The Southwest

The Southwest is characterized by geographical and cultural vari­ety. This region differs from the adjoining Midwest in weather (drier), population (less dense), and ethnicity (strong Spanish-American and Native-Аmerican components). Outside the cities, the regidn is a land of open spaces, much of which is desert. The magnificent Grand Can­yon is located in this region, as is Monument Valley, the starkly beau­tiful backdrop for many western movies. Monument Valley is within the Navajo Reservation, home to the most populous American Indian tribe. To the south and еаst lie dozens of other Indian reservations, including those of the Hopi, Zuni, and Apache tribes.

Territories of the Southwest once belonged to Spain and later had been part of Mexico's vast North American empire since the 16^th cen­tury, when Spanish conquistadors passed through the area in a vain search for gold. The United States obtained this land following the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. Its Mexican heritage continues to exert a strong influence on the region, which is a convenient place to settle for immigrants (legal or illegal) from farther south. The Spanish, Mexican, Indian and Old West heritage of Arizona and New Mexico is still much in evidence. Everywhere you will encounter old military forts, Spanish missions, Spanish place names, and hear Spanish spoken.

The regional population is growing rapidly, with Arizona in par­ticular rivaling the southern states as a destination for retired Americans in search of a warm climate. Population growth in the hot, arid.Southwest has depended on two human artifacts: the dam and the air conditioner. Dams on the Colorado and other rivers and aqueducts such as those of the Central Arizona Project have brought water to once-small towns such as Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, allowing them, to become metropolises. Las Vegas is renowned as one of the world's centers for gambling, while Santa Fe, New Mexico, is famous as a center for the arts, espe­cially painting, sculpture, and opera. Another system of dams and irri­gation projects waters the Central Valley of California, which is noted for producing large harvests of fruits and vegetables. The Southwestern states are rich in minerals. Livestock raising is also.an important part of the Southwest's economy. Much of the Southwest is just as you have seen in Western films, a land of coyotes and cactuses, cowboys and Indians.

The Southwest is composed of the following states: Texas (Tex.) Oklahoma (Okla.), New Mexico (N.M., N.Mex.), Arizona (Ariz.) and Nevada (Nev.).

1. Texas - the "Lone Star State." Much of the Southwest is occu­pied by Texas, the second largest state. Texas is derived from the Indian word "tejas"-"friends." It is appropriate that its motto is "Friend­ship." The word that may best explain Texas is "big." "Big" the Texan's world-famous brag, is no exaggeration. Texas has two time zones and takes up one-twelfth of the United States. Its coast on the Gulf of Mexico is the third-longest of any state, after Florida and Cali­fornia. Texas is the size of the New England states plus New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois. Texas was the largest state in the Un­ion at that time; therefore it acquired the unofficial nickname the "Jumbo State." The origin of the nickname the "Jumbo state" is the following: well-known circus owners of the 1880s bought the largest African elephant and brought it! to America to be used in their circus. The elephant's name was Jumbo.

The sheer size of Texas explains not only its range of landscapes but also its diversity of plant and animal life. The state supports more than 5,000 species of flowering plants and 100 kinds of cacti. It is also home to mountain lions, ocelots, coyotes, prairie dogs, and two of na­ture's stranger creatures - the horned toad and the armadillo.

Throughout the 1820s, the roads to westward migration opened, and the Americans settled in the vast territory of Texas, often with land grants from the Mexican government. In 1821, Stephen Austin founded a colony on the Brazes River. The number of the colonists soon alarmed the authorities, however, who prohibited further immi­gration and later established a dictatorship in Mexico. An American colonist Sam Houston agitated for military actions in favor of setting up a slave-holding republic, independent of Mexico. But Texas was left to struggle unaided and bore a single star on its coat of arms. In 1836, Texans under General Sam Houston defeated a much larger Mexican army. The result of the victory was Texan independence un­der the presidency of Sam Houston, whose government was formed in a newly founded city bearing his name. Texas was then more than five times the size of New York.

