History of Nevada - wikipedia History of Nevada Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, 1864, after telegraphing the Constitution of Nevada to the Congress days before the November 8 presidential election ( the largest and costliest transmission ever by telegraph ). Statehood was rushed to help ensure three electoral votes for Abraham Lincoln 's reelection and add to the Republican congressional majorities. Nevada 's harsh but rich environment shaped its history and culture. Before 1858 small Mormon settlements along the border of Utah sustained their communities through faith, but the secular western section stumbled along until the great silver strikes beginning in 1858 created boom towns and fabulous fortunes. After the beginning of the 20th century, profits declined while Progressive reformers sought to curb capitalism. They imagined a civilized Nevada of universities, lofty idealism, and social reform. But an economic bust during the 1910s and disillusionment from failures at social reform and a population decline of nearly one - fourth meant that by 1920 Nevada had degenerated into a `` beautiful desert of buried hopes. '' The boom returned when big time gambling arrived in 1931, and with good transportation ( especially to California metropolitan areas ), the nation 's easiest divorce laws, and a speculative get - rich - quick spirit, Nevada had a boom - and - bust economy that was mostly boom until the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 revealed extravagant speculation in housing and casinos on an epic scale. The Nevada 1861 territory boundary ( blue ) changed three times : 1864 statehood shifted eastern border from 39th to 38th meridian, 1866 May 5 ; east border ( pink ) moved eastward 53.3 mi ( 85.8 km ), from 38th to 37th meridian, and 1867 January 18 ; south boundary ( yellow ) moved from the 37th parallel north southward to the current boundary ( 14 Stat. 43 ) Main articles : Outline of Nevada and Timeline of the American Old West Contents 1 Early historical facts 1.1 Prehistory 1.2 Exploration, New Spain, and Mexico 1.3 Territory 1.4 Statehood 1.5 Water sources 1.6 Mining 1.7 Transportation 1.8 Mining towns 2 Homesteading 3 Twentieth century 3.1 Politics 3.2 Religion and ethnicity 3.3 Gambling 3.4 Prostitution 4 Military activities 4.1 World War II 4.2 Nuclear tests 5 Recent history 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 8.1 Surveys 8.2 Cities and regions 8.3 Economy and people 8.4 Politics 8.5 Primary sources 9 External links Early Historical facts Geologic events formed the state 's Basin and Range topography, the `` Nevada Basin '' physiographic region, and the central Nevada desert ( e.g., the recession of the Pleistocene Lake Lahontan changed the Humboldt River course ), and Great Basin. The Paiute, Shoshone, Washoe, and Walapai tribes had inhabited Nevada for millennia before Euro - Americans arrived in the 18th century. Prehistory This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. ( August 2014 ) Exploration, New Spain, and Mexico Francisco Garcés was the first European in the area. Nevada was annexed as a part of the Spanish Empire in the northwestern territory of New Spain. Administratively, the area of Nevada was part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Nevada became a part of Alta California ( Upper California ) province in 1804 when the Californias were split. With the Mexican War of Independence won in 1821, the province of Alta California became a territory - not a state - of Mexico, due to the small population. In later years, a desire for increased autonomy led to several attempts by the Alta Californians to gain independence from Mexico. Jedediah Smith entered the Las Vegas Valley in 1827, and Peter Skene Ogden traveled the Humboldt River in 1828. As a result of the Mexican -- American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe - Hidalgo, Mexico permanently lost Alta California in 1848. The new areas acquired by the United States continued to be administered as territories. As part of the Mexican Cession ( 1848 ) and the subsequent California Gold Rush that used Emigrant Trails through the area, the state 's area evolved first as part of the Utah Territory, then the Nevada Territory ( March 2, 1861 ; named for the Sierra Nevada ). The capitol is Carson City Territory Nevada became part of the United States with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with Mexico in 1848. Mexico had never established any control in Nevada, but American mountain men were in Washoe ( the early name for Nevada ) as early as 1827. A permanent American presence began in 1851 when the Mormons set up way stations en route to the California