The History of Las Vegas | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's here. too and we're just a trio of Roo and. tooting. Bandits on stuff you should know let's. just get better and. better well I wanted to nod to um Las. Vegas's.

old west I guess history so that's you. know there were Bandits there they used. words like root and toon I presume of. course they did so it was that propo in. my in my take I agree thanks man I. appreciate the. support so uh early history of Las Vegas. the earliest we're starting out and uh. you know with indigenous tribes and. we're going to work our way forward to. what like the 80s sure 70s no maybe even.

the early 90s oh late 80s early 90s the. 1990s even oh wow all right so we are. going to start at the beginning there. seems to have been uh evidence of. habitation I saw according to PBS that. dates to 15,000 years ago not too shabby. that's even pre-clovis. um there's I've also seen like about. 10,000 years and then the thing that. Drew people to Las Vegas a spring if you.

can believe it that actually turned the. area around Las Vegas as we know it now. into kind of a relatively verdant area. in a desert um that didn't erupt until. 8,000 years ago so there might have been. people hanging out in like rock. dwellings and caves around there here. there but it wasn't like a place you. wanted to stay until that spring came up. yeah like Tuk Tuk was wandering around. saying does anyone know where Carrot Top. is playing that's right man that guy has. had a residency for for 10 years now is.

is he in Vegas I was kind of kidding oh. no he's he's had a residency for 10. years now oh wow good for him as a. matter of fact it might be more than. that it it might be 8,000 years that. he's been. there so uh we did promise talk of and I. guess that's about where we're going to. pick up then with our story yeah sure uh. with the uh Nui people uh which are part. of the Southern pyute uh Native American. tribe who were kind of all over the.

place down there yeah uh Southern. California Southern Nevada Southern Utah. northern Arizona kind of in that little. strip yes and that they were there in. Las Vegas uh like you said largely. because there was a spring there right. um and they were hunters and gatherers. and they were known for um their really. well-crafted. dice we're just going to have those all. over the place for sure for sure so they. live there um among other peoples too uh.

and again they were hunter gatherers so. they I don't believe they were. considered permanent inhabitants of the. area but they definitely lived around. there um so it I guess it wasn't until. the. 1820s um no even even after that it was. until the. 1850s that the area we know of as Las. Vegas was actually first permanently. settled and even then it was temporary. if that's not enough of a mindboggler. for you well are we going to uh spoil.

who that is by two minutes uh yes I. think we should because I don't want. people to have to wait for that all. right well who is it the Mormons that's. right but Prem Mormon uh when it was. just a little spring it did become known. it was part of Mexico at the time of. course and it became known as Las Vegas. Deana uh The Meadows in Spanish and in. 1829 is when it first sort of. started um just being a thing at all. because it was a stop stop on what was.

called The Old Spanish Trail which was a. trade route uh between well Las Vegas. and Los Angeles with a stop in Utah on. the way yeah and again the reason why. you would stop there is because there's. running water there that's a rarity in. the area so that alone Drew people from. time and Memorial and um I think around. the 1840s a guy named John C Fremont. showed up or Fremont um and he was a. surveyor but he was like a shadester. surveyor.

he was sent by um the United States to. go see what the land looked like out. there and maybe survey it for the United. States but do it surreptitiously because. again all of this area belongs to Mexico. we've just been thinking about maybe. taking it over yeah and I want to. correct myself real quick I it does the. Old Spanish Trail did connect Vegas to. LA but it started in Santa Fe so we. didn't want to sell them short oh no not. at all we love our Santa Fe feans Santa. feenan nightes Santa Fe Indian night.

canders right so uh the US and Mexico. went to war uh this is something that I. think we should cover at some point on. an episode M uh from 1846 to 1848 Mexico. lost and under the Treaty of Guadalupe. Hidalgo uh everything north of the Rio. Grand basically about half of its. territory at the time was given up and. Las Vegas dayana was in there yeah so. now the US government officially is. control is controlling of what would end.

up being the Las Vegas we know and some. of us love some of us maybe don't so. much mhm and this was uh the year 1848. so that was right before the Gold Rush. of 49 MH so it was already a stopover. because of that Old Spanish Trail and it. was just more firmly entrenched as these. 49ers would head West looking to catch a. show and play little Blackjack I guess. and spend the night for sure and that. that gold brush of 49 is what really. disrupted the P's kind of um generally.

peaceful occupation of the area because. a lot of people came Westward and passed. through Vegas and some even stayed and. decided to stake a claim there and In. 1855 like I said the Mormon showed up. Brigham Young said to William Bringhurst. get thee with 30 of th people to thine. Las Vegas area and set up a mission. basically he's like don't k yourself. let's build a fort cuz we're not exactly.

