Old Las Vegas Fort State Historical Park Travel Guide

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Located within the park is the Ranch House, the oldest building in Nevada because some of the original wall from the fort was incorporated. It contains informative exhibits tracing the area's history, including a collection of photographs of the fort spanning from 1934 to 1992. The ranch house also contains a pump organ, spinning wheel and butter churner, all used by former inhabitants. Other artifacts found at the fort include an apple corer, cake griddle, rug beater and bullet mold. A replica of the first flag flown over Vegas is displayed along one wall, complete with 19 stars and 13 stripes.

Visitor Center Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday

Admission: Ages 13 and older, $1; ages 12 and under, free

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Under Bringhurt’s direction with 29 other Mormon missionaries from Utah, began construction on June 14, 1855 to build a 150-foot square adobe fort, cultivate crops, build relationships with the Indians, and act as a way station for individuals traveling between California and Salt Lake City. With the initial success of the fort, Brigham Young had called a second group of missionaries, including women and children, to the mission. Work among the Native Americans included aiding them in farming, preaching the gospel and baptizing. Many were baptized and even some Native Americans were called to serve as missions among their own tribes to preach the gospel. The discovery of lead ore in the vicinity led to more and more settlers to move here. Yet, tension arose between leaders, terrible heat, and bad crops, the missionaries abandon the fort in 1857 to return to Utah.

Ownership eventually landed in Octaviuse D. Gass in 1865. He had made some success with the ranch, but owed on back taxes sold he sold it to Archibald and Helen Stewart in 1881. In 1882 Archibald Stewart moved his wife Helen and their three children to the 960 acre ranch. What was unique about the ranch is the O.D. Gass had incorporated some of the remaining fort walls into the ranch house.

Sadly two year later after establishing a profitable ranch. Archibald was shot and killed. His now widow wife, retrieved his body and made a coffin for him from the families doors. She stayed strong and remained at the ranch keeping the family together and ranch profitable. In 1893 the first post office was established naming it "Las Vegas". She later sold the ranch to San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad in 1902. In 1929, the Bureau of Reclamation used the fort's ranch house as an office for the construction of the Hoover Dam.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday

Admission: Ages 13 and older, $1; ages 12 and under, free

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The plaque reads:

A Midpoint Way Station on the Mormon Road. In April 1855, Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, called thirty men to leave their families and possessions in the recently settled towns of Utah to serve a mission at the Las Vegas Springs. The verdant meadows watered by the springs had been seasonally inhabited by the Paiute Indians for centuries. The water and the meadows made Las Vegas an important stop on the Spanish Trail (called the Mormon Road after 1848).

President Young directed this group of newly called missionaries to become self-sufficient, to provide a place of rest and security for travelers between California and Salt Lake City, and to teach the Indians the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the heat of the summer, in June 1855, the missionaries arrived at this site. The mission, intended to be permanent, was the first Anglo-American settlement in Las Vegas Valley.

By summer’s end their irrigated gardens were producing fresh vegetables and grains. A new fort was under construction, and a spirit of cooperation and mutual learning was being established with the native inhabitants. They also discovered a deposit of lead ore in the nearby mountains. More missionaries were sent to smelt the complex ore in large quantities, but the attempt was unsuccessful. 23 February 1857 Church leaders sent word to the settlement that the mission was to be disbanded. These early pioneers returned to Utah but left a legacy of faith, devotion, and service shown by their willingness to settle in this hostile environment.

Erected on 1997 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. John Steele

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The plaque reads:

Daughters of Utah Pioneers
Erected Sept 18, 1939
It reads: In 1855 President Brigham Young appointed a company of men under the leadership of William Bringhurst to establish a colony at Las Vegas. The company left Salt Lake May 10 and arrived at Las Vegas June 14, 1855 and camped near this site. William Bringhurst was appointed President, WM.S. Convert, and Ira S. Miles counselors. Sunday June 17, they built a bowery and held their first religious services. The next day they began to build the fort, 150 square feet, 14 feet high, 2 feet wide at the base, and 1 foot at the top.

Desert Holly Camp, Las Vegas, Nevada.

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The plaque reads:
Daughters of Utah Pioneers
Erected 1951
It reads: John Steele, one of the original LDS missionaries, secured a mail grant for Las Vegas mission. The documents to establish the post office, and appointing William Bringhurst postmaster, were brought from Salt Lake City by Benjamin H. Hulse January 10, 1856. This office was continued until the mission was abandoned in 1857. Mr. Steele acted as postmaster under President Bringhurst.