gold fields. In the absence of any governmental authority, some 50 Mormons and non-Mormon prospectors and cattle ranchers drew up the `` Washoe code '' to deal with land claims ; its coverage eventually covered other governmental issues. There still was no federal presence in the area so religious tensions worsened and petitions of complaint went to Washington. Non-Mormons sought annexation to California. Utah Territory countered this by incorporating the area as a county. When Federal troops were sent to Utah in 1857, the Mormons left Washoe. The non-Mormons took over and launched a move for separate territorial status. The early 1860s saw the end of an Indian war, the great Comstock mining boom of 1859 in Virginia City and the coming of the Civil War. The provisional territorial government led to the creation of Nevada Territory by Congress in 1861. The pragmatic attempts to establish workable frontier institutions had failed and the paternalistic territorial system was welcomed. Statehood Statehood came in 1864 following a Carson City convention ( July 4 -- 28 ) and a public vote on September 7 ( the population of 6,857 in 1860 increased to 42,941 in 1870 ), although Nevada had far fewer than the 60,000 people usually required. The University of Nevada was founded in Elko in 1874 and moved to Reno in 1885 ( extension classes began at Las Vegas in 1951 ). Water sources The largest United States reservoir ( Lake Mead ) was created by the Hoover Dam on the state 's 1867 Colorado River border ( construction began in 1931 ). From 1930 to 2000, the Clark County population grew from 8,532 to 1,375,765 ; while the Reno population increased from 18,529 to 180,480. For historic locations of New Deal projects, see Category : New Deal in Nevada. Mining Ruins of an early 20th - century mill, Winnemucca Mountain The 1859 Comstock Lode discovery opened the era of silver mining in Nevada, and attracted thousands of miners -- most from California. It was discovered by James Finney in Carson County. Disputes over the legal limits of a claim soon went to court, as the Law of the Apex, used to determine those limits, was unworkable for the deep ore bodies in the Comstock. The legal and judicial system of Carson County was unprepared for the tremendous demands placed on it. Judges were underpaid and underqualified, bribery of witnesses and jurors was commonplace, vague record - keeping created nearly insurmountable difficulties with property titles, and evidence was often destroyed. Though workable mining laws still were needed, the resignation of the entire territorial supreme court in 1864 did cause litigation to stop and allowed mining work to resume. There was a gold rush that created Aurora in ( 1860 ). Located on the disputed border with California, at one time Aurora was the county seat of counties in California and Nevada, until the boundary dispute was settled locating Aurora in Nevada. The 1867 expansion of the state 's southern boundary was prompted by the discovery of gold in the area since officials thought Nevada would be better able to oversee the expected gold rush. By 1872, Nevada mining was an industry of speculation and immense wealth. After 1870, however, the mining industry went into eclipse, as the state 's Silverite politicians worked to secure laws to require the federal government to purchase silver. The discovery of silver and gold in 1910 near Tonopah set off a boom that ended Nevada 's Economic depression. The operators used the best available technology to recover gold and silver from ore, but by modern standards there was much inefficiency and chemical pollution. Methods included the use of the arrastra, the patio process, the Freiberg process, and the Washoe pan process. Estimates of value lost through recovery processes ran as high as 25 %. Mine operators sought improved technology, but were unwilling to wait years or decades for it to arrive. No one at the time understood the health problems such metals as mercury could cause. Transportation Although the transcontinental railroad crossed the state in 1869, most town and mines were remote from it and required a network of wagon freight and stagecoaches. Numerous small companies supplied the horses, mules, and wagons for hauling borax and silver ore. Stagecoaches were notoriously uncomfortable across the roadless land, but were better than the alternatives and flourished until a railroad finally arrived. Hold - ups were rare, and usually involved petty theft since armed guards were an effective deterrent. Mail contracts kept stage lines afloat and allowed the emergence of a class of entrepreneurs who won contracts and subcontracted the actual work. The Eureka and Palisade