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r Vegas Review-Journal Sunday, May 17, 1953 Y gy* tw* » Vegas Birthday RecaEEs Early Days of Community on M\¥ 13 mu mm^wzrfmsm 11111 » ? . lk ' ? ' S l i p ^ [t H i i n ; ? ? m m m m ? am ? i i n I , % 1 ? I I ? w AUCTION OF LOTS — Shown above is the picture of the actual auction of lots in Las Vegas on May 15, 1905. lu c Jail man, in shirt sleeves, standing on the platform b C. O. Whittemore, attorney for the Salt Lake railroad. The short man on his left, with the broad brimmed hat, is Fred K. Rule, treasurer of the railroad. The man on his left with a hat on and wearing a black necktie, is Frank A. Watters, roa dmaster. The man with the moustache, standing on the ground at the extreme right is Mr. Towner. The heavy man, standing on the ground, with the white moustache is Mark Weight, mayor of Pasadena in 1905. The others are unidentified. It was 110 degrees in the shade of the old mesquite tree where the auction took place. m City of Destiny' Had Beginning 48 Years Ago H i p » ! & « MM mm. ••••• FIRST DEPOT — The fiqst Salt Lake railroad depot, waiting room, ticket office an d Pacific Express company office is shown above. It was located just south of the present depot. The Western Union Telegraph office also was in this structure. ? i i m l a . ns Friday May 15, Las Vegas cele­brates its fojty-eighth birthday. Since that day in 1905, Las Vegas has grown from a desert patch of sand and mesquite to a com-' munity which is fast approaching Reno as the metropolis - of t h e state, and promises to become the industrial center of the southwest. It was 48 years ago, on May 15, 1905 that modern Las Vegas was born. Behind it was the his­tory written by the Spanish Con-quistadores and early American pioneers. In its saga was written the trials and successes of the early Mormon settlers and on every page of its history was writ­ten the never-ending tale of pro­gress. • Ws-:.,' v . v ...... Las Vegas was not much of a community to warm the heart of a traveler on that scorching May afternoon, because there wasn’t much, except a tent here a n d there, to distinguish the “ city” from the surrounding desert land. For many months Las Vegas and her handful of residents had been living in something akin to ex­cited animation. The San Pedro, Los Angeles and Sal’ Lake rail­road, following the compromise of the Mpadow Valley “ right of way war” had reached Las Vegas in the fall of 1904. A little later the track from the western end of the line connected and the rail­road was through. The principal city, composed of tent shacks and other hurriedly constructed buildings, was on the original townsite of. Las Vegas, owned by J. T. McWilliams. It now is known as Westside. There, facing the railroad, was a row of some half dozen tents, many of which were saloons, a few lodging houses and here and4here a dwelling. Back of this row of structures were corrals, where were kept hundreds of horses, used by the freighters which hauled supplies to the Bullfrog district, Tonopah and Goldfield. Roaming the dusty streets of this “ Main street” community .were the types of people one would expect to find in such a city. [There, were horsemen, teamsters, [miners, cowboys and the rest, all jof them with their guns strapped pn their hips and ready, if the occasion demanded, for action. The “ law ” was far away, in those days, and a quick draw was a necessary adjunct in any bitter argument. The present city of Las Vegas had not been dreamed of in those far-off days. The Union Pacific had established its f i r s t depot Close by was the company hos pital, a tent-like structure, whicn was in charge of Dr. Hal L . Hewet-son. No camping was permitted on any of the property now includ­ed in Clark’s Las Vegas Townsite which now is the main business district of this city. South of the original “ depot” was a little* row of tents on the railroad right-of- | way, including the company store I m charge of Walter R. and K. W. j “ Doc” Bracken; a little restaur | in t operated by a Chinese, and 1‘fLadd’s Hotel.” The latter stood close to what is now the corner of Main and Carson streets. It was a comforting shelter for marly people who came to Las Vegas to wait for the opening of the rail­road townsite of Las Vegas and who later became its leading ci­tizens. The visitors who came