The "Lone Star State" (in allusion to its struggle against the Mexicans "single-handed") remained independent for nearly ten years. There was a strong opposition in the U.S. because Texas was a slave- holding state. In 1845, Texas was admitted as a slave state, supposedly balanced by the admission of Iowa as a free state, while S. Houston was elected one of its two senators to Congress. During World War II, the soldiers with the "Lone Star" shoulder patches made everyone in Europe and Asia aware that Texas was "the biggest state in the U.S., possessed the biggest ranches, served the biggest steaks and had the biggest stars in the sky shining overhead." They went into battle sing­ing "The Stars Look Down on Texas." It seemed they were Texans first and Americans after.

From the dramatic western landscape to the fertile fields of the east, one common feature has united the huge state - oil. When the first gusher blew unexpectedly in at Spindleton in 1901, the Texas oil boom was born, and today there is not a county without a history of oil explo­ration. The oil finds were soon accompanied by those in natural gas. Texas produces about one fourth of America's oil. The petroleum and natural gas deposits are very extensive. Texas along with Louisiana are currently two of the three leading petroleum-producing states (with Alaska). Pipelines to carry the gas radiate from the main coastal pro­duction centers to the primary consumption points across the country. Two additional minerals of economic value — sulfur and rock salt - are mined in this area too.

Texan Food. Food in Texas, as elsewhere in the Southwest, is strongly influenced by Mexican cooking. "Tex-Mex" food, as it is called, uses peppers and is very spicy. With so many cattle ranches, it is not surprising that beef is an important ingredient in Texan cooking. In fact the town of Athens, Texas, was the birthplace of the ham­burger. Texas is also known for barbecues and chili. In barbecues, beef or pork is cooked over flames in a spicy red sauce. Chili - a mixture of beef, spices, and other ingredients like tomatoes and beans - is a Texas invention, and nearly every Texan has his or her own recipe.

A Texan Festival. Texan festivals can be as unusual as anything else in that state. The town of Marshall, for example, has a yearly Fire Ant Roundup. At real round-ups, cowboys go after cattle. At Mar­shall's round-up, participants chase after fierce, stinging fire ants. Whoever captures the most ants in four hours is the winner. Marshall's festival also has a chili-making contest. The chili in this contest is es­pecially spicy: each recipe must include at least one fire ant!

The Cowboy. Texas is the country of cattle ranches, cowboys and rodeo. Cattle raising remains an important activity in the state. Peo­ple's images of the cowboy don't quite fit the reality. For example, people often think of all cowboys as white Americans. Actually the first cowboys were Mexican; many cowboy customs began in Mexico. There were also black cowboys and Indian cowboys. The cowboy's main job was to take care of cows and to get them to market. The cow­boy's life, although full of adventure, was hard and often boring.

Cattle Drives. In the mid-1860s, Texan cattle ranchers found that in other states, like Kansas, they could get ten times as much money for their cattle. This is how cattle drives got started. On the drives^ cowboys took the cattle along trails from Texas up to Kansas and even further north. The cattle of different owners grazed together on open grasslands. They were branded, or marked with their owner's symbol. When it was the time for the drive, the cowboys would round up the cattle that had the right brand. Brands were also meant to discourage rustlers, or cattle thieves. One constant danger was the stampede: A change in weather or an unexpected noise was enough to make the cattle run. The era of cattle drive— the real era of the cowboy - lasted only about twenty years. By the late 1880s, some cattle trails were ac­tually crowded!

Modern Cowboys. Today, there are still cattle ranches and cow­boys. The work in many ways remains the same. But with fences and modem machines, a lot has changed. Even cattle rustlers now use planes and helicopters! Rodeos give modem cowboys a chance to show their skills. Today, the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association sponsors about 700 rodeos a year. If you go to a rodeo you'll see events like calf roping, bull riding, and bulldogging. Bulldogging was invented by Bill Pickett, a black cowboy, as. a way, of stopping steers that were running wild. Pickett would ride alongside a steer, then jump on it, grab its homs, somersault across;it, and pull the steer to the ground.

