Nevada lies inland from California in SW USA. Oregon and Idaho lie to the north, Utah and Arizona to the east. Nevada is a warm desert, Death Valley is some 160km to the west. Until the twentieth century, agriculture was limited by access to groundwater. Not an attractive area in which to settle, it was mining that brought the white man to this area. The legalisation of gambling and prostitution is what put the settlement, Las Vegas, on the map, cue The Mob.
Crucially, the Colorado River demarcates the Arizona border to the south east of Nevada. The construction and subsequent completion of the Hoover Dam (1936) gave rise to Boulder City, which evolved from the construction workers’ camp. Between Las Vegas and Boulder City lies Henderson, in 1941, the government built the Basic Magnesium Plant to process the ore. A major part of Hoover Dam’s low-cost power was therefore assigned to theelectrolysis process at the Henderson Plant to separate the metal from its ore. This required large amounts of electricity. Magnesium is required to harden and 
strengthen aluminium, as used in airframes construction. When the war was over, the plant had supplied a quarter of the country’s demand for this metal, a significant and vital contribution. The connection with aeroplanes continued post war with the establishment of Nellis Air Force Base to the north east of Las Vegas. Once there was the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, then there’s Area 51…
The Robert B. Griffith Water Project, which was completed in 1982, brought Colorado River water from Lake Mead, the reservoir created behind the Hoover Dam, to homes and industries in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Thereafter, Las Vegas expanded significantly with unlimited water for decorative features, unlimited electricity for the bright lights.
Places visited:
Boulder City
Hoover Dam
