LOCAL LITERATURE: Author team tells the tales from Sin City's fabulous first century

Author team tells the tales from Sin City's fabulous first century

A new book by Taj Ainlay and Judy Dixon Gabladon, "Las Vegas: The Fabulous First Century," celebrates the geographic, cultural and architectural history of Las Vegas. Ainlay believes it fills a void that other historians have not comprehensively explored.

A member of the board for the Association of Personal Historians, Ainlay was privy to information about Arcadia Publishing Co., which was seeking a regional history book. He noticed there was a short list of books coming out of the Southwest.

"They wanted to create a mosaic of regional histories," Ainlay said. "They didn't have many titles out West, and about the same time I read an article lamenting the fact that no one has written a comprehensive history of the region. It dawned on me that maybe that was a job for me. As the city is approaching its centennial in 2005, it seemed like a good time to do that kind of a retrospective."

The book took Ainlay about two years. He said the most time-consuming aspect of it was not the writing itself, but the research.

"We looked at at least 100 books about Las Vegas," he said. "What struck me was that there were many history books of Las Vegas, but I didn't really see one that had interwoven different cultural and ethnic history into a single narrative."

Ainlay employed Gabladon to help with the research. The two had worked together previously and Ainlay said he thought Gabladon was an expert on the city's history and a strong researcher.

"I've always been fascinated with Las Vegas history, (and) had been a frequent visitor all my life," Gabladon said. "I had always wanted to be a professional writer, so when Taj came around and asked me to participate, it seemed like an excellent opportunity.

"I had already written Las Vegas history stories, and as it turned out, we work well together. We have a similar writing style. He has more interest in politics, government issues and sports, such as boxing history in Las Vegas, and I'm more interested in personalities -- not only entertainment personalities, but groups such as women. They did actually have some notable milestones along the way. In fact a woman was the first person to own a gambling license in Las Vegas."

Ainlay said one of the things he ended up doing in the book, unintentionally, is dispel myths about Las Vegas.

"There are lots of funny myths that get debunked," he said. "It mentions that no one is buried inside Boulder Dam, and it mentioned Billy Wilkerson, who started the Flamingo. Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel took it over when funds ran out."

After their research, Ainlay and Gabladon came to the realization that they knew quite a bit, but there still was a lot they didn't even realize about local history.

"I would say I probably knew only about 20 percent of research in the book," Ainlay said. "And I was probably wrong about a quarter of that."

Gabladon said she hopes the book will clue in visitors and locals alike about what really happened here.

"It was a labor of love," she said. "I think it will be interesting to tourists and people who've lived here a long time."

"Las Vegas: The Fabulous First Century" is available at Border's, Barnes & Noble, and at Amazon.com. A signed copy is available at Ainlay's Web site, legacymemoirs.com.


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