Texas and other western states have ranches that will take you on modem cattle drives. On a drive, you'll live like a cowboy - sleeping on the ground and eating beans and beef. You'll wear a Stetson hat - that is^ia hat with a high crown and wide brim, worn in the American W6st,. especially by cowboys. You'll do work that cowboys do - rounding upland branding cattle. You won't have to do any bulldog­ging, though!

Houston is the largest city in Texas. Located about midway along the coastal arc between the Mississippi River and the Mexican border, Houston also lies at the coastal apex of the Texas Triangle joining the cities of Dallas and San Antonio. Connections with these major inland growth centers and the large cotton exports that originate in eastern Texas have also contributed to the locational strength of Houston. South of Houston is the national Aeronautics and Space Administration's Manned Spaceflight Center, a big complex for astronaut train­ing, equipment testing, and a flight-control center of Project Apollo.

Dallas is the second largest city in Texas. In 1841, John Bryan, a Tennessee trader, founded a trading port on the site to serve wagon trains heading west to Nevada and California. In addition to selling food, saddles, liquor and guns to pioneers, Bryan operated a ferry across the Trinity River and sold house lots to people who preferred homesteading to adventuring. He named the village for his friend George Dallas, who became Vice-President under James K. Polk.

The 1930 oil discovery in east Texas changed greatly its skyline. Oil, electronics, aircraft and aerospace industry have made Dallas the fasten-growing metropolis in the Southwest. The city has an atmos­phere of wealth, its glistering skyscrapers rise above the clean down­town streets, where many of the buildings are linked by underground and elevated walkways. Dallas sprang into the world news in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated there. On November 22, Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly crouched at the window here and took aim at the President in Dealey Plaza far below. Of special interest here is the permanent exhibit called the "Six Floor Museum" in the former Texas School Book Depository, which commemorates the as­sassination of President Kenedy. Exibits describe the life, death, and legacy of the 35^th President.

Austin and San Antonio are two more well-known cities in Texas. Austin is the state capital. San Antonio is very much a river city. True, the San Antonio River isn't much of a river; it's very narrow, only about 50 feet across. And alongside it San Antonians have built a Paseo del Rio, or River Walk, shaded by trees and filled with pleasant cafes. Many of San Antonio's numerous festivals take place on the River Walk. Fiesta, held in April, includes a River Parade, as well as Mexican rodeos and othet events all over town. In summer there ш the Fiesta Noche del Rio (Party Night on the RiVer), with Mexican and Spanish music and dances on the River Walk. Best of all per­haps are the traditional Mexican ChristMs festivals. At the Fiesta de las Lurrtinarias (Festival of Lights), the River Walk is lit up with candles burning in paper bags. Any evening you are at the river you'll hear lots of music including the music of Mexican bands called mariachis.

The Missions. San Antonio is.Jg famous for its missions, built-in the early 1700s by Spanish priests who came to convert Indians to Ca«tholicism. The San Jose Mission Was practically a town - with not just a church, but also living quarters, schools, and buildings for storing grain. The church is still used. If you're there on Sunday you can at­tend a mariachi mass.