to Las Vegas in 1904, and who remained to become its substantial pion­eers, became impatient for thev had expected the lots to be sold immediately upon arrival of the railroad. However, it was not un­til M ay that the railroad w a s turned over by the contractors to the company for operation and the first passenger train was run. J. Ross Clark, representing his brother, Senator William A. Clark, who financed the new railroad, sub­divided and mapped Clark’s Las Vegas Townsite, the present Las Vegas. The lots were established on a 25-foot frontage and a scale of prices was set up at which the lots would be sold to applicants in or­der of their priority. There were about 450 persons who applied for lots and John S., Park, the then cashier of the newly formed First State bank, was appointed to rep­resent the company in receiving and registering the applicants. There was some .fear, because of the rush, there would not be sufficient lots to go around. Blocks two and three and 14 and 15, the blocks which now front on Fremont street at Main, were considered the choicest locations and were priced from $750 down to $100, per lot. However, like most plans have a way of doing, the program as originally outlined was ’exploded when the Union Pacific, which had gained control o f the railroad from the Clarks, decided the lots would be sold at auction—-so auction it was. The date of the auction was set for May 15 and C. O. Whittemore, who was president of the Las Vegas Land and w ater company, was the chief actor. On May 14, the Hotel Las Vegas a huge frame and canvas struc­ture, Was opened for business and was rushed to capacity as the vis­itors flocked in for the big show. The following day, under a mes­quite tree which stood on the right-of- way where the freight sheds now stand, a platform had been erected and the auction was start­ed. , 1 Bidding was spirited with Ben O. Rhoades, of Los Angele§, act­ing as auctioneer. Even the First State bank had to bid for a site and paid $3,000 for the lots at Third and Fremont streets. Bann­er from Arizona, who planned to open a financial institution in the new community, Secured the lots at First and Fremont where the now Bank of Nevada stands. It was, in those early days, the First State bank. On the morning of M ay 15, 1905, there was not a tent nor a build­ing on Clark’s Las Vegas Town-site, but by nightfall many of the structures from the Westside had been hauled to their new locations, and Las Vegas proper was born The next day, lumber and sup­plies were being ‘dumped in all sections of the city and, by the end of the summer, a size­able community was growing. Since that time the city of Las Vegas has grown into a commu­nity of more than 30,000 citizens and is looking forward to the day when it ,will reach the 50,000 mark to become the largest city in the state of Nevada. Peter Buol, first mayor of the city of Las Vegas, before his death and upon one anniversary of the founding of the incorporated city of Las Vegas, wrote a description of his days in the community and tlfe story follows: “ When we first started the town, we were the junction point for all the freighting into Rhyolite, Bull­frog, Beatty and thereabouts, and that kept a lot of men employed. Then they built the railroad and that was out. “ We started a lumber industry in the mountains and we thought that would amount to a lot, but it didn’t. Then we promoted the ar­tesian well syndicate and later brought $100,000 in cash from Eng­land to develop the farming possi­bilities of this area. That was at the Winterwood ranch. “ That didn’t pan out, but about that time Searchlight and Good-springs started going good and that held us up for a while. Of course, we had a good railroad payroll all the while, and when those mines petered out tempor­arily, we had the borax and gyp­sum and lime deposits which came to the fore. ‘‘Seems ' like sohaething always came along to sustain Las Vegas and give it just a little better shave up the ladder of prosperity: Looks like we are well on the way to something real a n d . perma­nent, now that Boulder dam has come through On schedule. I sure hope so. We had great dreams back there in the early days, but none like that. “ What did we do on the first city board? Oh, yes,, we built a sewer system. That was the big $100,000 worth of bonds to build tlfe system