Name: How the Mormon Mafia Helped Build Las Vegas
Uploaded: 2021-05-21T03:42:34.000Z
Duration: 10 min 43 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Relative clauses (Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive)

Anyone who has ever seen Martin Scorsese's 1995 hit film

Casino knows that Las Vegas was built by the Mafia.

But few realize those formative years were also

steered by a vastly different group with vastly

Mormonism has deep roots in the city of Las Vegas.

Mormons built the first settlements on the site

and were largely responsible for creating its casino culture.

Today, we're going to take a look at the untold story of how

the Mormon Mafia built Las Vegas into what it is today.

But before we get started, be sure to subscribe to the Weird

History Channel, and let us know in the comments below what

other cities of interest you would like to hear about.

OK, now get your [BLEEP] feet off the table for this video.

Founded on April 6, 1830 in the state of New York, what

would eventually become known as the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter day Saints was originally

The teachings of the church were based on the Book of Mormon,

which purported to be a chronicle of Jesus Christ's

to be translated from a series of golden plates

that Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, had discovered.

Over the next decade the church moved further west

And in 1844, Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in Chicago.

assumed by one of his underlings, Brigham Young.

continued to move the church west until, in 1847, they

By the 20th century, the Church of Latter day Saints

was growing into a massive international organization

with vast resources and real political power.

The first permanent settlement in Las Vegas

was erected by representatives of the Mormon church.

It was in 1855 that they were sent by a church leader Brigham

between the Mormon missions in San Bernardino

The purpose of the outpost was mainly to store supplies.

But while they were headed in that direction,

to convert any Paiute Native Americans they happened

the Mormons' first attempt to settle the region failed hard.

Between crops that wouldn't grow and disagreements

over group leadership, the settlement soon collapsed.

And the Mormons abandoned the effort by 1857.

They couldn't know it then, but the Mormons had actually

planted the seeds for what would eventually

grow into one of the 25 largest cities in the United States.

The remains of that original fort still exist in the city

and can be seen today at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard

In 1905, the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad

bought up much of the property around the tiny town

110 acres of that land-- adjacent to the Union

It's that parcel which today sits in the downtown area that

incorporated into the city of Las Vegas in 1911.

Thanks to the railway, the rural settlement began to flourish.

They built homes in nearby Bunkerville, St. Thomas,

In 1954, the Mormon contingent was still relatively small,

but the Mormon-dominated Continental Bank

E. Perry Thomas, a Mormon-connected financial

Thomas is noteworthy because he became the first banker

to start lending money to the folks who would soon

Whether they were actually criminals or not,

these operators had an unsavory reputation

due to their connections with a traditionally organized

When asked about the risks that came along

would simply respond that he was in the banking business.

And regardless of what business they were in,

in the size and number of Las Vegas casinos.

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How the Mormon Mafia Helped Build Las Vegas

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