Las Vegas: A Desert Paradise

Book excerpt: “PROLOGUE THE SEARCH FOR GOOD WATER On November 7, 1829, a New Mexican trader named Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party on the first leg of what became a historic deviation from the Great Spanish Trail route to Los Angeles. That deviation resulted in the discovery of Las Vegas. By Christmas Day, Armijo’s caravan had crossed southern Utah and moved into the northwest corner of Arizona. The caravan camped near what is now Littlefield — a sleepy hamlet about 100 miles northeast of present Las Vegas. Armijo dispatched a reconnaissance party to look for a possible shortcut west, and to look for water. A member of the party was a young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera. He decided to break away from the main party and head due west alone over unexplored desert.” Excerpt From: Ralph J. Roske. “Las Vegas: A Desert Paradise.” iBooks.