Millions of years ago this was a marshland with abundant water and vegetation, home to creatures such as the Columbian mammoth. Then the rivers disappeared beneath the surface, leaving a parched, arid, inhospitable landscape. In only a few areas did underground water surface, creating an oasis in the desert.

None but the Native Americans knew of this site until 1829, when a Mexican trader and his party veered from the accepted route. A scout searching for water discovered the springs - shortening the route to Los Angeles, easing rigors for Spanish traders, and hastening the rush west for California gold. The original name "Vegas" was changed to "Las Vegas," meaning "The Meadows."

The first large-scale settlement was by Mormons, who built an adobe fort, planted fruit trees, cultivated vegetables, and mined lead for bullets. Indian raids forced them to abandon the site, which today is near the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard North and Washington Avenue.

Railroad developers were the next to come, building a stop facility and town. This is the home of the only railroad station in the world located inside a hotel-casino. In 1905 the Union Pacific Railroad auctioned off 1,200 lots in a single day in the area known today as Glitter Gulch. Gambling made Las Vegas, but competition forced it to evolve, first into an entertainment center and now into a mega-resort destination.

The first high rise hotel was built in 1955 - an astonishing nine stories high made possible by the elevator. (The first elevator had been installed in 1932.) By the first the first hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip in 1941, the area already had 36 years of history. What will you add to its legacy?