sure how this is going to be received. but once you've built a fort maybe you. know make friendly contact with the. pyute people um teach them how to farm. and then baptize them when they're not. paying attention that's right he kind of. buried the Leah didney yeah so uh while. they were there they did put up a fort. uh they did baptize uh I think the. number was. 59 uh people of you know pyute people. and then they they did something uh or.

they they found something that ended up. being uh really kind of key to why Las. Vegas continued to be a thing which was. ore uh they found lead ore and set up a. mine nearby and as you will see Mining. and finding deposits of all kinds of. valuable things ended up being a very. you know key reason Vegas became Vegas. for sure um and that's imagine like. having the knowledge of just how to set. up a mine could you start a mine today. out of scratch I couldn't no I'd be like.

I I don't know what I'm doing um but. that's what they did and like you said. it kind of created this this Legacy of. Discovery um but they they ran into a. problem that would be a problem for much. for a while longer and that was that the. Intensive agriculture they were trying. to to create um was not sustainable by. the spring that had burst forth 8,000. years before yeah it was good you could. raise a little bit of crops you could. definitely do some H 100 gather in you. could get a nice cool drink and bathe in.

it but you really couldn't do anything. major with it and so Brigham Young said. get th back to thine Salt Lake area and. um just bring it in but they left that. Fort and that Fort actually is still. there today in part because a succession. of people kind of came along and said. this is a really handy thing to have. yeah absolutely I mean there you know. there was some other stuff there there. were some cabins and you know remnants. of life so like you said when people.

would pass through there because it was. still a stop on that trade Trail people. would be like oh great we can you know. we can kind of use this stuff and that. happened with a gentleman named uh. Octavius decator gas who is from that's. two s's by the way and he was from Ohio. and went to California in. 1850 uh selling prefab homes which was. great timing yeah because you know that. that 49er Gold Rush boom it was just on.

the heels of that and people needed. places to live they were kind of getting. tired of those canvas tints I guess so. he had these little preab kit houses he. was selling and I think was doing pretty. well for himself doing that but then he. kind of noticed everything that was. going on around him as far as people. getting rich staking claims and Mining. and he was like I want to get in on that. and he staked a claim uh well several. even uh but one at El Dorado Canyon. about 50 Mi away from that original. Mormon fort.

yeah so I saw the Las Vegas Review. Journal described OD gas as the kind of. guy where opportunity frequently knocked. but he was always in the bathtub right. and I think that really kind of gets it. across this guy tried a lot of stuff but. was I mean he was modestly successful. but his Ambitions were never were never. reached um but he kind of found his way. into you know just enough success but it. would always be relatively shortlived. and that came um as far as Las Vegas is. concerned when he happened upon that old.

Mormon fort with a couple of buddies. that he'd made um in the mining trade. and they decided to to um give up mining. for a little while and take that Fort. and convert it into a ranch to make a. rest stop for travelers on their way. west and this was actually a pretty. smart move because again there's water. there but more to the point they used. some of that water to grow grape Vines. which they turn into wine which is even. harder to find in the desert than water.

at this time and that made that place a. must stop um pit stop on the way out to. Los Angeles yeah I mean you could stop. there and get a drink it was like the. the seeds of early Las Vegas already. planted yeah the thing is is it was. probably red wine and red wine and like. the hot dry desert is not a good mix no. it certainly as we know you know how. American wine is grown now it's not an. ideal place to grow wine but back then I.

think it was like okay we can grow some. grapes that will get you drunk right I. think that was the point which is very. vasy it's very vegacy so things start to. accumulate there as in people and just. uh you know minors uh people kind of. growing the town around him he obviously. is the um I guess sort of founder um. sorry bringham young was enjoying power. uh you know he was the first guy there. to to set up Stakes for real. and so he ended up having like influence.

and power and when the US government. said you know what we want to do here is. we want to actually redraw uh these. lines and these territory lines and we. want to actually scooch Nevada over to. where this this weird Vegas Ranch is. encompassed within Nevada right he was. like uh no like this is Arizona right uh. I'm really upset by this uh to the point. where he he even tried to like clip off. the point of Lincoln County to make a.

