The fort new vegas series#

The fort new vegas series#

This lesson is one in a series that brings the important stories of historic places into classrooms across the country. The lesson was edited by the staff at the Teaching with Historic Places program and historians in Las Vegas. Linda Miller, a retired secondary social studies teacher and adjunct at the Community College of Southern Nevada. This lesson is based on the National Register of Historic Places nomination for Las Vegas Mormon Fort (with photographs), materials from Nevada State Parks, and other sources in Nevada and Utah related to the fort and the expansion of the Mormons. 4 (Las Vegas, Nevada: Friends of the Fort, 2000) also cited in Our Pioneer Heritage. ¹ Excerpted from John Steele's diary reprinted in The Fortress, Vol. All of this was done to honor the memory of the many faces that contributed to the history of the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort, and promote its legacy in hopes of preserving it for future generations. Lunch was served by the pioneers in Dutch ovens like they used in the past. Civil War re-enactors recalled the war's importance to Nevada's history. Ranch owner, Helen Stewart, was seen on the grounds. On Jthe Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort came alive again as re-enactors (many descendants of the original Utah Pioneers) brought Old Glory out at the fort yard as they had done 150 years before. Today, a small portion of the original fort wall, part of the bastion, the underground foundation of the ranch, and remnants of the testing lab, remain to tell the story of the origins of Las Vegas. The area was particularly coveted for Mormon territorial expansion because it was located halfway between the Mormon settlements of Southern Utah and the San Bernardino Mission established in 1851 in Southern California.Īfter the mission closed, the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort served as a ranch, resort, and cement testing facility. The Mormons wanted to establish a halfway station in the valley for travelers between Salt Lake City and the Pacific Coast. On the Old Spanish Trail between New Mexico and California, the Las Vegas Valley was an oasis in the desert. The group arrived from Salt Lake less than three weeks before on June 14, after being called by President Brigham Young to establish this mission to convert the nomadic Southern Paiute Indians to Mormonism and teach them new farming techniques. John Steele, one of the first of the Mormon Missionaries to arrive at what became the 'Las Vegas Mission,' wrote the above in his journal to recount the activities of the first Independence Day celebrations in 1855. Then all were dismissed by prayer and went to perform our several camps duties.¹ Afterwards there were many spirited speeches, songs, and toasts from many of the brethren. The company paraded at the dawn of day and fired a salute very spiritedly also at sun-up and again when the liberty pole was erected and the flag floated majestically to the breeze, another salute was fired the company having previously assembled, kneeling down and offering up their devotions to God. This lesson is part of the National Park Service’s Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) program.