LAS VEGAS, N.M. — No, you won't find any glitzy zillion-dollar casinos here, no Rat Packs or shimmering showgirls. Wayne Newton probably never warbled a note in this town.
Instead, this Las Vegas, with its mix of adobe buildings and historic Victorian homes, looks more like a set for a shoot-'em-up Western movie, which it was. Several times.
Las Vegas (Spanish for "the meadow") counts among its former denizens some real-life heroes and villains of the Wild West, from Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders to Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid to Big Nose Kate. It may not be as well known as Dodge City, Kan., or Tombstone, Ariz., but Tom Mix, one of the original Hollywood cowboys, thought the place authentic-looking enough to set up a film company here.
Indeed, the New Mexico historian Ralph Emerson Twitchell once wrote, "Without exception there was no town which harbored a more disreputable gang of desperadoes and outlaws than did Las Vegas, New Mexico."
This Las Vegas, a city of 15,000 in northeast New Mexico, is about an hour's drive out of Santa Fe on Interstate 25 North. Established by a Mexican government land grant in 1835, Las Vegas became a major trading point on the Santa Fe Trail, which linked the United States and Mexico.
At the height of its commercial success, before the railroad arrived in 1879, as many as 5,000 freight wagons a year traveled the trail. Many of those wagons parked along the town's plaza which to this day has changed little.
Rich in history and architecture, Las Vegas has 918 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with examples ranging from Spanish adobe to Victorian mansions.
"It was a blending of cultures," says Judy Finley, president of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.
Stand in the middle of the plaza, ignore the cars, and picture Gen. Stephen Kearney in 1846 standing on the spot now occupied by the Dice Apartments, claiming New Mexico for the United States.
Look down Bridge Street and you can see the building, now the Plaza Drugstore, where the dentist-gunslinger Doc Holliday set up an office.
Holliday and other notorious characters of the Wild West who became frequent visitors helped Las Vegas earn a reputation as one of the rowdiest cities in the West.
In the year following the arrival of the railroad on July 4, 1879, 29 men were killed in and around Las Vegas, either murdered, shot in self-defense or hanged by vigilantes.
The bandits, killers and con men who congregated in Las Vegas had nicknames like Rattlesnake Sam, Cockeyed Frank, Web-fingered Billy, Hook-nose Jim, Stuttering Tom and Handsome Harry.
A local outlaw named Vicente Silva also contributed to the town's image.
Silva was the owner of the Imperial Saloon, now the Victory Bar. In the late 1800s it was the hangout of its owner and his gang, "La Gavilla de Silva."
"If a merchant was murdered or a safe was missing it was always La Gavilla de Silva," says Rose Pena, the bar's current owner. "He had this area terrorized."
In front of the Victory Bar is the Plaza Hotel, which was built in 1882 following the arrival of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. Constructed in the Italianate bracketed style, it was described as the "Belle of the Southwest."
Some of the hotel's more infamous guests included Hoodoo Brown, sometimes described as the "baddest cowboy of them all," and Holliday and his girlfriend, Big Nose Kate Elder, who would move on to open the first brothel in Tombstone.
In 1915, cowboy-actor Tom Mix stayed at the Plaza while filming some of his movies in and around Las Vegas.
In May of this year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation honored Las Vegas as a distinctive destination for its commitment to historic preservation, one of 12 cities in the country so recognized.
At the forefront of this preservation effort is the Las Vegas Citizens' Committee for Historic Preservation.
Formed in 1977, the committee promotes the preservation of the town's historic buildings as well as educating the public about the history behind the architecture.
"I think it is really important we preserve the cultural landscape," says Lynne Leyba, CCHP's promotion coordinator.
Leyba says it's important to preserve "not only the building themselves but the history of the buildings . . . who lived there, what are the important events that took place there?"
The preservation committee recently hosted the 12th Annual Places With A Past Historic Sites Tour. The self-guided tour featured eight houses and buildings that best represent local preservation efforts. The buildings range from traditional adobe structures to Queen Anne-style homes.
Las Vegas is also the home of the Rough Riders Museum. Formally known as the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, the Rough Riders were made up of cowboy volunteers enlisted to fight in the Spanish-American War.
The largest contingent from any one state or territory was from New Mexico.
"If you wanted to put together a cavalry overnight, you wanted a bunch of guys that could ride and shoot," says museum director Melanie LaBorwit.
Led by Teddy Roosevelt, the regiment earned distinction in the Battle of San Juan Hill. Their victory at San Juan virtually broke the backs of the Spanish troops and signaled the end of the war.
In 1899, the men chose to have their first reunion in Las Vegas. With great fanfare, Roosevelt and the war heroes paraded through town.
Besides photos of 1898 Cuba, the museum holds original uniforms worn by members of the regiment, flags, bullets and other memorabilia.