2. Oklahoma - the "Sooner State." The name "Oklahoma" is de­rived from the two Indian words "okla" - "people," and "humma" - "red," consequently the name means "red people." Oil-rich Oklahoma, the nation's Indian Territory in the early 19th century, is today secottd only to Arizona in the number of Indian inhabitants. Iil the winter of 1838-39, the federal troops evicted the Chefokee from their homes in Georgia and escorted them to the Indian settlement in Oklahoma. The Cherokee thus named their terrible journey the "Trail of Tears;"

"Boomers" and "Sooners." In Oklahoma, at exactly noon of April 22, 1889, a shot rang out. Thousands of horses and carriages were off. The race had begun! This was no ordinary race. The U.S. government had promised large pieces of land to those who were the first to claiffi them. By nighttime, all the land had been claimed by the Oklahoma "boomers," as they were called. Some of the land had been claimed illegally, before noon, by "sooners." "Sooners" didn't await the ap­pointed time, but slipped ahead of time because they didn't wait as required by law. The Okies since then have been named "Sooners" Actually much of the land was far from rich. Like land elsewhere on the Great Plains, it lacked moisture. Many people believed that the "rains follow the plow" - that is, when the land was farmed, the rains would come. This optimistic idea was soon proven wrong. Crops were often destroyed by nature - not just by the dry periods of storms, but also by huge numbers of insects, which would suddenly appear from nowhere. Grasshoppers could destroy an entire cornfield in less than a day!

The Dust Bowl. Humans were partly responsible for the worst dis­aster on the plains, which turned parts of Oklahoma and nine other states into America's Dust Bowl. People overused the land, stripping it off grasses. The 1930s brought terrible heat and frequent windstorms. As vegetation died, the winds lifted the stripped, unprotected soil and carried it for miles, sometimes as far as the Atlantic Ocean! In despera­tion, many left their farms, often heading for California. This was the time of the Great Depression and there were few jobs anywhere. Oth­ers stayed behind, trying to do what they could. Farmers joked about an easy new method of planting: all you had to do was throw the seeds up at your soil as the wind blew it by! Some years later, however, Ok- lahomans harnessed their abundant system of rivers and built water- management projects aimed at preventing disaster in future droughts.

Most industry in the state is located in and around Oklahoma City and Tulsa, which rank among the major gas and oil centers in the country. Oklahoma City, the capital, is also an important aeronautics center. Oklahoma's boosters like to boast of her accomplishments in gaudy phrases - "from tepees to towers," "from arrows to atoms," "from soddies to space" (soddy - a house used by early settlers on the prairies). Oklahoma City is also called the "World's biggest cow- town," and its annual rodeos are a tourist attraction. Oklahoma entered the Union in 1907 as the 46th state. Its motto is "Labor Conquers All Things."

2. New Mexico - the "Land of Enchantment." New Mexico was named for Old Mexico. In 1570, the Spanish conquistador Coronado trekked through the area known today as New Mexico in search for the fabled seven cities of gold. New Mexico, called the "Land of En­chantment" in allusion to its natural beauty, was the 47th state to enter the Union in 1912. Part of the Old West, New Mexico was a place known for cowboys and cattle drives. New Mexico is also known as the "Land of Cactuses." Its motto is "It Grows as It Goes."

Indian reservations cover large parts of New Mexico and Arizona. Indians - mainly the Apache and Pueblo tribes - live much the same as their ancestors did. All in all, the Pueblo population totals about 30,000. Spaniards conquered the Pueblo Indians in the 1500s. "Pueblo" is the Spanish word for "town." When the Spaniards ar­rived, the Pueblos farmed the land and lived in towns, in stone houses. They still do.

The Pueblos have a great attachment to the land in which they have lived for so long. Many mountains, rivers and other landmarks are con­sidered sacred. There you will see traditional customs, religious cere­monies and dress. Pueblo ceremonies reflect this attachment to the land and the belief that humans and nature are united. Outsiders are not al­lowed to attend certain ceremonies but they may attend many others. The influence of the Apache Indians who live there is evident in the artwork and culture. Among the finest achievements of the many- skilled Pueblo Indians are beautifully decorated clay pots and figu­rines, the polished black pottery, the polished red-and-black ware; other pueblo crafts include exquisite jewelry, beadwork, wood carv­ings, woven belts and handsome quilts.