Las Vegas county and he wasn't able to. because uh he had all of a sudden a. bunch of nevadans well they weren't. state nevadans yet but Nevada. territorians uh removed from his. constituency so he was sort of left with. no sway no I mean you it's tough to be a. politician when you're not actually. representing anybody because they all. moved because they didn't want to pay. the new Nevada taxes so his political. life kind of petered out apparently he. was slapped with a 2-year tax bill too.

and I couldn't find whether he actually. paid it or not from what I can tell. about him he probably didn't um but he. said about um reinvesting himself into. the ranch he got married had a couple of. kids raised them on the ranch too and uh. his wife um Mary by the way the pyute. people who worked for them called her. longye because apparently she was a. crack rifle shot so they're kind of. farming doing the ranch thing making. their way and I guess he had borrowed.

about $5,000 from a guy named archal. Stewart he basically mortgaged his Ranch. for five grand and um he's planning on. paying it back with a bumper crop that. he was expecting of um pink beans which. are a delicacy in the area I can't. remember what else he grew making wine. all that stuff and apparently there was. a freak weather um there was just. terrible weather that year and his crop. got wiped out and so he was forced to. basically hand over. the ranch to archal Stewart uh and he.

and his wife and kids moved to. Pimon yeah what a great place to end up. sure I love Pomona I've never been I've. just been once Ione saw The Shins play a. show in Pomona oh wow what a story yeah. uh the only thing I remember about that. show is Emily and I were really bugged. because the crowd was young and they. weren't like getting into it you're like. what's going on here this is this like a. great show yeah how would you end up at. that show if you weren't Into The Shins.

I don't know or maybe they were just. just trying to play it cool they like. play that song from Garden State oh God. uh so in the meantime things are really. booming just in that area of Eldorado. Canyon as far as mining goes like copper. and lead and gold and silver and. everything like people are getting rich. out there uh it gets a little Rowdy of. course whenever you know miners are. sticking claims and making a whole lot. of money there's going to be some. lawlessness uh but it was a good good. like place to be if you wanted to mine.

if you didn't mine the heat so much the. one problem was they didn't have a. railroad yeah to get that stuff places. so their only really route was to use. these armed Freight wagons which were. slow and expensive and they were like we. need a railroad yeah um and the railroad. had already been established um by. 1869 it just wasn't in Las Vegas because. it was still just kind of a Dusty wagon. TR Trail town but now it was rich uh and.

it needed help getting those riches out. of Las Vegas so the railroads were like. oh okay we'll come over there and so. they started building a railroad um. there was a reason why Las Vegas got a. railroad and it was actually two dudes. two very wealthy dudes butting heads. trying to get control over the railroad. in the area um and I say we tell their. story when we come back from a break. let's do. it. [Music].

learning stuff with Joshua and. Charles stuff you should know.

all right so this is uh the story of A. Sort of a brief little railroad War uh. that's hard to say so I'm not going to. say it again uh one guy was William. Clark he was a uh copper Tycoon from. Montana uh was also involved in politics. and the other guy was a guy named eh. Harman and he was the head of the Union. Pacific Railroad uh he was looking for a. connection to California uh he was shut. out of San Francisco so he looked South.

uh toward Los Angeles uh Clark wanted to. get in on this mining boom and he said. well I think we should have a train. there as well so we can connect this uh. Salt Lake City to Los Angeles it can go. sort of that old Spanish trade route. actually and it can go right here. through Las Vegas and I can use it and. it'll be great he bought a small Rail. Road that ended in LA and started to. build a connection when he and Harman. started budding heads. right so it turned out they finally.

managed to come to terms with one. another because William Clark was really. um interested in Vegas in in building a. town out of Vegas um whereas Herman was. more interested in the actual railroad. so I guess Clark sold his interest to. Herman and started focusing on building. a town around this new railroad line. through Vegas and what's interesting is. William Clark he was extraordinarily. Rich um but his competition in staking.

and laying out a town in Las Vegas um. was an African-American land surveyor. named JT MC Williams who had heard that. um William Clark was um going to build. this railroad through Las Vegas and. started buying up land around um I think. the west side of the railroad and um he. started building a town there and there. were two towns on Vegas on on the west. side of the tracks and the east side of. the tracks the east side was Clarks and. the the west side was MC Williams and th.

those were like the Rival towns when. Vegas was first established I believe. starting around. 1905 yeah super interesting uh little. Side Story there I love it thanks much. forgotten to history I think so uh in. 1903 he Clark that is purchased that. Ranch Las Vegas Rancho uh in that spring. from uh Helen Stewart who was the Widow. of the gentleman who had foreclosed on. what's his name name bass gas or G gos.

mhm so he owned all this land now he. subdivided it up into about 1,200 Lots. started auctioning them off uh in May uh. 19 or sort of late 1904 and then in. Spring 1905 people started building. there and it was like people were paying. pretty good money for these Lots back. then uh considering you know where it. was and because all of this uh Clark. County is named after William Clark St.

that's really funny because um Mark. Twain called William Clark like. basically the worst human being alive he. um he had bribed the um Montana. legislature to make him a senator and we. actually have the 17th amendment to the. Constitution um which says that senators. are directly elected rather than. appointed by state legislators like they. used to because of William Clark and I. didn't realize that they named the. county after him that's interesting. that's right so I'm sure everyone's like. when are you guys going to start talking. about gambling in casinos just give us.