Railroad was a narrow - gauge railroad ninety miles long built in 1875 to carry silver - lead ore from Eureka, Nevada, to the Southern Pacific Railroad trunk line that ran through Palisade. Nevertheless, despite the determined and colorful management style of John Sexton, the line succumbed to the effects of flood, fire, competing road traffic, and dwindling amounts of ore extracted in Eureka. The rails and rolling stock of the last surviving narrow - gauge railroad in Nevada were removed in 1938. Historic highways include the 1937 US 6 and 1919 US 50 ( Lincoln Highway ). The 1926 destination of the first air mail flight was Elko. Interstate 15 in Nevada was completed in 1974, while the Lovelock bypass was the last completed section of Interstate 80 in Nevada. Mining towns Golconda was a mining town in northern Nevada built when discovery of copper, silver, gold, and lead brought entrepreneurs who opened mines and mills in the district. A diverse society of native - born Americans, French, Portuguese, Paiutes, Chinese, and other people came to Golconda to live and work. During 1898 - 1910, the town had a train depot, several hotels, a school, businesses, newspapers, and two brothels. Its population peaked at about six hundred in 1907 - 08. Although boosters predicted growth for Golconda, after 1910 the mines played out, leaving the region as an area of ranches and farms. Most of the town 's buildings from its mining heyday are gone, and Golconda today is a minor stop on Interstate 80. Tuscarora was founded in Elko County after an expedition by trader William Heath discovered gold. As miners flocked to the town in 1867 - 70, a fort was built to offer protection from Indian raids and a water ditch was created to supply the town with water. Many Chinese men who had been employed by the Central Pacific Railroad ( CPRR ) relocated to the town and began placer mining. A second boom began following the discovery of silver in 1876 - 77. A strike at Tonopah ( 1900, silver ) was followed by strikes in Goldfield ( 1902 -- 1919, gold ) and Rhyolite ( 1904 -- 1911, gold ). The strikes brought Nevada to the forefront of the nation again, just as the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada had in the late 1800s. While the Comstock made dozens of owners rich, the gold in Goldfield and the stock sold on speculation made two people exceedingly rich. George S. Nixon and George Wingfield were worth $30 million after taking their Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company public in 1906. The partner 's had a loss the following year and Nixon 's Nye County Bank struggled. Wingfield, however, reaped an even greater fortune from real estate, especially after moving to Reno, Nevada. After gambling was legalized in 1931, Wingfield again had money coming in from his leases and a partnership in several casinos. As many Nevada towns went through the boom and bust cycle, gambling keep the state 's economy strong. However, remnants of mining resulted in the 1989 designation of the Carson River Mercury ( Superfund ) Site Rio Tinto was developed after the discovery of copper in Northern Elko County 's Cope Mining District. The town moved from mine to mine and it went from boom to bust in regular cycles. In 1919 Frank Hunt discovered copper in the area and later named his claim Rio Tinto. Once investors and big mining companies became interested in Hunt 's copper, the town soon developed and filled with homes to house the miners. After all the copper was removed, Rio Tinto suffered the same fate as most boom towns and vanished. Homesteading Over 87 % of the Nevada area is owned by the federal government, as homesteads of maximum 640 acres ( 2.6 km ) in the arid state were generally too little land for a viable farm. Instead, early settlers would homestead land surrounding a water source, and then graze cattle on the adjacent public land, which is useless without access to water. The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, the establishment of a state dry - farming experiment station, and private promotional efforts stimulated dry farming within a fifty - mile radius of Wells, Nevada, but a combination of low precipitation, short summers, abundant jackrabbits, mediocre soil, and the faulty judgment of the settlers themselves virtually ended the ill - favored experiment after 1916. Twentieth century For a list of governors and a list of museums regarding Nevada history, see List of Governors of Nevada and List of museums in Nevada. The state was by far the smallest in terms of population. The 1930 census reported 91,000 people, with Reno the largest city at 19,000 and Las Vegas at 5,000. 