The state also has a large Hispanic population, as New Mexico was under Spanish control from the 16th century until about 1846. Three major cultures intermingle within the state - Spanish, Indian and An- glo-American - and within each is a variety of types and subcultures. This nice blend gives New Mexico its special character.

Sandwiched between the eastern plains and western deserts is the place where New Mexican's essential character resides - the mysteri­ously lovely Sangre de Cristo Mountains, named by Spaniards for the blood-red color of the peaks at sunset. The famous towns in the shadow of the mountains, Santa Fe and Taos, attract ever-growing numbers of visitors from around the world. The town of Santa Fe was founded by Spaniards in 1610. The capital is also famous today as a center for the arts, especially painting, sculpture and opera. Modern Taos traces its reputation as an artist's colony back to a group of New York painters and illustrators who began to move there just before the turn of the 20th century. Since then, painters, sculptors, and writers have made the town their home. They are attracted by the special qual­ity of the light, the isolation, the mix of cultures, and a terrain so dramatic that at times it seems almost unreal. At both Santa Fe and Taos, small restaurants serve Indian and Spanish food, and antique stores, specializing in jewelry and furniture, abound.

Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico. The old town of Albuquerque was founded in 1706 and named for the Duke of Al- burquerque (the first "r" was later dropped). In the middle of the 20th century, it began to grow rapidly, primarily because it is the site of an Air Force Base, which functions as a nuclear research laboratory and satellite tracking station. Festivals are special celebrations in the U.S.A. There are many hot-air balloon festivals, but for balloon fans worldwide, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the cen­ter. For nine days in October, the New Mexico skies are full of vibrant colors as hundreds of hot-air balloons lift from Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park. On crisp early mornings, nothing equals the sight of "Mass Ascension" as the hot-air balloons gracefully leave the ground to take their places in the deep blue desert sky.

4. Arizona - the "Grand Canyon State," Arizona is one of the youngest states. It was the 48th state to join the U.S. in 1912- the last of 48 contiguous (connected) territories to reach statehood. And that is only one of its paradoxes. Though much of it appears barren, the state is rich in wildlife, vegetation, and minerals. Though dry, it was formed by ancient seas, and rushing rivers carved its breathtaking canyons. The state's name comes from "arizonac" - two Papago Indian words meaning a "place of the young spring." Its motto is "God Enriches."

South of the central mountains, the desert claims most of the land. But not all. The city of Phoenix, the state capital, is a cluster of 23 communities; it sprawls across one of the region's saucer-shaped val­leys. Because Phoenix grew up on a site that showed traces of an ancient Indian settlement, it was named for the mythological bird that rose from its own ashes. Phoenix is often referred to as the 'Valley of the Sun». Clean, dry air was among the drawing cards that lured people to Phoenix and turned it into a capital of high-tech industry in the 1980s. Today, Phoenix is an important center of electronics re­search and production. The warm and reputedly health-restoring cli­mate of Phoenix and Tucson, another large city, has made Arizona a popular winter resort area. In fact tourism is now the state's prominent industry.

Both Arizona and New Mexico are known for their varied and spectacular scenery - deserts as well as mountains and high plateaus. Titan of the Arizona desert is the saguaro cactus. Towering in the air, arms reaching toward the sun, these plants probably more than any other are etched into the popular imagination as a symbol of the desert Southwest. In the Saguaro National Monument area you can hike along desert trails. You'll see the tall saguaro cactus with many other types of cactus. Saguaro cacti can be taller than eight men and weight up to ten toils!

An Arizona Ghost Town. In Arizona, as elsewhere in the South­west in the 1800s, towns sprang up overnight when miners struck gold (or silver, or copper). When the mines "played out," the business de­clined, or natural catastrophes occurred, the townspeople disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Only their buildiiigs remained) "ghosts" for modern visitors to explore. Every ghost town is different. Some were active only a few years, others lasted nearly a century, Some are represented today by a single ruin, others have: dozens of well-preserved buildings. Some of the ghost towns in Arizona once had populations of as much as 15,000. They had hotels, opera houses, their own newspapers, and so on.

