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The Real Story Behind Las Vegas
Read any decent guide book and they'll tell you that "las vegas" means "the meadows". And it does. But what they don't tell you is that the area was originally known as "los Vegas", which means "the Vegas".
Juan and Maria Vega owned a ranch in the area of present-day Las Vegas back in the early 1800s. This area still belonged to Mexico at that time. Maria had the bright idea to open an inn to serve all the weary travellers that passed through the area.
The inn did very well. Maria made all the meals herself. She became renowned as an excellent cook who offered guests more food than they could possibly eat. Needless to say, the dining room did well all by itself.
Juan was a social gambler, one who knew when to say "when". From the very beginning he hosted a poker tournament at the inn for the male guests. If the guests didn't want to play poker, Juan would offer a game of blackjack or anything else the guests wanted to play.
The guests of the inn felt a little guilty getting so much of Maria's great cooking for such a small price. So it became a tradition to lose a little money to Juan to put back into the inn. Soon even those who didn't stay at the inn but only came for meals would gamble away the Vegas a little tip.
The Vegas' inn became known far and wide. Folks would come for a long weekend just to eat Maria's cooking and gamble with Juan. Many people saved their money just so they could "go to Los Vegas for the weekend".
Unfortunately the Mexican-American war was ultimately responsible for putting the Vegas out of business. But they had won the hearts of many Mexicans with their hospitality. Stories were told and retold about the fun times guests had had at the Vegas' inn. Children grew up listening to their parents and grandparents talk about a place, and two extraordinary people, that were now gone.
In time a city would spring up. The residents, having heard these stories all their lives, wanted to name the city after the inn's nickname, "Los Vegas". Unfortunately some official decided that there was no way this city was going to be named after Mexicans, not with the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars burning brightly in his prejudiced chest. So the soon-to-be residents decided to change the name to "Las Vegas", noting that the name ("the meadows") was appropriate to the area. The city became known as Las Vegas, and the residents continued to tell their stories of the Vegas.
© Mike Gurak
photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Juan and Maria Vega owned a ranch in the area of present-day Las Vegas back in the early 1800s. This area still belonged to Mexico at that time. Maria had the bright idea to open an inn to serve all the weary travellers that passed through the area.
The inn did very well. Maria made all the meals herself. She became renowned as an excellent cook who offered guests more food than they could possibly eat. Needless to say, the dining room did well all by itself.
Juan was a social gambler, one who knew when to say "when". From the very beginning he hosted a poker tournament at the inn for the male guests. If the guests didn't want to play poker, Juan would offer a game of blackjack or anything else the guests wanted to play.
The guests of the inn felt a little guilty getting so much of Maria's great cooking for such a small price. So it became a tradition to lose a little money to Juan to put back into the inn. Soon even those who didn't stay at the inn but only came for meals would gamble away the Vegas a little tip.
The Vegas' inn became known far and wide. Folks would come for a long weekend just to eat Maria's cooking and gamble with Juan. Many people saved their money just so they could "go to Los Vegas for the weekend".
Unfortunately the Mexican-American war was ultimately responsible for putting the Vegas out of business. But they had won the hearts of many Mexicans with their hospitality. Stories were told and retold about the fun times guests had had at the Vegas' inn. Children grew up listening to their parents and grandparents talk about a place, and two extraordinary people, that were now gone.
In time a city would spring up. The residents, having heard these stories all their lives, wanted to name the city after the inn's nickname, "Los Vegas". Unfortunately some official decided that there was no way this city was going to be named after Mexicans, not with the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars burning brightly in his prejudiced chest. So the soon-to-be residents decided to change the name to "Las Vegas", noting that the name ("the meadows") was appropriate to the area. The city became known as Las Vegas, and the residents continued to tell their stories of the Vegas.
© Mike Gurak
photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