62 % of the people lived in towns with fewer than 2,500 people or in rural areas alongside the 340,000 cattle and 830,000 sheep. Politics The gold discovery in Tonopah in 1900 brought together a group of men who dominated Nevada politics for a half century. They included George Wingfield ( mine owner, banker and behind - the - scenes player ) ; George Nixon ( banker, editor and cofounder of the Silver party ) ; Key Pittman ( U.S. Senator ), Vail Pittman ( Key Pittman 's brother ; governor ) ; Pat McCarran ( U.S. Senator ) and George Thatcher ( a leader of the state Democratic party ) John Edward Jones and Reinhold Sadler, Silver Party governors of Nevada, during 1895 - 1903, shared like backgrounds and rose to political power by the same route. Each was a European immigrant who came to the state in its mining boom of the 1870s, prospered financially, and engaged in politics until the boom collapsed late in the 1870s. Then Jones and Sadler embraced bimetallism and a companion cure - all for Nevada 's economic ills - reclamation of desert land in order to provide an economy based partly on agriculture. Religion and ethnicity Because most of Nevada was sparsely populated and was subject to economic booms - and - busts accompanied by population fluctuations, Catholic churches faced difficulties in serving spiritually their scattered and mobile communicants. Nevada Catholic parish life until 1900 reflected the Irish heritage of its parish clergy and the bulk of their flocks. Slavic, Italian, and Basque Catholics moved to the state after 1900 and sometimes allied with native - born Americans so that the traditional dominance of Irish Catholics diminished markedly by the 1930s. Italian Americans worked in Nevada as miners, but, unlike many other immigrants, enough Italians stayed after the mining booms collapsed ; they became the largest European ethnic groups by 1910. Many operated farms and ranches. Besides exercising significant economic clout, they have fundamentally influenced the Nevada social order in other ways, in part because of their persistent anticlericalism Gambling The 1931 gambling law enabled the explosive growth of the Las Vegas area, where the population grew from 5 thousand in 1930 to 1.9 million in 2008. Because of hostility from miners and their sympathizers, Nevada 's territorial and state antigambling laws were mostly unenforced from 1859 until the Comstock Lode mining booms collapsed in the 1870s. After 1881, the state attempted to restrict gambling through licensing and other statutory controls. Opponents of gambling and prostitution became organized and in the Progressive Era at last persuaded state legislators to prohibit gambling statewide in 1910 as part of a nationwide anti-gaming crusade. During the Great Depression in the United States, Nevada legalized gambling -- terming it `` gaming '' -- in 1931 ; ( the Northern Club received the first license ). At the time, the leading proponents of gambling expected that it would be a short term fix until the state 's economic base widened to include less cyclical industries. However, re-outlawing gambling has never been seriously considered since, and the industry has become Nevada 's primary source of revenue today. Gambling taxes account for 34 % of state revenue. Also in 1931 the residence requirement for divorce was reduced to six weeks, making Reno a famous mecca for the quickie divorce and people from all over the country to `` take the cure. '' In the 1930s, Reno 's Bank Club was the state 's largest employer. It was also the largest casino in the world until Harold 's Club surpassed it in the 1950s. The Second World War was very good to Reno as local bases and those in Northern California helped boost the economy. In the late 1940s `` Bugsy '' Siegel helped get Las Vegas on the map by first building the most expensive casino in the world, the Flamingo, and then by being gunned down in his Beverly Hills home. Las Vegas casinos of the 1950s were mostly low - rise building taking advantage of the wide - open spaces that Reno did n't offer in the downtown area of Virginia Street. However, Las Vegas boomed with new luxurious hotels in the 1960s and the city 's gambling casinos drew players from all over the world, and away from Reno and Lake Tahoe. Prostitution Main article : Prostitution in Nevada Brothels have been tolerated in Nevada since the middle of the 19th century ; one in Elko has been in business since 1902. In 1937, a law was enacted to require weekly health checks of all prostitutes. Reno and Las Vegas had red light districts, when the federal government prohibited all prostitution near military bases in 1942 ( lifted in 1948 ). In 1951, both Reno and Las Vegas had closed their red light