Assuredly within the purview of this work is the settlement of what now
is the southern point of Nevada, a part of the original area of New
Mexico and, hence, included within the Territory of Arizona when created
in 1863. This embraced the district south of latitude 37, westward to
the California line, west and north of the Colorado River. The main
stream of the district is the Virgin, with a drainage area of 11,000
square miles, Muddy River and Santa Clara Creek being its main
tributaries. It is a torrential stream, subject to sudden floods and
carrying much silt. A section of its valley in the northwestern corner of
the present Arizona, near Littlefield, is to be dammed in the near future
for the benefit of small farms that have been cultivated for many years
and for carrying out irrigation plans of much larger scope.
Especial interest attaches to this district through the fact that its
area once was embraced within the now almost forgotten Arizona County of
Pah-ute or was part of the present Arizona county of Mohave.
In the Bancroft Library at Berkeley, much information concerning the
Nevada point was found in a series of pioneer maps. Of very early
designation were old Las Vegas Springs and Beaver Dams, the latter now
known as Littlefield. South of the 37th parallel, on a map of 1873, are
found Cane Springs, Grapevine Springs and West Point, with Las Vegas
(Sp., The Meadows) and Cottonwood as stations on the Mormon road, which
divided to the westward at the last-named point.
The main road to Callville appears to have been down the Virgin for a
short distance from St. Thomas, and then to have led over the hills to
the westward. From Callville, a road connected with the main highway at
Las Vegas.
A map of California, made by W.M. Eddy in 1853, has some interesting
variations of the northwestern New Mexico nomenclature. The Muddy is set
down as El Rio Atascoso (Sp., "Boggy") and Vegas Wash as Ojo del Gaetan
(galleta grass?). Nearby was Agua Escorbada, where scurvy grass probably
was found. There also was Hernandez Spring. There was an outline of the
Potosi mining district. North of Las Vegas on a California map of 1864,
was placed the "Old Mormon Fort." Reference by the reader is asked to the
description of the Old Spanish Trail, which was followed partially by the
line of the later Mormon road.
On a late map of the section that was lost by Arizona to Nevada, today
are noted only the settlements of Bunkerville, Moapa, Logan, St. Joseph,
Mesquite, Overton and St. Thomas. There is a ferry at Rioville, at the
mouth of the Virgin, and another is at Grand Wash. The name of Las Vegas
is borne by a railroad station on the Salt Lake and Los Angeles line, a
few miles from the Springs. There are the mining camps of Pahrump, Manse,
Keystone, El Dorado and Newberry. The westernmost part of the triangle,
at an elevation of about 3000 feet, is occupied by the great Amargosa
desert, which descends abruptly on the California side into the sink of
Death Valley to below sea level. There has been no development of large
value in this strip. Its interest to Arizona is merely historical.
Today, few Arizonans know that Pah-ute County once existed as an Arizona
subdivision, or that Nevada took a part of Arizona, or that later, Nevada
was given full sixty miles expansion eastward of her boundary line, at
the expense of both Arizona and Utah. The natural boundary line in that
section between Nevada and Arizona would have been the Virgin River.
[Illustration: Map]
The information contained in this chapter has been gathered from diverse
sources, but largely from the records of the Church Historian at Salt
Lake, wherein, practically, is the only history of the Mormon settlements
of the southwestern section of what was and is known as "Utah's Dixie."
The southern Nevada point had some value in a mineral way. As early as
1857, Mormons worked the Potosi silver mines, eighteen miles southwest of
Las Vegas. Little data is at hand concerning their value. In Bancroft
is found this sober chronicle: "Believing the mines to be lead, Brigham
Young sent miners to work them, in anticipation of war with the United
States, but the product was found too hard for bullets and the mines were
abandoned."
The Congressional Act of May, 1866, giving Nevada all that part of
Arizona lying between the Colorado River and California, from about
longitude 114, took from Arizona 31,850 square miles. This followed the
extension of Nevada eastward for one degree of longitude. Annexed
was appropriation of $17,000 for surveys.