Las Vegas is Nevada’s most famous city, but there’s stuff besides the glamor.

Las Vegas’ famous Strip; the city is the epitomy of style over substance – courtesy of Conde Nast Traveler

Beneath the Surface (and not just the glitz)

Las Vegas is within the Las Vegas Valley, a structural basin formed by rock which derives from the Precambrian to Miocene eras. The deeper sections contain 3,000 to 5,000 feet of classic sedimentary deposits; these constitute the valley-fill aquifer and yield most of the water pumped in the valley.

Aquifers are bodies/deposits of water trapped under soil layers; the existence of these has resulted in settlements appearing where no obvious water sources are; Las Vegas sustains itself despite the dry surface due to the aquifers beneath it – courtesy of USGS

The valley’s upper 1,000 feet has coarse grain deposits (sand and gravel), fine grain deposits (silt and clay), and heterogeneous deposits. The latter can be thinly interbeded coarse, fine-grained, or both. Coarse grain deposits are at the valley’s south and west sides, and mingle with fine grain and heterogenous deposits towards the valley’s center. Thin heterogeneous deposits can be found in some parts of the valley. Fault lines (more infamous for inducing earthquakes) can be found along the valley’s sides, suggesting tectonic plate movement played a part in making the dip in the earth where the city is today.

Physical geography of the Las Vegas Valley – courtesy of Las Vegas Review-Journal

Indigenous Inhabitants in the Valley

Hunter-gatherers entered the Great Basin (where Las Vegas is) between 15,000 and 10,000 B.C. These peoples were for a time referred to as “Paleoindians” (politically incorrect, as is using “Indian” to refer to Native Americans), and their nomadic bands generally consisted of 20-50 members. 10,000 years ago, Nevada’s climate change meant seeds, nuts, hunting grounds, and other nutritional sources sustained ancestors of today’s Native Americans. Toquima, Lovelock, Spirit, and other caves have evidence that ancient peoples used them for shelter, food storage, and burials.

Petroglyphs at Toquima Cave – courtesy of Around Nevada

Lovelock Cave – courtesy of This Is Reno

Spirit Cave – courtesy of Nature

Spirit Cave is famous for human remains dating back 10,600 years. DNA analysis has uncovered that, though Spirit Cave Man was Native American, he was more closely related to peoples of Central and South America than to North Americans. His heritage was a fusion of Siberian and East Asian from over 20,000 years ago. These findings imply humans arrived in North America from Siberia’s east over 150 centuries ago, perhaps along the Pacific Shore from where they spread across the Americas. Nevadan tribes have long insisted Spirit Cave Man is like no other, and the DNA analysis, in a way, confirms their sentiment. Spirit Cave Man’s genetic signature exists solely in Native American populations, confirming the “New World” indeed birthed a new people.

Spirit Cave Man – courtesy of Mystery Wire

Beringia, a land bridge which once connected what is now Siberia with what is now Alaska; subsequently, Beringia connected Asia and North America; it’s speculated one of the ways the ancestors of Native Americans reached the Americas was crossing this land bridge – courtesy of Hakai Magazine

Nevada as a whole has been home to tribes such as the Northern Paiute, Shoshone, and Southern Paiute. The latter has left the latest mark in southern Nevada. They’ve inhabited Las Vegas and adjacent areas since 1100 A.D., and today have federally recognized bands (Las Vegas, Moapa, and Pahrump) in the greater Las Vegas area.

Location of the approximate Northern Paiute, Shoshone, Ute, and Southern Paiute territories pre-European and white American colonization – courtesy of J. Willard Marriott Digital Library

Similarities with the Northern Paiute are largely linguistic. To a greater degree, the Southern Paiute also differ culturally from the Northern Paiute. The Southern Paiute have conflicted with the Navajo, Ute, and Hopi, but otherwise have lived peacefully (evidenced in part by their intricate basket weaving, suggesting a domestic approach to the lands). The tribe first encountered Europeans in 1776, and from the 1860s onward the tribe’s land was stolen from them (initially by Mormon settlers, and in the 19th century silver miners). Today, the Southern Paiute honor their ancestors by maintaining their heritage even as they’ve embarked on modern ventures. Las Vegas Band tribal leader Chris Spotted Eagle remarks, “In essence, we need to get back to being caretakers of this Earth and loving each other, regardless of our skin color”.

Sample of Southern Paiute basket weaving – courtesy of Adobe Gallery

Petroglyphs made by the Southern Paiute – courtesy of Frontier Homestead State Park

Vegas Itself

The first known European-descended person to have entered the Las Vegas valley itself was Rafael Rivera, who in 1821 scouted the area as part of Antonio Armijo’s expedition to open a trade route between New Mexico and California (today known as the Old Spanish Trail). Rivera named the valley “Las Vegas”, which, from Spanish, is translated as “the meadows”. It referred to the spring-watered grasses. Until 1848, Las Vegas, as with a solid chunk of the American Southwest, was Mexican territory. In 1848, the valley was dominated by the United States, and in 1855 Brigham Young sent a group of Mormon settlers to the area. They were unsuccessful, but their abandoned fort was taken by Octavius Glass, who named the area Los Vegas Rancho – so as to avoid confusion with Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Land around Las Vegas, New Mexico; having been to New Mexico ourselves, we were a bit astonished at how the parts of that state we went to were wetter than Las Vegas, Nevada, which had no obvious natural water source – courtesy of CNN

In 1905, San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake railroad arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada. It connected the city with the Pacific and the country’s primary railroads. The future downtown was platted and auctioned by railroad company backers, and Las Vegas was incorporated in 1911.

Courtesy of Legends of America

Nevada outlawed gambling in 1910, but in Vegas it continued via illicit institutions. By 1931, when gambling was legalized in the state again, Vegas was already a hub of organized crime; it later competed with corporate interests. Into the 21st century, the city is a hotbed of official and illegal enterprises.

Courtesy of TripSavvy

Slot machine section in Caesars Palace, which we stayed at (for a night, as our flight back to Massachusetts was the next day) – courtesy of KTLA

Visit?

Granted, we were here for a day, but for us the city was tacky, gaming-topheavy, and lacking in attractions beyond what major advertisers point to. There are historic and natural attractions nearby, but they require long drives to reach. In that case, we advise you stay in towns/cities closer to those other attractions. We recommend Las Vegas itself only for the gaming crowds.

Beauty is only skin deep here – courtesy of Travel Nevada

Sources:

1. Plume, Russell W. “Ground-Water Conditions in Las Vegas Valley, Clark County, Nevada”. Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning, Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. Page 7. 1989. https://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/2320a/report.pdf
2. Cachinero, Eric. “Ancient Nevada, Part 2: Civilizations”. Nevada Magazine. March-April 2017. https://nevadamagazine.com/issue/march-april-2017/4262/
3. Bell, Josh. “A Brief History of Nevada’s Indigenous Paiute Tribe”. The Culture Trip. 8 October 2019. https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/nevada/articles/a-brief-history-of-nevadas-indigenous-paiute-tribe/
4. “Las Vegas”. History. 2 December 2009 (Original Publication), 4 December 2020 (Updated). https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/las-vegas

ancient publeon Casa Riconda Chacoan Great Houses Chaco Culture National Historical Park cliff palace Hugo Pavi isla mujeres Junior Park Ranger program Kivas long house mesa verde Mesa Verde audio tour mug house National Park North Beach petroglyphs Petroglyph trail Pueblo Bonito Pueblo del Arroyo Recreation.gov reviews Square House Tower Supernova tour ultramar Una Vida Wetherill mesa whale shark snorkel