Page 10 - B Fall 2012 magazine

By Chuck Williams

Preface

This is the first in a series of articles covering historical locations in and adjacent to Red Rock Canyon. However it may be helpful to first
understand how and why Las Vegas became a destination.

The European settlement of the Las Vegas area dates from the late 1850s, a rather short historical period compared to

other parts of the country. The reasons are obvious. To begin with we are located off the beaten path in the driest de-
sert, the Mojave, in North America and the journey coming from any direction was difficult and dangerous.

“This area is altogether valueless. Our expedition will be the last party of whites to visit this profitless locality”.
Comments from Lt. Joseph Ives who was exploring the area around Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon in 1857.

The early European explorers who traveled through this part of the west were searching for a shorter route to Califor-

nia and were not looking for a place to relocate. Lastly, some early visitors were not all that impressed with what they
saw, as noted by Lt. Ives’s comments. Well, it wouldn’t be the last time Las Vegas would be dissed.

Part 1 – European “Discovery” of the Las Vegas Valley
The Spanish were the first Europeans to send survey parties to the western portion of the Colorado River. This in-
cludes a 1540 visit to the Grand Canyon by Captain Cardenas and a 1776 exploration by Dominguez and Escalante.

While these explorations failed to reach Nevada or California, their maps assisted later explorers and would eventually
become part of the Old Spanish Trail.

The next attempts to establish a trade route came from American fur traders. These routes came close to Las Vegas,
but there is no documentation to indicate that they traveled through the valley. The first was by James Pattie in 1826
and two better documented explorations to Southern California in 1826-1827 by Jedediah Smith.

Perhaps Smith’s explorations inspired Antonio Armijo who departed New Mexico in 1829 in the company of approxi-
mately sixty men and one hundred mules. They reached the junction of the Virgin and Colorado Rivers on December
31st. Scout Rafael Rivera rejoined his party on January 7 and the group followed his trail to the Las Vegas Valley.
Elizabeth Warren, in her Masters Thesis, believes they came up the Las Vegas Wash and camped at Duck Creek.
From there the group most likely followed the low pass through which I-15 now moves.

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