like 20. minutes no we're there so uh gambling in. Vegas um just like much of the United. States was a thing like people have. gambled off and on in the United States. since there's been a thing they weren't. necessarily casinos but people would. play cards they would play dice they. would play poker all the kind of like. good old fashion you know personto. person gambling games in 1861 this is a. few years before state. uh in uh so this was 1861 the governor.

said gambling is a felony uh you can't. do it here you can't do it uh apparently. there was what they call the Progressive. Movement at the time that wanted to get. rid of all kinds of vices like that uh. and then. 1869 after they got their statehood. about five years later they legalized it. for gez about 40 years but then reversed. that made it illegal again in 1909 sure. but in that time after 1909 that it was.

uh illegal they said like Hey listen you. can have your poker games you can have. your dice games you can gamble against. other people and stuff like that but. what you can't do is what's called. wideopen gambling which is gambling. against the house as the bank right and. but then they reversed that too in um. 1931 thanks to the depression and um the. local mines kind of falling on Hard. Times the uh Las Vegas or I guess Nevada. passed What's called the wide openen.

gambling bill that's what they called it. and they said yeah you can have a you. can become a licensed gambling. establishment and we're going to. regulate you and tax the heck out of you. but you can gamble now what's funny is. that Nevada still doesn't have a lottery. like they said yes you can gamble no you. can't have a lottery and I think at. first it was to protect locals they. started EST they legalized gambling to. pull tourists in even from the outset um. and then now I think the um the the.

gaming companies that run the casinos in. Vegas are they just oppose the uh a. lottery anytime it comes up because they. don't want to even have that as. competition like that $5 that you spend. on a scratch off we want you to put that. into our slot machine yeah you could be. doing that you could put it on roulette. whatever you want to do as long as. you're betting it with us yeah I could. totally see that so they're fighting the. depression in 1931 by legalizing. gambling uh construction on the Hoover.

Dam started that same year and all of a. sudden you had people nearby that had a. little money in their pocket going Jang. Lang which was they were I guess happy. to go over to uh what was you know sort. of the first area of Vegas to feature. casinos was Fremont. Street and things started happening uh. there was a there's actually one of. those casinos that opened in 1906 called. the Golden Gate is still in Las Vegas. yeah uh that looked up pictures I've. never been inside it but I'm going to.

check it out next time I'm in Vegas it. looks super cool and old school it's on. the Fremont Street Experience. right I have no idea I think it is so um. I I don't know if anyone has been to. Vegas recently but in the '90s they. closed off a six block stretch of. Fremont Street that has a lot of these. original casinos and hotels on them um. and made it just pedestrian only and. then they covered it with um a light. show roof that has 49 million LED lights.

across it wow and so it's it's it's. whatever that weird non-time of day is. that's that always is indoors in Vegas. they managed to do that on a six block. stretch of street so it's really. something that's called the Fremont. Street Experience and these first. casinos and resorts that's what that's. that was them and some of them are still. there like you said the Golden Gate or. the yeah the Golden Gate is is it uh is. it awesome to like walk under that thing.

it's pretty cool um it's cool it's got a. lot of um street performers like man's. Chinese Theater Time Square mhm but then. it has a lot of history the neon museums. there the mob museums there like it's. it's pretty well done to tell you the. truth Vegas Vic that like 50 foot tall. um Cowboy that is so iconic from Vegas. from the Pioneer Club oh sure he's there. um yeah it's pretty neat all right I'll. check it out next time but just be aware. you could kind of make a case it's a bit.

of a tourist. trap so we recommend are we recommending. it officially yes all right go to meoww. first and then go to that okay all right. so this was uh again the 1930 so there. was illegal gambling going on all over. Los Angeles at the time and they were. like hey Vegas is not that far uh pretty. soon there'll be a very uh cheap and. quick Southwest Airlines flight that. goes there 4 100 times a day uh but now.

we can make that drive at least through. the desert uh just like Vince Von did in. swingers and gamble our little hearts. away and one of those guys was well he. was a guy his name was guy his name was. Guy McAfee and he was the uh the. commander of the LAPD vice squad uh. which is to say at the time he was uh. probably dirty and crooked because he. was swept out along with a lot of the. corruption in the early 1930s in the. LAPD one of their uh one of the first.

runs at uh making the LAPD uh straight. in nrow I guess yeah like I'm not. banging on them I think they have a a. rich history of. corruption right I just didn't want to. sound too harsh but we all know that. we've seen the movies sure uh but he was. known as the captain and he was at the. time in LA married to a a Madam a. Hollywood Madam who ran a string of. gambling houses uh they were all. connected to the Mob Of course and the.

