Clark County, Nevada and the Past 10,000 Years

The story of the land we now call Clark County in the State of Nevada begins sometime around 10,000 years ago. Or at least that’s the time period that all of the archaeological evidence that's been uncovered in the Tule Springs Preserve dates the human artifacts to.

The evidence suggests that humans were present in the Las Vegas Valley as early as 600 CE, and the area was an important travel corridor for the Anasazi, Yuman, and Southern Paiute peoples. The Southern Paiute considered the Las Vegas Valley and southern Nevada as their sacred lands.

Some of the first non-Indigenous people to visit this area of Nevada were explorers, fur trappers, and traders. They traveled overland, many along the Spanish Trail from Santa Fe to Los Angeles.

By 1855, settlers of the Mormon Church had come to the area from Utah, attempting to establish a halfway outpost between their settlements in Salt Lake City and the City of Los Angeles.

They weren’t entirely successful at first. They built a 150-square-foot fort that they later abandoned because life in this uncharted desert landscape proved to be unforgiving without any established infrastructure. Water always was—and is still is—a concern in this desolate desert landscape.

The popularity of the area continued to grow, however, despite the hardships, and enterprising pioneers with governmental support fueled by the American Westward Expansion reinvigorated the colonization of the area. Efforts to irrigate the desert were picked up where the Mormons had left off.

By 1902, the region had the eye of railroad barons, and the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake railroads began to stretch across the land in Clark County. This drew even more settlers, farmers specifically, who were keen to make a better life for their families by cultivating the desert with water that was being piped throughout the area from wells.

An area that would eventually become the massive City of Las Vegas became an important water stop for railroads, wagon trains, and those en route to California to strike it rich with gold. The Las Vegas Valley and all of Clark County continued to grow and haven’t stopped since the county’s official dedication in 1909.

The creation of Hoover Dam in the 1930s also helped to fuel Clark County’s (and Sin City’s) massive growth. The incredible dam project swelled the town of Boulder City by more than 20,000, and this large influx of predominantly male workers was the catalyst for large-scale entertainment. Clark County details that the creation of showgirl performances and casinos can be attributed to Las Vegas business owners—and also the Mafia crime lords.

Senator William Andrews Clark
Montana Senator and copper magnate, William Andrews Clark, was quite influential in the growth of the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas. His influence was so important to the region that the newly-created Clark County was named after him after it split off from Lincoln County in the southern portion of the state of Nevada.

With the help of Utah Senator Thomas Kearns, Clark’s main influence was bringing the railroad to the area, an important turn of events that launched the Las Vegas area into a boomtown.