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The name....Las Vegas means "the meadows" in spanish.
No one knows for sure who first discovered Las Vegas. Two possibilities are:
1) Friar Francisco Graces-He was known as an early explorer of the New Mexico - Southern California trail. His personal journal makes no mention of entering Nevada.
2) Rafael Rivera was a scout with Antonio Armijo's party. They left New Mexico for Los Angeles in November of 1829. It is believed they stopped at the meadows for an overnight stay and moved on to Los Angeles.
The United States took over the area after the Mexican War. From 1830 to 1848 caravans used "The meadows" as a stop over to and from California.
"The Mormon" trail ran from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles through Las Vegas.
Mail traveled once a year from 1852 to 1854 from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles.
In 1854, a mail route was established on a monthly basis.
June 14, 1855 the Mormons came to Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Mormon mission was dissolved in 1858.
Nevada became a state in 1864.
Octavius Gass and two friends came to Las Vegas and started farming in 1865.
In December 1865, Pah-Ute county was established out of Mohave county, Arizona.
In May of 1866, Congress passed a bill that gave the state of Nevada most of Pah-Ute county and in January of the next year the Nevada Legislature passed a resolution that accepted this territory.
Gambling had been legalized in Nevada in 1869 and remained legal until October 1, 1910. It was outlawed during a national reform movement.
Around 1900 Las Vegas had 30 residents.
In the summer of 1902, the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad bought the Las Vegas Ranch's approximately 2000 acres for $55,000.
In February 1905, the first train arrived in town and regular, scheduled rail service to California began in May.
On May 15th of 1905, a huge townsite land auction was held by the railroad under a large mesquite tree just north of Jackie Gaughan's Plaza hotel near today's Main Street Station.
The Nevada Hotel(now the Golden Gate) was the first hotel(1906) in Las Vegas.
On July 1st, 1909, Clark county was founded with Las Vegas as the county seat.
In 1915, around-the-clock electricity came to Las Vegas. 3,000 people called Las Vegas home in 1915.
President Hoover signed the Swing-Johnson Bill for the Hoover Canyon Project Act on July 3, 1930.
In 1931 gambling was legalized again. Divorce laws were liberalized.
1941-The El Rancho Vegas opened on Highway 91 to Los Angeles-Now the Vegas strip.
In 1943, the Last Frontier(now the Frontier) opened. The El Cortez opened about the same time at the corner of 6th and Fremont.
The Flamingo was built in 1946. It closed after 6 weeks. It reopened in march 1947. Bugsy Siegel was killed in June of 1947.
The part of the strip that most people refer to as the "old strip" is the period of time when the Desert Inn, Caesars, Riviera, Stardust, Flamingo, Tropicana and the Hacienda were popular and flourishing. The Flamingo and Caesars, of course, are still very popular and have reinvented themselves. 
Three most important people in Las Vegas's history
1. Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegal-- He built the showroom at the Flamingo and brought in many top performers and people started to come to vegas to see the performers.
2. Howard Hughes--Brought the corporations. Corporations don't like crooks so the mob had to go.
3. Steve Wynn--Brought class to Vegas with his wonderful hotels and themes.
Nevada Myths
http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/nsla/archives/myth/sitemap.htm
Born on date's (HOTEL'S)
1941 El Rancho Vegas-Across the street from the Sahara(in the empty lot)
1943 The Last Frontier(now the Frontier)
1946 Flamingo
1947 The Thunderbird 1947-1976) renamed the Silverbird in 1977 and in 1981 it
renamed the El Rancho.
1950 Desert Inn(Now the Wynn Resorts)
1952 Sahara 1,720 rooms
1953 Sands(now the Venetian)
1955 Riviera 2,100 rooms
1955 Hacienda Imploded in 1996(now the Mandalay Bay)
1957 Tropicana
1958 Stardust
1963 Castaway's(approximately where the treasure Island is now)
Castaways closed in 1987(before it was the castaways it was the SanSouci)
1966 Aladdin(formerly-1963-1965 talley-ho:1965-1966 it was the Kings Crown) 2567
1966 Caesar' Palace 3,370 rooms
1968 Circus Circus 3,770 Rooms
1969 Boardwalk 654 rooms
1979 Barbary Coast 200 rooms
1980 Imperial Palace - Called Flamingo Capri 1959-1979
1989 Mirage 3,303 rooms
1990 Excalibur 3,900 Rooms
1992 Harrah's Las Vegas(1973-1992 It was the holiday Casino)
1993 MGM 5,034 Rooms
1993 Bally's (From 1973-1993 it was the MGM) MGM fire in 1980 killed 75
people. 2814 rooms $120million to build
1993 Luxor 4,467 Rooms $375 million to build
1993 Treasure Island 2,900 rooms
1995 Stratosphere (1979-1994 it was Vegas World)
1996 Monte Carlo 3,014 rooms
1997 New York New York 2,120 rooms
1998 Bellagio(formerly the site of the
Dunes) 3005 $1 Billion
1999 Mandalay Bay 4,422 Rooms
1999 Paris 2,916 rooms
1999 Venetian 4,049 rooms
2005 Wynn Las Vegas 2,701 rooms $2.4 Billion