writing was on the wall that he needed. to get the heck out of Dodge which was. LA and he said Vegas seems like kind of. the perfect landing spot for me yeah and. so he showed up and bought the Golden. Nugget he bought another place called. The per o dice club which I read that. five times before I got it the paradise. Club oh oh oh I got it you got it now I. didn't get it the first time okay good. I'm glad it wasn't just me I thought you. were just confused by a pair of dice no. no no no it was the pun I didn't get. yeah yeah yeah I get it now that's good.

pun and the reason why I finally got it. is because he set up an area outside of. Las Vegas city limits that he named. Paradise Paradise Nevada it's. technically not a town it's. unincorporated Clark County but he named. it after his Club Paradise but he called. this area paradise and this is The Strip. This is the Las Vegas Strip still today. um everything from the Bellagio The. Venetian. the wind the uh Cosmopolitan the.

stbridge Suites all of them are actually. outside of Las Vegas city limits in this. unincorporated part of Clark County. Called Paradise that was set up in the. 1930s by a corrupt LAPD vice squad. Commander named guy. McAfee nice ammation thanks so this is. where uh I mean they called at the strip. then and this is where things really. started to Boom uh all this development. began uh mind you this was still in the. 1940s so they were still sort of the.

ranch style uh low Ling not you know. these big highrises that would come. later on WE we'll get to that they were. like s kicker Casino Resorts oh totally. I think everyone knows what you mean. right yeah I think so you know kicking. uh kicking what I said what I was gonna. say I'm just kidding so uh there was a. hotel Year from California named Thomas. Hull he opened the first. uh sort of all self-contained in and of.

itself Luxury Casino Resort in 1941. called El Rancho Vegas uh named after he. had other properties named Rancho the as. The Story Goes his car broke down. outside of Vegas and he was out there. burning up in the Heat and he had like a. vision for to just be in a swimming pool. and so he was like that needs to happen. out here so that's what he did he opened. up the first big place that had swimming. pools and restaurants movie stars movie.

stars and opera house had places where. you could shop it had the casino of. course like the first what we' think of. as a casino was that one uh and he did. pretty well with it they had show girls. they had the whole nine yards yeah they. were the first one to have Vegas show. girls and um I wasn't joking when I said. movie stars um Clark Gable was very. famously um stationed at El Rancho Vegas. um when Carol Lombard his wife died in a. plane crash nearby I think on Table.

Mountain on the way to Las Vegas um and. he wasn't the only one like this was a. place where stars from La came and as. people from people in Vegas started. building places that like the the cream. of the crop of Hollywood stars wanted to. hang out um it it gave Vegas like the. veneer of Glamour that it originally had. this is when it started the early 40s. yeah and you know things were booming.

throughout the 40s and then into the '. 50s is when uh things even kicked into a. higher gear like Vegas are just ramping. up more and more through the decades uh. that's when the the desert in was built. uh the El Dorado club downtown which. would become uh Benny Ban's horseshoe. club uh I think it's now just bions or. actually I think for a few years now it. hasn't been there at all but it became. bions it was famous because the World. Series of Poker was there every year MH.

uh in 1955 the first high-rise opened uh. which was the Riviera it was Nine. Stories MH and get this they paid. Liberace. $50,000 per week in 1955 to play there. in 1955 money that's $631,000 a week oh. West EG uh totally as is our tradition. uh 58 Stardust opened and we saw the. debuts of a couple of gentlemen who. would be Vegas Legends uh Wayne Newton.

and Frank Sinatra debuted there and then. also in the 50s is when the first sort. of Boom in the wedding chapel business. started yeah and then um I saw somewhere. I cannot remember where that uh no less. than 10 major uh Casino Resorts were. built in the 50s yeah that is an amazing. building boom like this is when Las. Vegas became Vegas as we know it like it. nostalgically right um I also saw.

somewhere that I think 11 were built and. of those 11 10 of them were either. financed by or outright owned by the. mafia yeah that was when the mafia. really got its grip on Las Vegas in the. early 50s and throughout actually even. in the 40s um the mid to late 40s thanks. to a guy named Bugsy seagull but by the. ' 50s when the 50s rolled around like it. was just it seemed like it was um. irreversible the grip that the mob had.

on Las Vegas yeah totally uh and you. said the word Bugsy seagull and that. feels like a great place for a. [Music]. break. [Music].

learning stuff with Joshua and. Charles stuff you should. know okay so Chuck I said Bugsy seagull. I'm actually talking about one Benjamin. seagull bomb who was born in. 1906 and um by the time he reached his. teenage years was already running. protection rackets on poor Street push. cart. Peddlers because you know protection.

