Page 18 - 2019 Las Vegas & San Miguel Co. Visitors Guide

from Wildest of the WILD WesT
by Howard Bryan
Unlike most of the notorious frontier towns in
the american West, where the violence lasted for only brief periods, Las Vegas experienced the violent frontier with but few interruptions for more than a half-century, earning it the reputation as “the toughest town in the West” and “wildest of the Wild West.” For a commu- nity that was to achieve such a wild and woolly reputation, however, Las Vegas had an inauspi- cious beginning that could scarcely portend the dramatic events of the future.
from Wildest of the WILD WesT by Howard Bryan Commercial and military traffic on
the santa Fe Trail increased in inten- sity during the Civil War era, with an estimated 3,000 wagons passing through Las Vegas in 1865 and some 5,000 in 1866. sounds of cracking whips and shouted commands echoed through the dusty streets of the adobe village as wagon drivers urged their ox and mule teams forward at a sluggish pace of ten to fifteen miles a day.
18 | Las Vegas & San Miguel Co. Visitors Guide 2019