and the board gave me, as mayor, $75- expense money to go to Chicago and sell them. “ I was there two days and made a deal with the American Sewer and Light company, I think it was, to take the bonds in return for the sewer job. They built the sewer system and we had $400 left out of the bonds. “ No, I don’t remember much of what else went on in the city board meetings. Why. man. M p fc more than 25 years ago and my memory isn’t so good that far away.” Buol, who was widely known in Nevada for his friendly smile and genial nature, made several for­tunes in southern Nevada and then went to southern California where he got into the oil busi­ness. ‘I didn’t know too much about the business and they took m e," Buol says with a smile. His greatest achievement, in his own mind, was when he went to Scotland in 1913 and returned With $100,000 to finance thS South Nevada Land and Development company. J “ I was there just two weeks and got $100,000 from a group of tight-fisted Scotchmen, isn’t, that a rec­ord of some sort?” . BuoL asked. Peter Buol and many, of his old cronies who were hfere when the city was born, have gone now but their dreams are evident everywhere. Those who still re­main and those who came after, up until Boulder dam (was built, dreamed a few dreams of their own. These are just; becoming realities. The pioneers built well, noon a solid foundation, and tlieir dreams were constructed out o f heavy cloth. Those who now are partici­pating in the development o f the community should never forget' what, those pioneers went, through to make Las Vegas what it is to­day, pnd w hat: it will, become to­morrow. There were no resort hotels with swimming pools in those days. There was no air c .ditioning, ex­cept the cftoling wisp of a breeze which might stir the leaves of the few cottonwoods which stood around in the barren desert. And. on a summer evening, one could see the entire town, with t h e i r blankets under their arms, com­ing out of their hot and dusty homes to lie out under the stars so they co'uld catch any breath of air which might be stirring so they could get a few winks of sleep in the hot summer night. Las Vegas has changed a lot when she came out of the cocoon and into the light of day. But the spirit of those pioneers still lives in most of the citizens for, so far as Las Vegas is concerned right now, the citizens are still pioneer­ing a community that seems des­tined, within the next quarter of a century, to become the larg­est inland city between the Pa­cific ocean and the Rocky Moun­tains. Sound foolish? Well, the dreams of Peter Buol seemed just as fool­ish 48 years ago. m i p :; m'. S S I _. u * i t chnnrn above was built by the Las Vegas Trading company in 1905. It was located on North Main street, between Stewart FIRST H^ E L “ ^h e ^ tel from T h fstte now occupied by the express company office. All canvas and lumber used in the building was cut to size and the holes bored, ^ A l l i e s ' ^ ready to b e b o lte d to g e tL rrp o n a rriv a lin Las Vegas. The h?tel had 20 rooms. Floor space was 40 by 120 feet. The kitchen and dining room are seen n e^ L ^ to the hotel on the right. This hotel was managed by Charles V. Squires, present resident of Las Vegas.______________ I ---------------- --------------------- — — - laErani iIn ?m i p m p f FIRST TENT IN CITY :— This photo above shows the first structure of any kind that was built in Las Vegas. It was a hospital tent which* was used to treat sick and injured from tee crews which were building the railroad through Las Veggs. It was constructed in 1904 and remained standing until the town was built after the auction. ! ® l i mm r*ntK L IN E T E A M __The freight team shown above was! one of the original teams hauling freight; out of Las Vegas from the Clark* Forwarding company store, to Keatty, Goldfield and Tonopah in 1905. The freight was shipped by rail to the Clark Forwarding company and then sent by team -to points not reached by rail. The company was organized and owned by Ed W. Clark, late Las Vegan pioneer. n S S i r l f RANCH ? § mM i f ml, f l tfipsipiii « ? ':MM m111 J f\j mn umB l - - f WIJB: JWBm- II t j l1 'M• , , MI l K B 1 EARLY BUILDING — Shown above is the Las Vegas Ranch, generallstore, hotel Mid postoffice Jn Las Vegas. The building was built shortly after tee town was founded. ’ - 1