Arizona's most famous ghost town is Tombstone. This town was founded by a man named Ed. Schieffelin. When he said he was going to mine in the A pache Indian country, people to,!4 him that he was a fool, that all he would find there would be his own tombstone. Instead, Schieffelin found silver. Remembering what people had said, he named the town he started Tombstone. Since Tombstone was in the desert, a company built a huge pipeline tp supply the town with water. No sooner had this pipeline been built than Tombstone's silver mines struck water. There was so much water that pumps couldn't keep up with it. The mines had to close. Tombstone became a ghost town.

Ancient Cultures in the Southwest. There are other "ghost towns" in the Southwest - far older and more mysterious. These towns are huge dwellings that were built by Indians around 900-1200 A.D. and then suddenly abandoned. The reason why they were abandoned is not known. Probably the climate changed, becoming even drier than it had been. Or perhaps other Indians invaded from the North. In any case, when the Spaniards arrived in the 1500s, the Indians of the area were living in smaller, simpler villages. Because of the dry air of the Southwest, the ancient buildings have been preserved. You can visit many of them when you tour Arizona.

In the fascinating Navajo National Monument area, you can take a trip to Mesa Verde National Park where deserted but well- preserved Indian cliff-dwellings built more than 700 years ago can be visited. One of the park's landmarks is Betatakin. This "cliff palace," as it is called, is a 135-room structure built against the back wall of a canyon. Construction took place from about 1250 to 1290, and yet by 1300 Betatakin was abandoned. The Mummy Cave ruin also offers well-preserved examples of old Pueblo Indian dwellings - mud brick "apartment houses" of many rooms and often of several storeys. The "cliff palace" with more than 200 rooms is one of the most exciting sights. There are 138 such ruins in this area, many inaccessible because of their height; most seem to have been mysteriously deserted about 600 years ago.

The awesome and magnificent Grand Canyon is Arizona's princi­pal tourist attraction, one of the world's natural wonders. It was formed by the mighty Colorado River cutting into a plateau in Arizona. The canyon is 277 miles long and about 1 mile deep. Because it's so deep, the top and the bottom have very different weather and vegetation. Going from the top to the bottom is somewhat like going from Canada to Mexico. The canyon is visually stunning, with gold, pink, brown and purple bands of rock. Each of these bands is a stratum, or layer, of the earth's crust. Some strata took over 170 years to form. The canyon was discovered in 1540 but explored in the second part of the 19th century. There are signs that humans lived in the Grand Canyon 4000years ago. In the Grand Canyon, you can hold a rock that is 2 billion years old!

Today, millions visit the Grand Canyon each year. Many come only for a quick look. But for those who want to explore it, there are plenty of opportunities. For usual views of the canyon there are air tours - in a small airplane or in a helicopter. The most thrilling experience of exploring the Grand Canyon is the eight-mile ride to the bottom. The first man who dared to ride to the bottom was John Powell, geologist and ethnographer (1869). Going up and down the canyon sides can be a lot like being on a roller-coaster. It's a two-day round trip, and you must bring a lot of water. Once there, you can stay at the Phantom Ranch, which has a campsite and dining hall. If you prefer, you can make this trip by mule.

Finally, you can go rafting on the Colorado River. Tourists ride on a raft down the Colorado River which winds through the bottom of the canyon. Because of the danger, if you want to go alone you'll need permission from the park superintendent. But you can also go with a group on a week-long rafting and camping trip. The groups use rafts that are linked together and are too big to tip over. In this way you can enjoy the rapids without risking your life.

