here. Las Vegas was New Mexico's first territorial capital (for one day). Brought by the railroad, European immigrants settled in with a sense of permanence – and their settlement resulted in the myriad architectural treasures that give Las Vegas its special charm. Cattle ranching was and still is one of the mainstays of the economy in San Miguel County, so it comes as no surprise that one spur of the famous cattle trail, the Goodnight-Loving Trail, should come through the county to Las Vegas where the cattle could be shipped by rail. Even as Las Vegas prospered from 1880 to 1905 its trade area was gradually whittled down as additional rail lines criss-crossed the territory and Clovis, Tucumcari, Roswell and Carlsbad rose in competition with Las Vegas. Las Vegas provided 21 Rough Riders to Teddy Roosevelt in 1898, most of whom were at his side during the famed charge up San Juan Hill. The town hosted the first Rough Riders Reunion – attended by the soon-to-be President himself. Reunions continued until the 1960s. Hollywood cowboy Tom Mix chose Las Vegas as the filming location for some of the country's earliest westerns. A local agricultural depression in the mid-20s, which caused the closing of four of the city's six banks, followed by the depression of the 1930s, put a definite end to Las Vegas' prosperity. A long period of dormancy and gradual growth has followed. |
By the 1790s the increase