Las Vegas Grand Canyon Tours

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Las Vegas - The City of Lights that never sleeps. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It has not always been this way.

In the 1700's Spanish traders enroute to Los Angeles referred to the expedition through the Las Vegas valley as "jornada de muerte" or journey of death. Rafael Rivera looked upon this valley with it's wild grasses and a water supply and named it Las Vegas, Spanish for "The Meadows."

In 1855, Brigham Young assigned 30 Mormon missionaries to build a fort in this valley. They were there teach the Paiute Indians how to farm. The Paiutes weren't really interesting in their teaching and would raid the fort now and then. As a result, the fort was abandoned in 1857.

Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905. It was originally about 20 square miles and had 800 citizens. Less than 1 percent of Nevada's population. By 1930, that population had grown to over 5000 people.

In 1931, the construction of Hoover Dam started a population boom when the valley was dealing with the Great Depression bust. On March 19, 1931 gambling was legalized in the State of Nevada. One month later, Las Vegas issued six gambling licenses.

With the outbreak of World War II, the defense industry came to the valley. Nellis Air Force Base was located in the northeast and Basic Management Complex was located in the southeastern portion of the valley.

Following World War II, the City of Lights with lavishly decorated resort Hotels and Gambling Casino's offering top-name Entertainment came to the valley. Tourism and Entertainment took over. Where once just 800 people survived, today well over 1,000,000 people serve an annual visitor population of over 36 million people. This valley has grown to support Gambling, great Entertainment, the Defense Industry, Tourism to this majestic area including the Grand Canyon, and a home to those who enjoy these serving in these industries.

An oasis in the desert, the fun, growth and opportunity continues. Welcome to Las Vegas, Nevada!