In addition to the Grand Canyon, you might want to visit Monu­ment Valley here, the starkly beautiful background for many western movies. Monument Valley is within the Navajo Reservation, home to the most populous American Indian tribe. In Monument Valley Na­vajo Tribal Park you can see strange rock formations that rise straight up into the air. These formations have been sculpted by the wind. The Painted Desert looks like huge piles of sand painted in all the colors of the rainbow. Again the "sand" isn't really sand: it is volcanic ash. This volcanic ash preserved pine trees from long ago by petrifying them. In the Petrified Forest you'll see stone trees in beautiful reds and blues.

After California and Oklahoma, Arizona has the third-highest In­dian population in the U.S. Indians are most rural people. Some 20 million acres - more than a quarter of the entire state - are set aside for their reservations; among these is the great Navajo Reservation. The Navajo Reservation occupies the area of 56,600 sq km. Created in 1868, this reservation, with the Navajo population totaling about 176,000, is the biggest Indian reservation in the U.S.A. It spills over into New Mexico and other Indians say it functions almost like a state. Thirteen tribes of Indians live in Arizona, each with a distinct culture.

5. Nevada - the "Silver State." Nevada's name comes from the Spanish word meaning "snow clad" or "white as snow" - a reference to the snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada. The name of the state was taken from the expression "Sierra Nevada" applied to the range of mountains in the western part of the state, which in turn was named for Sierra Nevada in Spain. The discovery of the Comstock LOde, a massive deposit of silver, in 1859 brought many fortune seekers. Statehood followed shortly afterward in 1864, when Nevada was admitted as the 36th state. The official nickname for Nevada, the "Sil­ver State," refers to the chief product of the state's mining industry. The name also reminds of the fact that during the Civil War bars of silver were produced to support the Union Army. Two more official nicknames for Nevada are: the "Battle Born State" and the "Sage­brush State." The state is in a mountain region that includes semiarid grasslands and sandy deserts, and is the most arid state in the nation. The capital is Carson City, and the state flower is the sagebrush. Its motto is "All For Our Country."

Like oases in the desert, Nevada's two principal cities where nearly three of every four Nevadans live - Las Vegas and Reno - attract for­tune seekers from around the world hoping to strike it rich in the many casinos located there. Las Vegas is renowned as one of the world's centers of gambling. For this reason, some say the name "Las Vegas'V comes from a mispronunciation "of the phrase "lost wages." In reality, "Las Vegas" is the Spanish word for "meadows." Early settlers were impressed by the fact that Las Vegas was an oasis of green grass in the middle of the desert. Today, Las Vegas is still an oasis - not of grass, but of neon lights. Las Vegas's hotels and gambling casinos use so much neon that the city has been nicknamed the "City of Lights." One of Las Vegas's older neon landmarks is Cowboy Vic, a giant, smiling cowboy who waves at people passing by. Taxes from gambling pro­vide nearly 40 percent of Nevada's general revenues.

Las Vegas's growth began in 1931, when the state of Nevada, in need of money, decided to allow gambling and to make divorce easy; hence the city's nicknames are the "Gambling Capital of the U.S.A." and the "Divorce Capital of the U.S.A." Getting married is also easy in Nevada; the city can boast some 50 wedding chapels. Thirty five million Americans escape here each year, 110,000 of them to be mar­ried! Las Vegas has wedding chapels that are open 24 hours a day! In fact all of Las Vegas is basically open 24 hours a day. In addition to casinos, Las Vegas is famous for its shows, which often feature well- known performers. What is Las Vegas like? Many admirers and many critics agree that it is an "adult Disneyland," a fantasy oasis in the Ne­vada desert.

It is Lake Tahoe, however, that is Nevada's most precious gem. Set amid alpine meadows in the Sierra Nevada, the lake is surrounded by snowcapped mountain peaks. In 1861, Samuel Clemens (who would adopt the name Mark Twain a year later) arrived from Missouri to look for gold and discovered that Nevada's real treasure was the beauty and serenity of Lake Tahoe. The resorts of the lake are the state's most valuable asset.

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