Day 7 Rest Day in Las Vegas
Slept well and spent the morning on
housekeeping chores, reading and phoning home. At 2 pm with the sun passed its
peak (but still a sizzling 39 C outside) I decided to venture out. The Luxor Hotel – my humble lodgings for the Vegas
sejour – was hosting an Exhibition of the recovered Titanic Artifacts which I
duly bought my ticket for and visited. It was a
very moving and fascinating installation (quips about leaving you with a
sinking feeling totally out of order here !).
A view of the Luxor lobby (gambling area tucked underneath the mezzanine level). Each of the light rectangles on the sloping wall is a hotel room. A cross between the Matrix and a beehive !
A (very) small portion of the gambling area on the lobby floor.
I then walked towards where I
thought the monorail station was to get to the main strip – only to get lost
and end up walking further in the lobby than the distance to the strip itself. Took some
snaps of the amazing mix of architectural styles.
Visited various shops including the
ubiquitous drug stores (what does it say of a country’s hypochondria if a full
sized pharmacy every 50 yards can not only stay in business but apparently
thrive ?), and bargain clothing stores.
Feeling
slightly overawed and a little homesick I sought the solace of a familiar ambiance and thankfully the Las Vegas Hard Rock Café hove into view at exactly
the right moment.
A tasty Texas BBQ
Pulled Pork with fries and coleslaw did the trick – washed down with the best
tasting draft Guinness I have sampled this side of the pond. Bought some teeshirts and left with a spring
in my step.
Found my way
back to the Luxor with no problem.
Home - I (s) phinx !!! Tut Tut
Virtual Las
Vegas Showtime
Please find
some links to Las Vegas – type performances – ‘old ones, new ones, loved ones,
neglected ones’. The concept breaks down
towards the end (as all good ones do – see
Newtonian Physics).
Louis Armstrong:
Shirley Bassey:
Frank Sinatra:
Nancy & Frank Jr. Sinatra:
Nancy Sinatra:
Elvis:
Elton:
Queen:
Adele:
Joss Stone:
Rumer:
Jethro Tull
Van Halen
David Lee Roth
Stones:
History of
Nevada and Las Vegas
If you are,
as Rick Mayall (R.I.P.) might have said, a ‘girlie swot’ or even, dear reader, if
you have had cause during the previous days’ entries to wonder how the State of
Nevada – comprising desert, rocky outcrops and casinos – can make its way in
the world; then read on…..
Nevada became
the 36th state on October 31, 1864, after telegraphing the Constitution of Nevada to the Congress days before the November 8 presidential election (the
largest and costliest transmission ever by telegraph) – (Talk about emailing your pre-read at the last moment – editor).
Statehood was rushed to help ensure three electoral votes for Abraham Lincoln's
reelection and add to the Republican congressional majorities.
Nevada's harsh
but rich environment shaped its history and culture. Before 1858 small Mormon
settlements along the Utah border sustained their communities through faith,
but the secular western section stumbled along until the great silver strikes
beginning in 1858 created boom towns and fabulous fortunes. After the beginning
of the 20th century, profits declined while Progressive reformers sought to
curb rampaging capitalism and its attendant miseries. They imagined a civilized
Nevada of universities, lofty idealism, and social reform. But an economic bust
during the 1910s and disillusionment from failures at social reform and a
population decline of nearly one-fourth meant that by 1920 Nevada had
degenerated into a "beautiful desert of buried hopes." The boom
returned when big time gambling arrived in 1931, and with good transportation
(especially to California metropolitan areas), the nation's easiest divorce
laws, and a speculative get-rich-quick spirit, Nevada had a boom-and-bust
economy that was mostly boom until the worldwide financial crisis of 2008
revealed extravagant speculation in housing and casinos on an epic scale.
Key interesting
factoids:
The largest
United States reservoir (Lake Mead) was created by the Hoover Dam on
the state's 1867 Colorado River border (construction began
in 1931).
The 1858 Comstock Lode discovery
opened the era of silver mining in Nevada, and attracted
thousands of miners—most from California. It was discovered by James Finney in
Carson County.
There was a gold
rush that created Aurora in (1860). Located on the disputed
border with California, at one time Aurora was the county seat of counties in
California and Nevada, until the boundary dispute was settled locating Aurora
in Nevada.