districts as public nuisances. Military activities For a list of topics regarding this subject, see Category : Military in Nevada. Modoc Wendover Winnemucca Lovelock. North Lovelock. South Pyramid. Lake Reno. AAF Carson. Sink Fallon. West / East NAAS. Fallon Churchill Minden Hawthorne. Plant # 1 # 2 # 4 # 5 & # 3 Tonopah. AAF Las. Vegas... AAF Federal Building Camp. Williston Indian. Springs # 1 # 2& # 3 # 4 # 5 Bishop Mojave `` B '' NOTS MCAAS. Mojave Muroc Kingman Yucca WWII Nevada military sites included Army Airfields ( red ) such as Indian Springs Army Airfield and Army / Navy ranges ( ). ( Yellow indicates Indian Springs auxiliary fields. ) Military and other government exploration of the territory included efforts by John C. Frémont ( 1843 ), Lieutenant E.G. Beckwith ( 1854 ), and the Fortieth Parallel Survey ( 1867 ). During the American Civil War, the territory mustered infantry and cavalry, and skirmishes of the American Indian Wars occurred in Nevada during the Snake War ( 1864 -- 1868 ). American Old West forts in Nevada included Fort Churchill, Fort Halleck, Fort McDermit, and Fort Schellbourne. The current Hawthorne Army Depot was established for munitions production in 1930. World War ii Senator Pat McCarran and other Nevada officials campaigned successfully in Washington to open military installations in Nevada. It had vast lands, sunny weather and good rail connections. The Las Vegas Army Gunnery School, the Basic Magnesium plant, Nellis Air Force Base, and other facilities brought thousands of people to the area for training as well as workers to construct housing, air strips, and other military installations. Las Vegas Army Air Field and Tonopah AAF were created from existing airfields, and the United States Army Air Forces built four additional Nevada airfields in 1942, including Indian Springs AAF, Reno Army Air Base, and a facility near Fallon. Ranges and emergency strips included the Battle Mountain Flight Strip, the Black Rock Desert gunnery range ( part of the Lovelock Aerial Gunnery Range during the Cold War ), Churchill Flight Strip, and Owyhee Flight Strip. Both Tonopah AAF and Indian Springs AAF each had 5 auxiliary airstrips including Indian Springs ' at Forty - Mile Canyon Field and Groom Lake Field. Camp Williston ( 1940 -- 1944 ) at Boulder City provided security for Henderson 's Basic Magnesium Plant ( 14,000 employees ) and Hoover Dam ( a concrete observation station still exists ). Nuclear tests Nuclear testing began at the Nevada Proving Ground in 1951 with a 1 kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat. Over 1000 nuclear detonations were conducted until the site 's last atmospheric detonation in 1962 and last underground detonation in 1992. In 2002, Congress approved the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository at the site. Notable military aircraft accidents in Nevada include the 1948 Lake Mead Boeing B - 29 crash, the 1949 Stead AFB F - 51 crash, and several USAF Thunderbird demonstration team crashes, including the 1982 Indian Springs AFAF formation that killed 4 pilots. Spy plane testing in Area 51 began in April 1955, and stealth fighter testing began in 1982 at the Tonopah Test Range, where in 2008 the last F - 117 Nighthawk was retired in secure storage. The USAF Red Flag combat exercise was first held in 1975 at the Nellis Air Force Range, and the United States Navy 's TOPGUN school was moved to Naval Air Station Fallon in 1996. Recent History Nevada favors a highly individualistic political culture, giving it a libertarian -- conservative political philosophy in an open society. Wealth from mining and gambling reinforced the individualistic ethic that early settlers brought with them. The libertarian ethic appears in the opposition of most Nevadans to big government, big labor, and big business. Labor unions, especially the SEIU which organizes hotel and casino workers, thrive among the minority workers in Las Vegas. Belief in limited government leads to an electorate that backs a pro-choice position on abortion while opposing the Equal Rights Amendment for women. The state 's ongoing battles with the federal government involve the longstanding water rights dispute between Native Americans, backed by the federal government, and Nevada 's ranchers ; and the decade - long fight against the establishment of the nation 's first permanent nuclear waste depository at Yucca Mountain. In 1998, the largest industries were services ( 40.7 % of earnings ), construction ( 11.6 % ), and state / local government ( 10.0 % ). Flag of Nevada, 1905 - 1915 Nickname : `` The Silver State '', Motto : `` All For Our Country '' ( 1866 ) Flower : sagebrush ( 1917 ) Tree : single - leaf