Peter Gratton was born in 1944 in Staten Island, New York, where his father was in the Coast Guard. However, he spent his childhood in Minnesota. From 1965 to 1969, Peter was a member of the US Marine Corps, serving a tour in Vietnam. As his military duty was ending, he learned that his parents were relocating to Vegas, bringing with them all of Peter's belongings. So Peter caught up with them in Vegas where he transitioned to civilian life in a new city by "bumming around for a couple of months." He decided to stay and took a keno job at Golden Gate Casino. In 1981, he graduated from UNLV and was accredit to teach history and earth science. This proved to be a good background for an opening at the UNLV library and he helped organize the map collection. With that, his UNLV library career was successfully launched. At the time of this interview, Peter was Administrative Assistant III Lied Library Building Department. In the following pages Peter tells of his experiences that lead up to becoming a Las Vegas resident and longtime member of the UNLV library staff.

Marquee of the Hotel Sahara's 6th Annual Invitational $77,777.77 Golf Tournament, October 15-20 at the Paradise Valley Country Club. A smaller arrow-shaped marquee says "Welcome British Ryder Team". A sign for the Holiday Hotel is visible in the background. The Sahara Invitational was a PGA Tour event that was played in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1958 to 1976. From 1958 to 1961 it was called the Sahara Pro-Am and was not an official PGA Tour event. It was played at the Paradise Valley Country Club from 1962-1968 and from 1970-1971; and at the Sahara Valley Country Club (also referenced as the Sahara Nevada Country Club) in 1969 and from 1973-1976. The Sahara Hotel sponsored the tournament. Two tournaments were won here on October 20th, with the first tournament being won on October 20, 1963 by Jack William "The Golden Bear" Nicklaus with a final score of 276 over second place finisher Arnold Palmer, who shot a total of 285. Juan Antonio "Chi-Chi" Rodriguez won the second tournament on October 20, 1968 with a final score of 274, besting Dale Dwight Douglass, who tied with him at 274, in a sudden death playoff to take the title. Once owned by Howard Hughes, the Golf Club was re-named the Wildhorse Golf Club in 1994. The golf club is located at 2100 W. Warm Springs Road, Henderson, Nevada.