In 1920, Lt. Randall Henderson landed his Curtiss plane in our dusty desert. It was the first plane to land at Las Vegas. Six years later, Western Air Express brought visitors and mail to our city. Planes landed at Rockwell Airport, located near the Sahara Hotel. When those mega-conventions are in town, hotel room rates have been known to soar by as much as 300 percent.
Death Valley is a study in contrasts.
More than 900 species of plants survive the area's blistering heat, some lying dormant to spring to life but a few days each year. The Hispanola was built in three sections and assembled on a concrete block. It weighs 48,500 lbs. In the 1960s, Las Vegas was a high-class town, but today's McCarran Airport was still mostly desert. Including Mesquite, Laughlin, Jean and Primm, the Las Vegas area has more than 122,000 hotel rooms.