racket means like I'm going to protect. you from me if you don't give me if you. give me money if you don't then I'm. going to come after you right this guy. was doing this as a teenager um he. became friends with a guy named Meer. Lansky and the two of them together. started um bootlegging in the in during. prohibition right yeah and this was in. New York yeah uh they eventually merged. with what was called The Syndicate which. was a a nationwide criminal. Enterprise uh you know it was the mob.

and seagull bin formed a spin-off. organization called Murder Inc I totally. think we should do a whole episode on. Murder Inc at some point sure so we're. not going to get too into it but Murder. Inc was exactly like it sounds it was an. organization that did contract killings. uh apparently between 400 and a th000. contract killings took place at the hand. of Murder Inc including supposedly about. 30 individuals personally killed by.

Bugsy seagull yeah um if you have a a. criminal gang called Murder Inc yeah. that's going to draw the attention of. the authorities and that that happened. very much in New York and all of a. sudden they they tried to crack down on. the murder in gang member so Bugsy. seagull said soong New York I'm heading. out west and he landed in Los Angeles uh. he was staying at the Mansion of his um. his girlfriend Virginia Hill who herself. was. mafioso or I guess mafiosa she was from.

Alabama but had somehow fallen into the. mob um she was her she was a mafiosa as. well she wasn't just like a a maul she. was a gangster. herself yeah and she was played by. Annette. Benning uh to her Warren batty to her. Warren batty her husband MH and it's a. great. movie I've never seen it oh man Bugsy. was awesome really yeah yeah yeah it was.

really really I mean Warren batty didn't. make a a bad movie that he directed oh. he directed it didn't he direct. dhar uh uhuh I don't think so oh. okay I've never seen a star I haven't. either but I was alive at the time. enough that I I know it was just a. punchline even still in 2024 yeah I'm. pretty sure he directed Bugsy but I'll. have to check that uh at any rate really. really good. right okay so that's about those two and. really it's about Bugsy seagull and.

really it's about Bugsy seagull building. Las Vegas um that is true to an extent. in that he really was the one who. brought the mob to Vegas and apparently. it was through some sort of happen. stance he uh was living out in Hollywood. and he um met a guy named um Billy. Wilkerson who was a gambler a hotelier. who was trying to build like a really. joint out in Vegas and um he said Bugsy.

why don't you come in on this let me. borrow some money from you you can have. a steak in this this hotel we're going. to build and Bugsy said as long as it's. not one of those S kicker you know old. western ha seed themed Resorts I'm in. and he said no no no this is going to be. a great place I don't know what we're. going to call it yet and Bugsy said well. let's call it the flamingo cuz that's my. nickname for my girlfriend Virginia Hill. cuz she has really long legs so we're. going to call this place Flamingo is. like you know a little wink toward her.

and Bugsy was suddenly in the casino. resort building business and he got in. even further when Billy Wilkerson. couldn't pay him back because Bugsy said. well I'm going to kill you if you don't. give me this hotel and that was the exit. of Billy Wilkerson and the real entree. of Bugsy seagull into Las Vegas which. established the the mafia The Syndicate. the the mob as we know it into Vegas and. this was about the mid 1940s yeah he. really uh and by the way Barry Lon. directed Bugsy so I was wrong on that.

okay but it's still really good Barry. Lon didn't direct many bad movies either. didn't he do Diner yeah great movie okay. you didn't like Diner I haven't seen it. I was just I was legitimately asked I. wasn't throwing shade on Diner no no no. but when you said okay oh I know I could. read between my own lines but I didn't. mean to write anything. there uh well that's a good quote uh so. he really got involved. in this casino like the building the.

design like he wasn't just like all. right I'm going to sort of run this. thing now and just let everyone do their. thing he was involved in like the. minutia of the detail of the design of. like picking out the bed sheets and like. you know the artwork that hung in the. rooms like he was really really I think. he kind of found himself like he went to. LA to try to be an actor he was no good. at that like he always felt like wanted. to be something more than like a two bit. mobster which is what he was well he no.

he wasn't two bit he was like the. biggest narcotics importer in the West. on the west coast yeah yeah I didn't. mean to bit I just meant he didn't want. to be looked at as the mobster that's. why he tried to be an actor got he tried. he tried to be a hotelier right hotelier. yeah uh but n you know none of that. stuff was working out. including initially at least the. flamingo because when they opened it it. was not a big hit right out of the gate. uh much to the Chagrin of The Syndicate.

he lost. $300,000 in one week the first week it. was open and it was such a huge loss. that he had to shut the place down so he. didn't lose any more money and he had to. get back to um kind of reconfiguring. things apparently they didn't have rooms. ready when they opened so all the. gamblers came and then took their money. elsewhere um he all of those details. that he had personally selected were. really expensive the original price tag. was a million dollar it ballooned up to. past 6 million so yeah there's a very.

