History of Las Vegas
After spending the long flight back to the UK day dreaming about how we could be descendents of a (hopefully) very wealthy casino owner and therefore heirs to a huge fortune we looked up Benny Binion and quickly discovered that apart from anything our last names are spelt differently! (We're Bennion not Binion) But in our quest to prove we were Binion’s long lost relations we stumbled across the colourful history of Las Vegas...
In the beginning...Did you know that once upon a time Las Vegas was just a marsh hidden from discovery by the Mojave Desert, known only to the Native Americans? This was until a Mexican Trader, called Antonio Armijo, stumbled upon the Las Vegas Valley, in 1829, when he was leading a group of 60 men to Los Angeles. The party gave the area the name Las Vegas which in Spanish means ‘The Meadows.’Mormon missionariesIn 1855 Mormon missionaries arrived in Las Vegas with the purpose of converting the Paiute Indian population. However, they left in 1858. (Indian raids are said to have contributed to their decision to leave!)
Legalised gamblingAnd surprisingly it wasn’t until 1931 that gambling became legal in Nevada; soon after that the first resorts began to appear such as the El Rancho Vegas and The Flamingo.
Until the 1960s the Mafia dominated the city. However, legitimate businesses flourished after 1967 when a law was passed which meant gambling licences could be acquired by publicly traded corporations (Phew!) Las Vegas has continued to grow at a tremendous rate since the 1970s.
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