John Fremont arrived in Nevada in the mid 1800s while it was still of part of Mexico. He is a legend in Las Vegas as Fremont Street and the Fremont Hotel is named for him. Fremont was with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. With him were scientists and scouts on an expedition to the west. In May of 1855, the United States annexed the land and a fort was built near the current downtown area. Two Senators from Utah built a railroad with a lot of men working on it constantly. At night the men would look for something fun to do and the only town near by was Las Vegas. With money coming in from the railroad and a little mining town nearby, Las Vegas was well on its way to becoming the town we know today.
Las Vegas is situated between Stewart Avenue, Garces Avenue, Main Street and 5th Street (now known as Las Vegas Boulevard). The Las Vegas strip starts at Sahara Avenue and ends just before I-15 to Los Angeles. However, it is run as Metropolitan Clark County with the same mayor, police and firemen.
From the 1940s to the 1970s many of the casinos were owned by members of organized crime. In the 50s, Senator Estes Kefauver and his Senate committee investigated and concluded that crime families were tied to the gambling and they proposed a federal gaming control. The proposal died due to the influence of Senator Pat McCarran.
In 1966, Howard Hughes arrived in Las Vegas with the hopes of cleaning up the city and changing the city from its western image to a more refined city. He bought the Desert Inn, the Silver Slipper, the Frontier as well as a lot of undeveloped land.
Steve Wynn has really changed the scenery with his hotels, which are the Mirage, the Bellagio, Wynn and recently the Encore.
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