wide uh widely held belief that Bugsy. was in hot water with the mafia Partners. including Meer Lansky and Lucky Luciano. um who were backing him and his Venture. into Las Vegas the thing is he. supposedly um when he reopened out of. the gate the the flamingo in 1947. started to become profitable so I've. seen people say like no he actually. wasn't in um hot water with his Mafia.

people and the reason why it matters is. because six months after it reopened or. a few months after it reopened in June. of 1947 Bugsy seagull was assassinated. hit um in his own home in well Virginia. Hills Home in Los Angeles yeah hit. through the window uh from behind kind. of sitting on the couch it's a great. scene in the movie uh his. you know the traditional thinking is. that Lucky Luciano and The Syndicate was.

behind it right uh Myer Lansky who was. his sort of uh oldest friend throughout. this whole thing because they were. buddies back in New York in the early. days I think just it was sort of seeing. the sad uh demise of of his of his. friend and what was going on uh Ben. Kingsley is so so good as Myer Lansky in. the movie I'm sure um but not everyone. believes it was a mob hit there's a guy. named uh Bernie sindler uh who was a. Emissary for L Lansky back in the day.

and back then he was on the record of. saying like I don't like a lot of this. doesn't add up as being a mob hit I. think it was one of Virginia Hills. brothers one of her Marine Corps. brothers that was angry that she was. like wrapped up in all this stuff yeah. he he makes the point this guy was. literally here at the time like he was. working in Vegas with seagull and others. at the time so he knows what he's. talking about he um he was saying that. seagull was legit enough that that you. would have had to have get gotten. permission directly from Lucky Luciano.

or the order would have come directly. from Lucky Luciano to kill Bugsy seagull. and in this guy's this guy's opinion. Myer Lansky never would have allowed. that he wouldn't have just stepped aside. and let his old friend be murdered hit. um and again like he wasn't apparently. in Hawk to the mob in any way that he. couldn't repay so yeah this guy guy said. it was one of Virginia Hills brothers. also he's he's got some pretty good.

points one he said that was not a mob. hit the mob doesn't use M1 carbines and. shoot through an open window like they. take you on a car ride and the guy. seated behind you in the car shoots you. in the head so they don't miss yeah. that's how that's how the mafia hit you. right so um he's like it just didn't add. up to a mob hit that's pretty pretty. interesting surprising thing but if you. think about it Bugsy was there for just. a couple of years but the the the the. gains he made and the um the the.

groundwork he laid for the mafia is what. led directly to that huge boom in the. control of the mafia of Las Vegas that. just erupted in the 50s oh yeah and then. you know into the 60s it was uh firmly. entrenched as like a mob hangout. obviously a place where you could gamble. where he could go and get married in 2. seconds or divorced in 2 seconds where. sex work was legal uh I think in ' 63. these guys dick Taylor and Pat Howell.

wrote a book called Las Vegas not a. colon but a comma rare city of sin. question mark and that's where. supposedly the name Sin City came around. uh really kind of Linked UP well with. everything that was going on there at. the time great movie too uh Sin City. remember it was like based on a graphic. novel it's got like cly Owen and oh yeah. yeah oh man that's so good that's in. city that was that was good yeah uh like.

the black and white yeah yeah really. good and the other big thing that. happened in the early 60s was McCarron. airport opened up in. 1962 which all of a sudden you know that. Southwest Airlines flight could start. happening although I don't know if it. happened back then so don't don't Google. that yeah so it wasn't just people from. LA and you know Arizona coming to Las. Vegas now all of a sudden it was people. around the world and apparently by the. 70s the um largest population of. tourists in Las Vegas were.

midwesterners yeah yeah pretty funny oh. it's as residents no no no as tourists. as visitors like the the airport really. really changed things one other really. big thing that changed things in the 60s. for Vegas was Howard Hughes so uh I said. before it looked like the the mob's grip. on Las Vegas was irreversible and it may. have been if Howard Hughes hadn't shown. up and he did a couple of things one he. started buying casinos and hotels from.

the mob directly yeah so for I think a. little period in the 60s maybe 70s he. was the the single largest um casino. owner in the in town so he just. basically took over from the mob by. buying them out and then also he. proposed that the um that Las Vegas and. Nevada the gaming commission changed. their rules about corporate ownership. because before if you were a corporation. and you wanted to own a casino every. single. shareholder had to pass a background.

