Registration for the first SAGA Retreat of 2015 will open on Monday, 1 December at 10:00 am Central Time. The location is Las Vegas- so here is a little information about the city.
Las Vegas is the most populated city in Nevada and one
of three leading cities in the US for conventions and business meetings.
Established in 1901 and incorporated as a city in
1911.
It is thought that
the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who
traveled here 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Pauite
tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago.
In 1829 a trader
named Antonio Armijo led a 60 man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles
and these were the first non-Native Americans credited with entering the
valley.
The area was named
Las Vegas, which is Spanish for "the meadows", as it featured
abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers.
John C. Fremont
arrived in the area in 1844 and his writings helped lure pioneers to the area.
Downtown Las Vegas’ Fremont Street is named after him.
Eleven years later
members of the Latter Day Saints church chose Las Vegas as the site to build a
fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to
gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward. The remainder
of this Old
Mormon Fort can still be seen at
the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue.
1931 was a pivotal year for Las
Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency
requirements for divorce to six weeks. This year also witnessed the beginning
of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of construction workers and their families helped Las Vegas
avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was
completed in 1935.
In 1941, the Las Vegas Army Air
Corps Gunnery School was established. Currently known as Nellis Air Force Base,
it is home to the aerobatic team called the Thunderbirds.
Following World War II, lavishly
decorated hotels, gambling casinos and big-name entertainment became synonymous
with Las Vegas.
The 1950s saw the opening of the
Moulin Rouge, the first racially integrated casino-hotel in Las Vegas.
In 1951, the first atomic bomb
was detonated at the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Las
Vegas. City residents and visitors were able to witness the mushroom clouds
until 1963 when the limited Test Ban Treaty required that nuclear tests be
moved underground.
The iconic "Welcome to Las
Vegas" sign, which
was never located in the city, was created in 1959 by Betty Willis, who never
copyrighted it.
During the 1960s, corporations
and business powerhouses such as Howard Hughes were building and buying
hotel-casino properties. Gambling was referred to as "gaming," which
transitioned into legitimate business.
In 1989, entrepreneur Steve Wynn
changed the face of the Las Vegas gaming industry by opening up The Mirage, the
Las Vegas Strip’s first mega-casino resort.
Official City Website with tourist information such as
weather things to do
http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/Visitor/default.htm
