Watching GF II today and the scene where Roth tells the mini-history of Moe Greene and Las Vegas. He states that Las Vegas was a stop-over for GIs on their way to the West coast. Of course, it may have been, but there's no evidence that it was.
This topic has received a huge amount attention on this Board. I guess it is a bit of my curiosity (and frustration) about how these urban myths get started and perpetuated especially when it comes to Las Vegas and Siegel,
You're right, Oli: Vegas was Nevada's fourth largest city with 5,000 (count 'em, 5,000) souls until 1931. That's when work began on the Hoover Dam. The state legislature knew the project would bring ~10,000 workers to a site only 20 miles from Vegas. They were going to gamble (illegally) anyway, so the legislature legalized gambling in order to bring revenue to Nevada and to tax the profits. At that point, Vegas became a boom town.
It pleases a lot of people to think Bugsy Siegel (aka Moe Greene in the movie) "built" Las Vegas. Fact is, it was a thriving city by the time he opened the Flamingo in '46. The real builder of modern Vegas was Moe Dalitz.
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