check you could be talking about. thousands of people it was just. untenable you couldn't do it and he said. why don't you just make it so that the. the key players like the real high up. exacts who are going to be running the. place just do backgrounds on them forget. the shareholders and the gaming. commission said that's a that's a really. good idea and now all of a sudden the. mob had competition from Wall Street and. and huge corporations that were coming. in and they ended up getting muscled out. yeah I mean that was that was it that.

was the either the beginning of the. beginning or the beginning of the end. depending on which way you want to look. at it yeah but once Wall Street. corporations could kind of stroll in. there and just start buying up these. properties that you know this is in the. in the 60s and 70s so this is this is. still like a boom time for Vegas uh it's. a city that's is seemingly always uh. expanding and under construction like uh. I don't remember going to Vegas I. started going there in the um I guess.

like 1991 or so was my first trip and it. every time I've been it's just struck me. as like are they ever going to stop. developing and building in this town no. and probably not because uh it continued. all you know all through then they've. had their lws I think there was um you. know some some years here and there. within decades that things weren't. aren't as robust and where they were you. know where the gambling industry and the. whole sin industry sort of took a little.

bit of a hit but not that much well it. wasn't even necessarily that that it it. took a hit it was that. Vegas it just lost its Glitz and glamour. especially starting in the 70s and in. through the 80s um where it just became. tacky that's what everybody thought of. it was tacky the entertainers who used. to like draw crowds. internationally um they weren't there. the the people who were performing in. Vegas their careers were washed up right. so like that was the F wasn't great yet.

nope the food was terrible like all you. can eat prime rib for like $5 kind of. stuff um this idea of Vegas in the'80s. it was just decrepit and a place you. went like as a lark or if you had like a. serious gambling problem and like $5. prime rib right yeah um it and in the. same way that Howard Hughes kind of came. along and was like I'm going to save. this town Steve wi did this the same. thing at a time when Vegas was viewed as. super tacky and backwards and just lame.

he invested hundreds of millions of. dollar into um The Mirage and he opened. it gave $30 million to Sig freed and Roy. and completely changed the face of Las. Vegas completely changed the market who. they were trying to attract they were. suddenly attracting families like it was. okay to bring your kids to Vegas now. like there was something for everybody. and he completely saved Las Vegas yeah. for sure uh I think like a place like. Caesars before that did a lot to sort of.

uh raise the you know the perception of. Vegas is uh but it's but it wasn't like. in the family way um no in like the. fantasy way though like like that they. definitely started that I think yeah I. mean when they started building um. casinos with roller coasters and. playgrounds and more familyfriendly. shows because you know at one point. Vegas like all those shows show were. like topless basically right uh and then. all of a sudden if you had.

familyfriendly stuff going on it was it. was like hey you don't have to just you. know uh the the gambling addict in your. family isn't the only one that's going. to want to come here now you can you can. be that and drag your kids along and uh. they can go see a kid-friendly show yeah. they're like definitely bring the. gambling addict in your family we want. them there but you guys can come too. right yeah and it got a lot more. expensive you mean the old the old Vegas. days even when I first started going. there you could get a pretty cheap room.

and a pretty cheap meal but that that. all changed Vegas is not a a cheap town. to visit anymore it changed thanks to. Steve win in that whole shift and now it. kind of shifted again to this kind of. like Ultra Luxury destination that and. that's where we are right now yeah well. that's Las Vegas up to basically now I. know we said we were going to go to late. 80s and 90s but we took it even further. so if you didn't like that sorry. uh if you want to know more about Las. Vegas start reading about it go visit it.

um whatever you want to do and since I. said whatever you want to do it's time. for listener. mail uh this is gasoline cleaning. mystery resolved we had a few people. write in about that uh in the episode. The tiian Massacre from December 2020. you discuss how the instigator and. murderer at the scene of the crime was. an estate worker named Julian Carlton. while retrieving the gasoline that. caused part of the fire incident on the. property he told his boss that he was. getting the gasoline to clean a rug why.

do I remember this tiny detail because. at the end of the episode Josh says he. found Carlton's grave on the website. find a grave and rather innocuously a. pop-up bubble on the site prompting the. viewer to write a moving memory said. what is one thing you'll always remember. about Julian Chuck answered that. question by saying he could really get. the stain out of a rug and I found that. joke absolutely hilarious uh love the. show guys can't wait for you to come. back to Cleveland uh I'm the manager of. the largest sightseen ship in Cleveland.

on Lake Erie in the kyoga river the good. time three and Chuck I'm also a graduate. of the University of akan go Zips and. that is from Luke uh ucbo is how I'm. going to pronounce that I got it right. Luke thanks a lot Luke eat your heart. out of good times one and two if you. want to be like Luke and tell us how. much we cracked you up we love hearing. that kind of thing you can wrap up spank. it on the bottom and send it off to. stuff podcast iheartradio.com.

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