Las Vegas Mormon Fort
a.k.a. Fort Baker;See Also:Las Vegas Mormon Fort (Boundary Increase
900 Las Vegas Blvd., N., Las Vegas, NVThe Church of the Latter-Day Saints was instrumental in the early settlement and development of southern Nevada with the establishment of Mormon colonies. The Las Vegas Mission was the first of these settlements to be established, and was selected by the church to: (1) Raise crops that could not be raised in the colder northern Utah climate; (2) Find new homes for the numerous Mormons coming to Salt Lake Valley area; and (3) To establish a halfway station on the Mormon trail between San Bernardino and Salt Lake. A thirty-man mission group left Salt Lake City on May 10, 1855, and arrived in Las Vegas on June 14, 1855. After touring the Las Vegas Valley on horseback, the decision was made to establish the permanent location on the site of the original stopping place, and work was commenced immediately on the Las Vegas Mormon Fort. The fort was located adjacent to one of the two clear streams of water flowing from the nearby Las Vegas springs which nurtured native grasses and created lush meadows in the valley near Sunrise Mountain.
The natural oasis of meadow and mesquite forest was the winter homeland of the Paiute Indians, who spent their summers in the Charleston Mountains. The valley and the meadows were first known to the Spanish, who named Las Vegas "The Meadows" and marked it as such on maps of the southwestern desert.
Antonio Armijo stopped at the springs in 1829-30, traveling the route which became known as the old Spanish Trail. After 1830 the route was traveled by Spanish traders, emigrants, and frontiersmen who rested beside the springs. On one of his western exploration trips, John C. Fremont camped here on May 3, 1844.
on about August 3, 1855, the missionaries started to build the walls 14 feet high, two feet thick at the bottom, and one foot at the top. The adobe fort enclosed eight two-story houses. Outside the fort the missionaries cultivated small gardens and fields, two and one-half acres being assigned to each of the party; they planted fruit and shade trees and established friendly relations with the Paiutes. Near the fort was also built the first smelter west of the Missouri River. This was
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.