pinyon ( 1953 ) ( the 1929 flag used the words `` Battle Born '', and `` Nevada '' was added in 1991 ). In June 2017, a heat wave grounded more than 40 airline flights of small aircraft were grounded, with American Airlines reducing sales on certain flights to prevent the vehicles from being over the maximum weight permitted for safe takeoff and Las Vegas tying its record high at 117 degrees Fahrenheit. See also History portal North America portal United States portal Nevada portal Main article : Historical outline of Nevada Timeline of Las Vegas Timeline of Reno, Nevada References Jump up ^ Michael Green, `` Abraham Lincoln, Nevada, and the Law of Unintended Consequences, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Summer 2009, Vol. 52 # 2 pp 85 - 108 Jump up ^ Wilbur S... Shepperson, `` Nevada : Beautiful Desert Of Buried Hopes, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Dec 1991, Vol. 34 # 4, pp 439 - 465 Jump up ^ William D. Rowley, `` People of Good Hope in the Land of Nod, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Mar 1999, Vol. 42 # 1 pp 3 - 20 Jump up ^ Louise L. Schiavone, `` Vegas Revisited, '' Mortgage Banking Vol. 69 # 12 ( September 2009 ) pp 48 +. Jump up ^ Henry Gannett ( 1855 ). Boundaries of the United States. Jump up ^ Fenneman, Nevin ( 1916 ). Physiographic Subdivision of the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences... Volume 3, 1917. Harvard University Library of the Museum of Comparative Biology. pp. 17 -- 22. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ GoodReads.com book review of : Hulse, James W ( 2009 ). Nevada 's Environmental Legacy : Progress or Plunder. Reno : University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 87417 - 769 - 5. Jump up ^ `` Explorers and Settlers in Nevada '' ( PDF ). Washoe County School District. p. 2. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Online Etymology Dictionary ''. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 20. Jump up ^ Kent D. Richards, `` Washoe Territory : Rudimentary Government In Nevada, '' Arizona and the West, 1969, Vol. 11 # 3 pp 213 - 232 Jump up ^ Bruce Alverson, `` The Limits of Power : Comstock Litigation, 1859 - 1864, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, March 2000, Vol. 43 # 1 pp 74 - 99 Jump up ^ Twain, Mark ( 1872 ). Roughing It. Jump up ^ Michael J. Makley, The Infamous King of the Comstock : William Sharon and the Gilded Age in the West ( 2006 ) Jump up ^ Eugene J. Michal, `` Win Some, Lose Some : The Evolution of Milling Practice on the Comstock Lode, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, June 2005, Vol. 48 # 2 pp 255 - 276 Jump up ^ John F. Due, `` Road Transport in Nevada : Wagon Freights and Stagecoaches 1860 - 1895, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Dec 1999, Vol. 42 # 4 pp 222 - 255 Jump up ^ Jorja Muir, `` Eureka and Palisade Railroad, '' Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Dec 1999, Vol. 99 # 4 pp 92 - 107 Jump up ^ John M. Gomes, `` Golconda 'S Glory Days, 1898 - 1910, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, June 2007, Vol. 50 # 2 pp 145 - 167 Jump up ^ `` Tuscarora Mystery, '' Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, 2008, Issue 2, pp 38 - 40 Jump up ^ Moe, Al W. The Roots of Reno, ( 1 ), 2008, p. 153 Jump up ^ Dan Basañez, `` Copper in the Cope, '' Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, 2009, Issue 4, pp 98 - 103 Jump up ^ Marshall E. Bowen, `` Bitter Times : The Summers of 1915 and 1916 on Northeast Nevada 's Dry Farms, '' Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, March 1993, Vol. 93 # 1 pp 2 - 26 Jump up ^ Driggs and Goodall, Nevada Politics ch 4 Jump up ^ Mary Ellen Glass, `` The Silver Governors : Immigrants in Nevada Politics, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Sept 1978, Vol. 21 # 3 pp 170 - 188 Jump up ^ James S. Olson, `` Pioneer Catholicism in Eastern and Southern Nevada, 1864 - 1931, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Sep 1983, Vol. 26 # 3 pp 159 - 171 Jump up ^ Albin J. Cofone, `` Themes in the Italian Settlement of Nevada, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, June 1982, Vol. 25 # 2 pp 116 - 130 Jump up ^ Phillip I. Earl, `` Veiling the Tiger : The Crusade against Gambling, 1859 - 1910, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Dec 1985, Vol. 29 # 3 pp 175 - 204 Jump up ^ `` Fremont Street Experience Brings Downtown Las Vegas Into Next Century ''. Fremont Street Experience. Retrieved 2008 - 12 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Nevada ''. InfoPlease.com. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 21. Jump up ^ Moe, Al W. Nevada 's Golden Age of Gambling, Puget Sound Books, 2002, p. 68 Jump up ^ Albert, Alexa, `` Brothel. Mustang Ranch and its Women ''. Random House 2001. ISBN 0 - 375 - 50331 - 5 Jump up ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xCoaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cSMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5816,5814549&dq=indian-springs-army&hl=en Jump up ^ Archive Search Report : Dixie Valley Bombing Target No. 21 ( Report ). Fallon AAS also used ranges at Black Rock, Sahwave, Lovelock Gunnery Range, Pyramid Lake ( torpedo bombing range ) and Bravo 19 ( in the Blow Sand Mountains ). Jump up ^ Wheeler, Sessions S. ( September 2003 ) ( 1978 ). Nevada 's Black Rock desert. Caxton Press. p. 174. ISBN 978 - 0 - 87004 - 258 - 4. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 13. Jump up ^ Earl, Phillip I ( Winter -- Spring 1988 ). `` Hollywood Comes to the Black Rock : The Story of the Making of The Winning of Barbara Worth ''. Humboldt Historian. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ Robert V. Nickel, `` Dollars, Defense, and the Desert : Southern Nevada 'S Military Economy and World War II, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Dec 2004, Vol. 47 # 4 pp 303 - 327 Jump up ^ `` History ''. Naval Air Station Fallon. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 20. Jump up ^ Rodden, Mimi Garat ( 2001 ). Boulder City, Nevada. p. 8. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 20. ( camp newspaper ) Jump up ^ `` Nevada ''. American Forts. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 20. Jump up ^ Don W. Driggs, and Leonard E. Goodall. Nevada Politics & Government : Conservatism in an Open Society ( 1996 ) Jump up ^ `` Nevada - Industry ''. City-Data.com. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 21. Jump up ^ http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/heat-wave-hits-southwest-on-1st-day-of-summer/ar-BBCX7Yb?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout Jump up ^ http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/20/us/weather-west-heat-wave/ Further reading Surveys Driggs, Don W. and Leonard E. Goodall. Nevada Politics and Government : Conservatism in an Open Society ( 1996 ). online edition, university textbook Elliott, Russell R., and William D. Rowley. History of Nevada ( 2nd ed. 1987 ) online edition Green, Michael S. Nevada : A History of the Silver State ( 2015 ). Hulse, James W. The Nevada Adventure ( 6th ed., 1990 ), for middle schools Rowley, William D. `` The Enterprise of Nevada History, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 57 ( 2014 ) 139 - 59 ; Historiography. Cities and regions Brigham, Jay. `` Reno, Las Vegas, and the Strip : A Tale of Three Cities. '' Western Historical Quarterly 46.4 ( 2015 ) : 529 - 530. Moehring, Eugene P. Resort City in the Sunbelt : Las Vegas, 1930 - 2000 ( 2000 ). Moehring, Eugene, `` The Urban Impact : Towns and Cities in Nevada 's History, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 57 ( 2014 ) : 177 -- 200. Rowley, Rex J. Everyday Las Vegas : Local Life in a Tourist Town ( 2013 ) Economy and people Bennett, Dana R., `` ' The Up - Growth of New Industries ' : Transformation of Nevada 's Economy, 1918 -- 1929, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, 52 ( Fall 2009 ), 175 -- 97. DePolo, Ron, and Mark Pingle. `` A Statistical History of the Nevada Population, 1860 - 1993, '' Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Dec 1994, Vol. 37 # 4, pp 282 -- 306 Douglass, William A. and Jon Bilbao, Amerikanuak : Basques in the New World ( 1975 ), scholarly study ; ch 6 covers Nevada Elliott, Russell R. Nevada 's Twentieth Century Mining Boom ( 1965 ). Glass, Mary Ellen. Silver and Politics in Nevada, 1892 - 1902 ( 1969 ) Goldman, Marion. Gold Diggers and Silver Miners ( 1981 ). Politics Bushnell, Eleanore, ed. Sagebrush and Neon : Studies in Nevada Politics ( 2nd ed. 1976 ). Edwards, Jerome E. Pat McCarran : Political Boss of Nevada ( 1982 ), highly detailed narrative covers 1916 to 1954 Elliott, Gary E. Senator Alan Bible and the Politics of the New West ( 1994 ) Mack, Effie Mona. Nevada : A History of the State from the Earliest Times through the Civil War ( 1936 ) Raymond, Elizabeth. George Wingfield : Owner and Operator of Nevada ( 1992 ) Titus, A. Constandina. ed. Battle Born : Federal - State Conflict in Nevada during the Twentieth Century ( 1989 ) Primary sources Reid, John B... and Ronald M. James, eds. Uncovering Nevada 's Past : A Primary Source History of the Silver State ( 2004 ) External links online books and articles Federal Writers ' Project ( 1957 ), `` Chronology '', Nevada : a Guide to the Silver State, American Guide Series, Portland, Or. : Binfords & Mort State of Nevada Carson City ( capital ) Topics Delegations Government History Nevada Territory World War II People Transportation Tourist attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Elections Politics Regions Black Rock Desert Eagle Valley Great Basin Lake Mead Lake Tahoe Las Vegas Valley Mojave Desert Pahranagat Valley Sierra Nevada Trout Creek Mountains Truckee Meadows Metro areas Las Vegas -- Paradise Reno -- Sparks Carson City Counties Churchill Clark Douglas Elko Esmeralda Eureka Humboldt Lander Lincoln Lyon Mineral Nye Pershing Storey Washoe White Pine Cities and communities Alamo Amargosa Valley Austin Baker Battle Mountain Beatty Boulder City Caliente Carlin Carson City Elko Ely Enterprise Eureka Fallon Fernley Gardnerville Ranchos Gerlach Goldfield Hawthorne Henderson Incline Village Las Vegas Laughlin Lovelock Mesquite Minden North Las Vegas Panaca Pahrump Paradise Pioche Primm Rachel Reno Spanish Springs Sparks Spring Creek Spring Valley Stateline Summerlin South Sun Valley Sunrise Manor Tonopah Virginia City West Wendover Winnemucca Whitney Winchester Yerington Former counties Bullfrog Ormsby Roop Years in Nevada ( 1864 -- present ) 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 2017 2018 2019 2020 History of the United States by polity States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Federal district Washington, D.C. 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New Toledo Paraguay Río de la Plata Economy Currencies Dollar Real Maravedí Escudo Columnario Trade Manila galleon Spanish treasure fleet Casa de Contratación Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Military Armies Tercio Army of Flanders Spanish Armada Indian auxiliaries Legión Warriors Duke of Alba Antonio de Leyva Martín de Goiti Alfonso d'Avalos García de Toledo Osorio Duke of Savoy Álvaro de Bazán the Elder John of Austria Charles Bonaventure de Longueval Pedro de Zubiaur Ambrosio Spinola Bernardo de Gálvez Sailors Christopher Columbus Pinzón brothers Ferdinand Magellan Juan Sebastián Elcano Juan de la Cosa Juan Ponce de León Miguel López de Legazpi Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Sebastián de Ocampo Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Alonso de Ojeda Vasco Núñez de Balboa Alonso de Salazar Andrés de Urdaneta Antonio de Ulloa Ruy López de Villalobos Diego Columbus Alonso de Ercilla Nicolás de Ovando Juan de Ayala Sebastián Vizcaíno Juan Fernández Felipe González de Ahedo Conquistadors Hernán Cortés Francisco Pizarro Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Hernán Pérez de Quesada Francisco Vázquez de Coronado Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar Pedro de Valdivia Pedro de Alvarado Martín de Ursúa Diego de Almagro Pánfilo de Narváez Diego de Mazariegos Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera Battles Old World Won Bicocca Landriano Pavia Tunis Mühlberg St. Quentin Gravelines Malta Lepanto Antwerp Azores Siege of Mons Gembloux Siege of Ostend English Armada Cape Celidonia White Mountain Siege of Breda Nördlingen Valenciennes Siege of Ceuta Bitonto Bailén Vitoria Tetouan Alhucemas Lost Capo d'Orso Preveza Siege of Castelnuovo Algiers Ceresole Djerba Tunis Spanish Armada Leiden Rocroi Downs Passaro Trafalgar Somosierra Annual New World Won Siege of Tenochtitlan Cajamarca Cuzco Bogotá savanna Reynogüelén Penco Guadalupe Island San Juan Cartagena de Indias Cuerno Verde Pensacola Lost La Noche Triste Tucapel Chacabuco Carabobo Ayacucho Guam Santiago de Cuba Manila Bay Asomante Spanish colonizations Canary Islands Aztec Maya Chiapas Yucatán Guatemala Petén El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Chibchan Nations Colombia Peru Chile Other civil topics Spanish missions in the Americas Architecture Mesoamerican codices Cusco painting tradition Indochristian painting in New Spain Quito painting tradition Colonial universities in Latin America Colonial universities in the Philippines General Archive of the Indies Colonial Spanish Horse Castas Old inquisition Slavery in Spanish Empire British and American slaves granted their freedom by Spain Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_Nevada&oldid=799298696 '' Categories : History of Nevada History of the American West History of the United States by state Hidden categories : Articles to be expanded from August 2014 All articles to be expanded Articles with empty sections from August 2014 All articles with empty sections Articles using small message boxes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français 日本 語 Svenska Edit links 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Question: who owned nevada before it became a state
Answer: Mexico