Transcript of interview with Bernice M. Johnson by Dan Buress, February 21, 1979

UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson i An Interview with Bernice Johnson An Oral History Conducted by Dan Buress Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2019 UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson iii The Oral History Research Center (OHRC) was formally established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada System in September 2003 as an entity of the UNLV University Libraries’ Special Collections Division. The OHRC conducts oral interviews with individuals who are selected for their ability to provide first-hand observations on a variety of historical topics in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The OHRC is also home to legacy oral history interviews conducted prior to its establishment including many conducted by UNLV History Professor Ralph Roske and his students. This legacy interview transcript received minimal editing, such as the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson iv Abstract On February 21, 1979, Dan Buress interviewed Bernice Johnson (born September 13, 1919 in Los Angeles, California) in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discuss Mrs. Johnson’s personal history and her reasons for moving to Las Vegas. Johnson describes moving between Southern California and Las Vegas while her husband worked for the railroad company. The interview concludes with Johnson recalling her memories of the Von Tobel family and the rapid population growth in Las Vegas after the construction of the Nevada Test Site. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 1 Informant in this interview is Mrs. Bernice Johnson. The date is February the twenty-first, 1979. The time is two P.M. The place of the interview is 511 South Seventh Street, Las Vegas, Nevada. The name of the collector is Dan Burress, living at 135 North Sir Thomas, Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s history, Nevada History Project: Oral Interview. ‘Kay. Mrs. Johnson, were you born in Southern Nevada? No. I was born in Los Angeles, California. Okay, when did you come to Southern Nevada? Well, I came to Southern Nevada the first time, in 1938, November of ’38. Okay, what led you to come to Southern Nevada? My husband’s work on the railroad. Okay. Did you stay—have you been here since 1939? No. We went back to California again because of his work, he was bumped on the railroad. Going back to Southern California, and then we came back again in about nineteen—1940, was here for a couple months, and then went back to Southern California again. Okay. When did you permanently—how long have you lived in Southern Nevada? Will be thirty years this coming June. Okay, and so you permanently came to Las Vegas when? In 1949, June of 1949. And the reason for that? My husband’s work on the railroad. ‘Kay, so he permanently got signed to Las Vegas area? Right. Did you go to any schools in Southern Nevada or in Las Vegas area? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 2 No. ‘Kay. And your occupation during the time that you’ve lived in Las Vegas? Housewife up until two years ago, now I’m a saleswoman. Can you tell me at what addresses you’ve lived at while living in Las Vegas? 2148 West Charleston Boulevard, (unintelligible). Okay, the West Charleston address, when did you live there? We lived there from June of ’49 until May of 1952. ‘Kay, and then you moved to the, South Seventh address? Right. In ’52. Right. You’ve been here ever since? Right. When you left the address at—on Charleston, why did you leave there? Because it was more convenient to move into town, as we called it. So that the children could go to Fifth Street School and Las Vegas High School. So at that time, the two-thousand block of Charleston was out of town? Yes, sir, it was. What—what was the—if you could tell me, what was the area of what you’d call town, at that particular time? Like what were the boundaries, more or less? You know, going east and so forth, if you can tell me. As you came into town on Charleston Boulevard, as you got under, across the railroad tracks, then you’re coming into town. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 3 Okay. That’s from the west? From the west, coming east. And how far east would you be able to go? Oh, down close to the Showboat. Four miles—for the four mile mark on Fremont Street, was nearly out of town. And then going north and south, say Main Street—? Out past the cemetery on Fifth Street, and you were out of town. Okay, right now, that’s around Las Vegas Boulevard and (Unintelligible)? Right. How about Anderson Dairy; how long has Anderson Dairy been out there? That, I couldn’t really tell you the exact amount of time, I really couldn’t. Okay. Because that was all, pretty much (unintelligible). Okay. Going south-bound on say, the Boulevard, or Main Street. How far south could you go before you were, you know, pretty much out of it? Flamingo Hotel—you had the El Rancho Hotel out there and you had the Bingo Club out there and you had the Flamingo Hotel. Those were the only three places out there? As far as I can remember. Going south now, into Las Vegas Boulevard—the El Rancho was on the corner of Sahara and Las Boulevard. Mm-hmm, down just a little bit further, but that’s all the property. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 4 Okay, now the—before you got to Sahara avenue, on Las Vegas Boulevard, do you remember what was on Las Vegas Boulevard? Or how far out the things that were built before you got to the El Rancho? I think there were a few motels out there. Just a couple of them is all I can remember. And that would be right on the street itself? Right on Las Vegas Boulevard, mm-hmm. Right. ‘Kay, you—were you married in Las Vegas? No, I was married in Los Angeles, California. Okay, what year were you married? In 1948. (Unintelligible). Is or was church activity an important part of your life? Church activity is a very important part of my life. Okay and we’ll refer to the, since you’ve been in Las Vegas, or while you lived in Las Vegas— Mm-hmm. What church are you a member of? Affirmation Wisdom Church. Okay, is there anything you can tell me about the, say, early church life, or the religion of Las Vegas. You know, Las Vegas area? When you first moved here? Which religion had a big part in peoples’ lives in Las Vegas? Well they had the first Methodist Church there on the corner of Third and Carson. And outside of that, they had the Mormon Churches around but I couldn’t tell you the locations of them. Okay. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 5 I really couldn’t. And the other churches, I know, I really couldn’t tell you the locations of any of them. Okay, but in general, you know, the people that lived in Las Vegas around 1949. Was it—were they pretty religious type people? I mean, was there a lot of church activity, or were they interested in something else? No, you had your certain groups that were your church minded people, I might say, and then of course you had your groups that weren’t (unintelligible). Yes. Was the Mormon religion, Mormon people, were they a pretty big part of the, of the population of Las Vegas at that time? I don’t think that there were more Mormons here than there were in any religion, I really don’t. Because they made mention one time that they had a lot of candidates in Las Vegas office. I know they have, had a lot of activities for their children and youngsters. The Mormons? The Mormons, mm-hmm. Do you remember the visits of any of the presidents or other important people to the Las Vegas area since 1949? No. Okay, the 1942 crash of Carole Lombard of course was before your time. Clark Gable was married here in town. The paper would have made mention of that, I couldn’t tell you, but I always newspaper read. Okay, speaking of papers, in 1949, what did they have for a newspaper? Review Journal. Review Journal was here, and then what else—? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 6 Morning Sun. The Morning Sun and the Review— Both of them, but I had the Review Journal ever since of (unintelligible). Okay. Since you’ve been in here in 1949, has there, is there anybody, you know, of any significance that you recall being here? You know, presidents of any kind? Anybody? I can’t remember, there has been. But I can’t think right now. Are you active in politics at all? Or were you, have you ever been active in politics in Las Vegas? No, because I spent my time with my children and their activities. Are you registered—are you a—I mean, are you a registered voter now? Oh yes, have been. Never miss an election. Which party do you belong to? Democrat. Democrat. You’ve never—how about, when Ralph Lamb ran for sheriff all those years? Did you ever get involved in his campaigns? Never gotten into any political campaigns? I take, I’ve had some campaigns signed up from my husband. Never got involved in the campaign headquarters or anything? No, I just never signed up. (Unintelligible) stickers on the cars. Okay, your social clubs, or special interests groups. Which clubs do you belong to? I belong to the South (Unintelligible) Chapter Order of Eastern Star, and I’m a past mother-advisor of the Order of Rainbow for girls. ‘Kay, are you still active for all or neither one of those? No. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 7 Okay. Can you tell me about any of the social groups that are in the early days? Not only in 1949, but say the early days, when you first moved here to town. When you were involved in those clubs or groups. Can you tell me anything about them in particular? Or what their function was? I really didn’t get involved with them too much until—when what it was, their activities. And belonged to the mother’s circle, president of the circle, we put on dinners for ‘em, (unintelligible). And then we got active with Rainbow, and we did the same thing for them. We did a lot of service work. But other than that, you (unintelligible)? No. Is or was gambling an important recreational activity for you or your family? No. Weren’t involved in gambling at all? No, you go out of town once in a while, but not as (unintelligible) coming. You had nothing to do with your income, or your livelihood, or anything like that? In no way. Okay so, you never—nobody ever in your family entered work for a casino or you know, in the casino or hotel business? Or anything like that? No. Okay, what other kinds of recreation do you seek, either alone or with your family? Oh we had schools, we had baseball, we had football, we have nice motor home, and we went camping. And we enjoyed ourselves that way. Mm-hmm. How about, do you (unintelligible) a lot? I mean— UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 8 We used to. You know, fishing— We used to, we used to have a boat. We used to go out fishing all the time. We loaded it up with the children and go out water skiing. What do you remember about the lake; around 1949 or ’50? The lake is just about the same as it could right now, except for the (unintelligible) rising one in a while. It was a beautiful place, you could have a lot of fun out there. Mm-hmm. Lots of good fishing. When you first came to town, the first time, in 1939, you said you went out to visit the Dam. The Dam, yes. The Dam hadn’t been built too long at that time, it was a fairly new— Yes, but it was the same as it is now, as far as that’s concerned. In fact I have a picture that you can read every word on the pole that they have up there. They have flagpoles, and have that black onyx, and they have all the writing on it, and tell you all the stories sometimes. So it’s the same now as it was then as I can see. Okay. When do you first remember radio or television coming into the Las Vegas area? It was here when we came. It was here already? I think they had only one station. What was it a network station? Or was it—? No, it was a local station. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 9 When you—if you took a drive, say in your motor home, or your car, or something (unintelligible) when you went out for a drive, what would be the places to go? I mean, where did you go from here at that time? You could go out to the Valley of Fire, which is very beautiful out there. Out to the lake, you could take a drive down to (Unintelligible) Cove, there’s a lot of (unintelligible). What about Mount Charleston? When did that first to get built up? It was a few years before we even got up to Mount Charleston. Okay. Well, when did you go up to it? When was the first time you can recall going up there? I think, oh, we went up to Kyle Canyon and had a picnic up there. (Unintelligible). (Unintelligible). It had to be about ’56? But did they have the, the lodges up there or anything? They had a lodge up at Mount Charleston, and they also had an ice skating rink out there. But the ice skating rink, I don’t think lasted very long. What were the winters like, you know the weather, the seasons? When I first came to Las Vegas, I thought it was, in fact I still think it’s beautiful. But to me, coming from Southern California, we had our all four seasons. To me, they had all four seasons. We had the beautiful autumn leaves, we had the summers, we had the winters, and it was just completely different. Did the summers seem to be as hot back then as they seem to be now? They were warm, but they didn’t seem this warm, no. How about the winters? Could you—? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 10 Sure, were cold and we had to (unintelligible) when it was wintertime. It was cold. When is the first time you recall having snow? What was the worst winter you can recall? We had snow when I first came up here. The first winter I was in here. So that would be in ’49 then? It didn’t seem like it was too much, but we had snow. Okay, can you recall the worst winter? I’ll tell you the truth, I think I’ve been colder this winter than any other time. Okay. And were summertime’s getting, seems to be getting warmer all the time too? Because of the humidity in the air, I believe. What can you tell me about the early atomic tests? Out at Jackass Flats and around the Test Site? Is there anything that you can tell me about that? Well to me, it was such a beautiful sight, and they said they did horrible things as far as that’s concerned. But I can remember one thing: we got up one morning to watch one of the blasts, because it was to go off. We lived down on West Charleston, and the way that we were standing on the porch, where we lived, I had on a bathrobe, and after that blast was over with, and the concussion got into town, it was just like somebody had picked up a corner of my bathrobe and pulled it back and went back down again. So the wave, you can feel the wave out there—? I can feel the wave right. We would take—and we’d crack the windows in the house so that the windows wouldn’t break. Mm-hmm. But I felt that just as plain as can be. How many, how often did they have those tests out there? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 11 I couldn’t really tell you. The length of time that I know we had them quite often, and there was another experiences where we had gone to Tonopah, over the weekend, for a baseball game, and coming down the Tonopah Highway, and I was driving the car, a blast went off, just as we were down alongside of the Test Site. Mm. It was a beautiful mushroom. (Laughs) I grabbed the camera out of the car, and I took a picture of it, but it didn’t come out. How about the concussion from that? Didn’t really feel it. Didn’t nearly feel it, I think I was too scared. (Laughs) It was frightening. What do you think those above-ground tests? What do you think their effect is on say, on the valley itself? Or into the atmosphere? I myself feel that they have had a lot to do with the atmosphere around here, because I can remember when I first came to Las Vegas, the sky was just as blue as blue could be, you never saw a cloud in the sky. And each year, it gets a little bit worse. And the smog is getting worse. Right. ‘Course, I don’t think that has anything to do with the smog. You think—do you think the weather changing, the weather, you know, the more severe winters, and the, seem to be the hotter summers, have anything to do with the atmosphere? The atomic blasts and things that’ve been going on. I always felt that it was, but I’ve had people tell me that I’m wrong. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 12 Okay, I’d like to discuss you know, some of the changes from the time that you’ve first moved here until say, within the last year or so. Some of the changes that you’ve observed or that you can, you know, come into your mind, anything in the Southern Nevada and Las Vegas area? Say, the economic changes, you know, what were the economics like when you first moved here? Compared to what they are, say now. Well, your wages were lower, and naturally, you go by your wages. Whether they’re going to be, putting out a lot of money for your groceries and things. The town was more or less a railroad, and I guess casinos, and outside of that, there were markets and things. As far as automobiles go, in 1949, did everybody drive a car? Or did it seem like people in Las Vegas had, seem to have more money than maybe some place else, because of the gaming industry? Well it might be a few, just like every place else. You’re going your urk, people who are involved in your gambling casinos. You have some attorneys in town who I feel have some nice places, and probably a whole bit of money. Speaking of attorneys, at the time, can you remember, like say, in the early fifties or the mid-fifties some of the big names? You know the names of attorneys—can you remember any of them? Mike Hines. Mike Hines has been here that long? Mm-hmm. How about Harry Clayborne? How long has he been in town? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 13 I couldn’t tell you how long he’s been in town because it’s been quite a while and that means (Unintelligible). Milan Brown, who lives across the street from me over here. So Milan Brown, and his son is now our, you know, (unintelligible) (Unintelligible) Okay, how about, some of the changes in the environment. We talked about that earlier, like about the atmospheric change and so forth, what about the, you know, environmental changes like, the amount of shrubbery, or the amount of trees. What was the land like at that time? A lot of cotton wood trees. And when it came time for fall, and they would shed, it was just like snow falling all the time with all these cotton wood trees. Okay, social changes—that covers a lot of things. Crime rate, for example. We could go to Los Angeles and leave our front door open when we lived here at that time. In fact, we did, and not have to worry about any crime. Anybody and anyhow. Hmm. Now you have that fear. (Unintelligible) But oh, they steal, and leave that front door open, or leave it unlatched, and go uptown, and go (unintelligible) there would be nothing when you came back. What about the ethnic groups, that you know, since the time that you like, you know you’re Spanish people, and your Puerto Ricans, and now all they—it seems to be a lot of Puerto Ricans and Spanish people working in the casinos you know, as waiters and busboys. Do you remember the comparison of say, blacks, Spanish, and so forth, at that particular time? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 14 Well the blacks were over on Westside. They had Westside over there. We had a few black entertainers that would come to town, but they would stay over on Westside when they came into town. As far as the rest of ‘em, waiters, I would never think. I don’t think that we had too much of a mixture. As compare is limited, have you noticed a kind of a migration, or you know, more ethnic people are starting to move in? Or when did you first start to notice them? That there was more ethnics, minority groups in the Las Vegas area? I want to say about ten, twelve years ago. Okay. What about social changes you know, that you can think of? Schools—how long—Las Vegas High School. When was that built, do you remember? No, I couldn’t tell you the date, it was here when I got her. And since that time, how long has Vegas High School been the only high school in town? They built Rancho, about ’65, or ’57. So—? I’m sorry, ’55 or ’56. So Las Vegas High School was here for at least ten years or fifteen or twenty years before another high school was even built. How about junior highs? Junior high? John C. Fremont was the first junior high school built in Las Vegas. And John C. Fremont, where was that located? That’s located over on Saint Louis, just right off of Maryland Parkway. And how about after that now? Did they start coming in pretty soon? Mm-hmm. I mean, they built them real fast? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 15 As the town expanded and population wise, and so on and so forth. But the, I couldn’t tell you, (unintelligible). Okay, what do you think led to the quick rise in population in Southern Nevada? What (unintelligible)? Advanced building of Las Vegas, in the hotels and businesses that we are having come in to town. The Test Site—have a lot to do. (Unintelligible) Right, right. When you were here in ’49, how long was it before there was a drastic change in the population? Or did it seem to be more steady? To me, it came gradual until the Test Site was built, and then that’s when it started to grow. Okay, when was that? Oh, it had to be around ’50 because we were still out on (Unintelligible) street. Okay. And from then on, it seemed that people just started coming in, right? Right. And then it kept expanding and they kept moving further out of town? Right. Out on West Charleston in 1949, that’s where Charleston is now, there wasn’t a thing on the other side, and it was all desert. What’s the Rancho? What’s the Rancho? How about if you went on West Bonanza, where would you run into the end of the road there on West Bonanza? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 16 Well there was quite a few vacant lots out there until you got the (unintelligible) off and then you had just the high way. Okay, is there anything in general, that you would like to tell or relate to me about anything that you’ve heard, you know, maybe from your father or your grandparents, even some of your neighbors that have been around for quite a while. Is there any particular stories that you would want to tell me about? I asked the next-door neighbors, who are Native Nevadans, and (unintelligible) on the outskirts of Fremont Street was Fifth Street. You don’t know when that was? No I don’t, no I don’t. And I feel that the children had a lot more opportunity here in Las Vegas than they would’ve had in California. California was larger, this was a smaller community. They were very fortunate that they got to be in the activities that they were in, got chosen to be a head of organizations, active at school. Kind of like the differences of being a little fish in a big pond, or a big fish in a little pond. Right, right. And I do feel that we were very fortunate. We had three wonderful children, they associated with very good associates, and when I see nowadays, the people who they associated with in their school days, and how they are now, and the positions that these people have, they’re lawyers, they’re police officers, and they are just great people. There are a few of them that have sort of fallen on the wayside, but that’s just very few compared to the ones that they ran around with and who really made someone out of their lives. When you first came here, to Las Vegas, were you looking forward to the move? Or did you not know what to expect? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 17 I was looking forward to the move, I really was. ‘Course my children probably didn’t want to live out in the middle of the desert with nothing to (unintelligible) and stand around it. My youngest boy, when he first saw Las Vegas for the first time, he said, “This is a pretty picture.” Mm-hmm. How long did it really take you to get used to the harsh summers and just the new, new environment, you know? Climate and everything? Gambling, and (unintelligible) and all that? Well, when you first to move to Las Vegas, you always have a lot of out of town visitors. You make many trips out to the Dam, you almost know the (unintelligible) of the Dam itself as you go down and in through the Dam. (Unintelligible) (Tape one ends) What do you remember Mrs. Johnson about the university system, or the buildings at the university in the late fifties or early sixties? Frazier Hall was the first building that they ever built out there. All this property out there, and this university, was one building. I kept saying to myself, “One of these days, it’s going to grow, and it’s going to be bigger than Reno.” I had a boy that went out there, that first building, Frazier Hall, and I have another son, who is out there, who was also a student body president out there, and they had two buildings out there. They had the two-story buildings in Frazier Hall. Now, it has grown to where they have the Judy Beatty Theatre out there, where they have some wonderful plays, the Cultural Center, the (Unintelligible) Center out there, the wonderful activities that they have out there now, the concerts, the symphonies. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 18 How about the sports and athletics at the university. What do you remember about the early school? They didn’t have much to play on. In fact, their baseball teams, it seems to me that they placed over there at Las Vegas High School. (Unintelligible) Yes, Cashman Field, right, right. But now they have their own sports complex out there, which is very nice. Their student union hall out there is lovely. Wonderful library, I have a neighbor here who has a lot of things out there at the university library, in the history of Las Vegas pictures. (Unintelligible) pictures. What about, you seem to have been pretty active in sports and athletics most of your life, with your kids and so forth. What can you tell us about the early sports activities and things like that in the Southern Nevada, Las Vegas area? Back in 1950, we had Squire’s Park for the children to take and have their games at. Highland Park, they had finally, as they built that down there, you would sit out in the hot sun, very little shade, and watch the children as they were playing baseball. Their football activities, no bleachers—they would have their games down at Squire’s Park. And in the wintertime, you would bundle up and watch the children play football. How about like, swimming pools and—how many people had swimming pools back in the early fifties? I don’t think very many people had swimming pools—they had a public swimming pool down at the Stewart’s Ranch, the old Ranch. They did. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 19 They had a public swimming pool before they built the Louis Center Pool, and it wasn’t very large, but that’s where you went to go swimming. And they also had over at Lorenzi Park, Tule Springs, also had a pool, I believe. But Lorenzi Park was also the park that had the big swimming pool, public swimming pool, picnic grounds, a big fountain in the middle of the swimming pool where the water would come out of it. Everybody liked to get up on it—they had the little lakes out there in Lorenzi Park. (Unintelligible) Right. What about Tule Springs, what do you remember about Tule Springs? Tule Springs is really way out of town. (Laughs) It was on the way to Mount Charleston and it was a beautiful place out there. Mm-hmm. So what about the, school system in Las Vegas area? When did the school system, or the schools really start to get big? When did they really get into the school system? Well, they had Las Vegas High, they had Rancho High, and then Gorman High was built. They had the parochial schools over on Maryland Parkway, and then after Gorman was built, the three high schools here in town, (unintelligible). We got Cashman Junior High School and we got Clark High School. I have a son who teaches at Clark High School. Valley High School, now we have, how many high schools in the town? About ten? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 20 Just about. And then Junior Highs, about the same amount. Just in about a few years. Now you can drive to Henderson and it’s almost all business out there, which is only eleven miles out, but nevertheless, it used to be all open field. What about Henderson itself? Back in those days—what was the town of Henderson like back then? Do you remember? We had the Titanium Plant out there—we had a few homes out there, we had (Unintelligible) Turner out there, which was a housing project, and there were little schools, and outside of that, that was it. They didn’t have any casinos? Or do they have any casinos in Henderson? If they had one, it was very small. But now they do have the Rainbow Club out there. But Henderson was a very small town. What do you remember about Boulder City? Boulder City was a beautiful little town. When we first came to town, we almost bought a place in Boulder City. It was all government run, they had some beautiful homes, they had a beautiful park, which they still have, it was a very clean little town. Very small—we used to go up and down their alleys with spray trucks and spray the (Unintelligible) so that they wouldn’t have any bugs running around. What about local, in Las Vegas, what about the local law enforcement? What do you remember about the police department in the city and the sheriff’s department for the county? The police department had their station up on First Street. Small building. Who was the chief in its first year, do you know? UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 21 I don’t know, I really couldn’t. I know some police officers and some (Unintelligible) who is retired now, he was divorced for many, many a year. The sheriff’s department, made more or less on the outskirts of town. About how big the departments were? No. How big—? No, I couldn’t tell you. All I know is that, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve always had some very good law enforcement taking care of the people. Lots of times instead of arresting the people, back in the olden days, as they called it, they would take the people home, because they only had a few drinks too many, no trouble makers. So they would just take ‘em home. ‘Course, you, you know, your motor vehicle traffic wasn’t quite the same. That’s right, that’s right. But as far as I’m concerned, they can’t say anything about the police department. Because from the time that we have been here, we have never had any trouble with the law. One of the children had an accident one time, (Unintelligible) and that was no trouble. Did anybody ever, were they, ride horses or anything, any police you know? Oh yes. They rode horses, they had the beautiful Helldorado parades, they still have the Helldorado parades, but they’re not the Helldorado parades that they used to have, with the horses and the— How—? Well they used to take ‘em, and they used to build the floats, gorgeous floats. The hotels would sponsor the floats—I had a daughter that was on a float one time. And these floats were beautiful floats, they were like floats that you would see down at the Tournament of Roses down in Pasadena—only instead of real flowers, they were made out of paper, the crane paper and things. UNLV University Libraries Bernice Johnson 22 And you’d go uptown, two, three o’clock in the morning and put your lawn chairs out on the sidewalk, alongside the curb, and they were safe if you left them there until parade time. And you would go down on Fremont Street, and sit with the family and watch these parades. We would go to the Helldorado Rodeos, down at Cashman Field, sit out in the open, and see these beautiful rodeos. What was the (unintelligible) of the Helldorado parade? They would usually start Main Street and come down to approximately, there for a while, it was f