The discovery of
silver and gold in 1900 near Tonopah set off a boom that ended Nevada's
economic depression.
Rio Tinto was
developed after the discovery of copper in Northern Elko County's Cope Mining
District. The town moved from mine to mine and it went from boom to bust in
regular cycles. In 1919 Frank Hunt discovered copper in the area and later
named his claim Rio Tinto. Once investors and big mining companies became
interested in Hunt's copper, the town soon developed and filled with homes to
house the miners. After all the copper was removed, Rio Tinto suffered the same
fate as most boom towns and vanished.
Over 80% of the
Nevada area is owned by the federal government, as homesteads of
maximum 640 acres (2.6 km2) in the arid state were generally
too little land for a viable farm. Instead, early settlers would homestead land
surrounding a water source, and then graze cattle on the adjacent public land,
which is useless without access to water.
During the Great Depression in the United States,
Nevada legalized gambling—terming it "gaming"—in 1931; (the Northern Club received the first license). At
the time, the leading proponents of gambling expected that it would be a short
term fix until the state's economic base widened to include less cyclical
industries. However, re-outlawing gambling has never been seriously considered
since, and the industry has become Nevada's primary source of revenue today.
Gambling taxes account for 34% of state revenue.
Also in 1931 the
residence requirement for divorce was reduced to six weeks, making Reno a
famous mecca for the quickie divorce and people from all over the country to
"take the cure."
Brothels have
been tolerated in Nevada since the middle of the 19th century; one in Elko has
been in business since 1902. In 1937, a law was enacted to require weekly
health checks of all prostitutes. Reno and Las Vegas had red light districts, when the federal
government prohibited all prostitution near military bases in 1942 (lifted in
1948). In 1951, both Reno and Las Vegas had closed their red light districts as
public nuisances.
Nevada favors a
highly individualistic political culture, giving it a libertarian conservative
political philosophy in an open society. Wealth from mining and gambling
reinforced the individualistic ethic that early settlers brought with them. The
libertarian ethic appears in the opposition of most Nevadans to big government,
big labor, and big business.
(Alas
that our first impressions, suspected of emanating from cynicism and therefore suppressed,
are all too often accurate - editor)
History of
Las Vegas
The prehistoric landscape
of what is now the Las Vegas Valley and most of Southern Nevada was
a marsh of abundant water and vegetation.
Over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, rivers that were present
sank into the ground, and the marsh receded. The valley evolved into a parched,
arid landscape that only supported the hardiest of animals and plants. At some
point in the valley's geologic history, the water that had been submerged below the
terrain sporadically resurfaced and flowed into what is now the Colorado River.
This helped proliferate luxurious plant life, creating a wetland oasis in the Mojave Desert
landscape.
Evidence
of prehistoric life in Las Vegas Valley manifested in 1993 when construction
workers discovered the remains of a Columbian
mammoth. Paleontologists estimate that the mammoth roamed the area
some 8,000 to 15,000 years ago.
Native Americans lived
in the Las Vegas Valley, beginning over 10,000 years ago. Archeologists have
discovered baskets, petroglyphs, pictographs and
other evidence in diverse locations, including Gypsum Cave
and Tule Springs. Paiutes moved
into the area as early as AD 700, migrating between nearby mountains in the
summer and spending winter in the valley, near Big Springs.
A
trade caravan of 60 men led by the Mexican merchant Antonio Armijo was
charged with establishing a trade route to Los Angeles. Las Vegas was
named by Mexicans in the Antonio Armijo party. By
following the Pike and Smith routes through a tributary of Colorado River they
came upon the Las Vegas Valley described by Smith as the best point to
re-supply before going onto California. The travelers named the area "Las
Vegas" which is Spanish for "The Meadows".
John C. Frémont traveled
into the Las Vegas Valley on May 3, 1844, while it was still part of Mexico. He was
appointed by the President to lead a group of scientists, scouts,
and spies for
the United States Army Corps of Engineers who
were preparing for a possible war with Mexico. Upon arriving in the valley they
made camp at the Las Vegas Springs, establishing a clandestine
fort there.
