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Inhabited for centuries by Native Americans, and encountered by Spanish explorers in 1829, the Las Vegas area was only permanently settled in 1855 when a group of Mormons, led by Brigham Young, established a trading post here.

The relaxed gaming laws passed in the Silver State in 1931 encouraged widespread participation. In reality, betting and gambling were already widespread and, in some forms, legal.

The greatest hydroelectric project of the 20th century, the Boulder (later Hoover) Dam was begun in 1931 and completed four years later, at a human cost of 96 lives. (see Hoover Dam)

The ability to keep buildings cool and the greening brought about by irrigation made the Nevada desert far more attractive to developers. In 1941 Los Angeles hotelier Tom Hull bought land three miles south of downtown for $150 an acre and built the 100-room El Rancho motel – a new concept in accommodation.

A handful of hotels and motels followed El Rancho, but only when mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel built the Flamingo Hotel was the hitherto Wild West feel of the town replaced with the Miami Beach style that was to become the hallmark of the Strip.

The extravagant Flamingo was widely imitated in the 1950s, and entertainment was an important part of the new casinos’ allure. Frank Sinatra performed at the Sands hotel in 1960, with friends including John F. Kennedy in the audience. From then on Vegas became a playground of the so-called Rat Pack (Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, et al ).

Hughes’s Summa Corporation was a dominant player in the Nevada hotel/casino industry. Legend (which makes up much Las Vegas history) has it that the eccentric billionaire arrived in town one day by limousine and was whisked up to his suite at the Desert Inn, where he lived as a recluse for several years, with uncut fingernails and hair.

In the 1970s and 1980s the hotels became larger and more flamboyant. In 1991 the groundbreaking MGM Grand, Treasure Island, and pyramid-shaped Luxor launched the theme hotel in earnest.

Hotelier Steve Wynn set a new standard for Las Vegas hotels with the luxurious Bellagio. The former owner of the Mirage hotel group (sold to MGM in 2000) is acknowledged as the creative force behind the modern resort concept.

Las Vegas is becoming synonymous with luxury. Four more grand hotels – the Venetian, Mandalay Bay, Four Seasons, and Paris Las Vegas – opened in 1999, followed by Aladdin in 2000. And Steve Wynn has announced plans to build a hotel even more luxurious than the Bellagio.