In
1855, William Bringhurst led a group of 29 Mormon missionaries from Utah to the
Las Vegas Valley. The missionaries built a 150-square-foot (14 m2)
adobe fort near a creek and used flood irrigation to water their crops, a
process still used at the park. However, because of tensions rising between
leaders of the small Mormon community, the summer heat and difficulty growing
crops, the missionaries returned to Utah in 1857, abandoning the fort.
After
the end of the war in 1865, Octavius Gass,
with a commission from the federal government, re-occupied the fort. The Paiute
nation had declined in numbers and negotiated a new treaty with the United
States, ceding the area around the fort to the United States in return for
relocation and supplies of food and farming equipment. Consequently, Gass
started irrigating the old fields and renamed the area 'Las Vegas Rancho.' Gass
made wine at his ranch and Las Vegas became known as the best stop on the Old Spanish Trail.
By
the early 20th century, water from wells was piped into the town, providing
both a reliable source of fresh water and the means for additional growth. The
increased availability of water in the area allowed Las Vegas to become a water stop,
first for wagon trains and later railroads,
on the trail between Los Angeles, California,
and points east such as Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Realizing
that gambling would be profitable for local business, the Nevada state
legislature legalized gambling at the local level in 1931. Las Vegas, with a
small but already well-established illegal gambling industry, was poised to
begin its rise as the gaming capital of the world. The county issued the first
gambling license in 1931 to the Northern Club, and soon other casinos were
licensed on Fremont Street like the Las Vegas Club and
the Apache Hotel. Fremont
Street became the first paved street in Las Vegas and received the city's
first traffic light in 1931.
In
1966, Howard Hughes, the eccentric hero of the
American aviation industry, and noted American entrepreneurial financier with
vast connections to long established networks in the country, moved to Las
Vegas. Initially staying in the Desert Inn,
he refused to vacate his room and instead decided to purchase the entire hotel.
Hughes extended his financial empire to include Las Vegas real estate, hotels
and media outlets, spending an estimated $300 million and using his
considerable powers to take-over many of the well known hotels, especially the
organized crime connected venues and he quickly became one of the most powerful
men in Las Vegas. He was instrumental in changing the image of Las Vegas from
its Wild West roots into a more refined cosmopolitan city.
Many
sources have credited Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack as
a significant driving force behind desegregation in the casinos. One famous
story tells of Sinatra's refusal to perform at the Sands Hotel unless the hotel
provided Sammy Davis Jr. with a room. The
famed performing group made similar demands at other venues forcing owners to
amend their policies over time.
On
a percentage basis, Las Vegas and Clark County experienced incredibly high
growth rates starting in the 1930s and lasting until the late 2000s
recession. By 2000, Las Vegas was the largest city founded in the
20th century, and by 2006 it was the 28th largest city in the US, with a
population of 552,000 in the city and nearly 1.8 million in Clark County. The
explosive growth resulted in rapid development of commercial and residential
areas throughout the Las Vegas Valley. The strong boom in the resort business
led to many new condominium developments all along the Strip and downtown area.
Also urban sprawl development of single-family
homes continued across the valley, building the areas of Henderson, North Las Vegas,
Centennial Hills, and Summerlin. The rapid development and population growth both
halted abruptly in the late 2000s recession.
The
"Mafia/Rat Pack" Las Vegas of the mid-20th century came to a gradual
end in the 1980s with the aging out of the World War II generation, the decline
of organized crime elements, and the rise of baby boomer entrepreneurs who
began a new chapter in the city's history, the so-called megaresort era.
Las Vegas began to become a more commercialized, family-oriented place with
large corporations coming to own the hotels, casinos, and nightclubs in place
of Mafia bosses.
The
home mortgage crisis and the late 2000s recession affected the economy of Las Vegas.
New home construction was stalled, and construction projects were either
canceled, postponed, or continued with financial troubles. Some of these
projects included the MGM Mirage property of CityCenter, Fontainebleau, Echelon,
and The Plaza.
The global financial situation also had a negative effect on gaming and tourism
revenue, causing many of the companies to report net loss.
Many
analysts agree that the Las Vegas economy is recovering, with improving
conditions in tourism and the housing market for 2013. Prices are rising and
there has been a large increase in the million dollar home market, with many
new custom homes being built. January 2013 marks the 19th consecutive month
with home sales higher than the same month in the previous year. In addition,
Las Vegas was named America's Top Turn Around Market for 2012.
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